Years ago I was asked, "Does your church have Wednesday night prayer meeting?" The questioner seemed to be seeking data by which to judge how good my church was.
We attend a church of around 800. Wednesday night usually finds 25-30 people gathered in room 171. And that data sounds as if less than 3% of our church prays.
But Wednesday night prayer meeting is not the only indicator of our church's prayer life. Beyond the individuals' personal prayer lives and the pastoral prayer from the pulpit each week, there are multiple prayer meetings!
On Sunday mornings, there are five prayer meetings ranging from 12 minutes to 75 minutes. One is specifically to pray for the preaching of God's word. Another focuses on praying for the spiritual nurture of
children at our church.
Even Wednesday evening prayer meeting is not confined to one meeting. The 30-minute prayer meeting prays for evangelism and by name for the salvation of souls. Even the more traditional hour-long prayer meeting isn't that traditional. The guided prayer time focuses on kingdom progress and the advance of the gospel. In other words, it's not the place to mention Aunt Mabel's broken toe. (More on that next week.)
The more prayer meetings you have, the more people (total) will pray. How many prayer meetings does your church have?
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