The importance of regular prayer meetings must not be underestimated. The saints of long ago who witnessed revivals regularly prayed together. This isn’t to say that their prayers brought about revival. It is more complicated than that. But there was a definite connection.
My small involvement in prayer meetings
These regular prayer meetings go beyond regular daily, family and corporate prayer. A few years ago I was fortunate to have begun participating in weekly online chats with two Christians. From there we came up with the notion that we should also pick a day to pray together. But looking back I rather think that this notion was put into us by the Holy Spirit.
These weekly prayer meetings began to form and help us. One of my prayer partners has since gone to be with the Lord. I talk about it HERE. In that post I noted,
There were times during our prayer sessions when her praises to God dominated and almost swept us up into heaven. During these sessions time would go by quickly; all other personal prayer requests seemed mostly forgotten…Then there were remarkable answers to prayers and the praise and thanks resulting from this. Our faith was being steadily built up.
The need for prayer meetings
Two of us still pray together via the internet. We continue to derive weekly comfort, blessings and answers to myriads of prayers. We pray for other partners to come along. Some have popped in from time to time. But this is has rarely been the case.
No doubt there’s there are a variety of reasons to resistance to joining in regular prayer with others. In my case my shyness was (and is) an issue. I’m not particularly articulate – I tend to mumble and ramble. In fact I can’t say grace without some sort of stumble or other. Time can be a factor and will affect those in different time zones we’ve invited. Nevertheless I’d encourage Christians to seek out others closer to them and pray regularly together.
The church has always needed pray-ers – people who pray. Congregational prayers kept Spurgeon going. My contention is that the western church needs prayer now more than ever. This world is becoming (if it isn’t already) post-Christian. Christianity is being driven underground. We Christians need to pray together, in all circumstances. Regular prayer meetings are one way to do this.
An incident recorded by Martyn Lloyd-Jones
Martyn Lloyd-Jones convened regular prayer meeting. He talked about praying in the Spirit. In his book “Living Water” he talks about a man who normally stumbled in “not very inspiring” prayer. Predictably, I identified with him. But one night he became an entirely different man. His voice deepened and he with a liberty and eloquence Lloyd-Jones hadn’t heard from him before, or perhaps anyone else.
This had a flow-on effect to all others present. Everyone there prayed non-stop with the same freedom. Lloyd-Jones wrote,
We were all conscious that we were in the realm of the eternal and the spiritual. What was that? That was praying in the Spirit. It was the liberty and freedom of the Holy Spirit…It can happen in a prayer meeting, or it can happen to you individually…
Let us not forsake our gathering together in prayer. We need it, the church needs it and so does this world.
Maranatha!
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