Our second Friday of the month focus is prayer.
“pray without ceasing.” 1 Thessalonians 5:17
To pray without ceasing is easier said than done. Every so often I find an article already written that says most everything I want to say. As we look at the topic of prayer today, I want to focus on the prayer meetings of the church. I will list the link at the end of this weekly thought for you to read the article for yourself. Today I want to list the three main points of the article and the Scripture references.
First, prayer meetings are vital to the well-being of the church.
“All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.” Acts 1:14
“When he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John whose other name was Mark, where many were gathered together and were praying.” Acts 12:12
Second, prayer meetings are vital because prayer is one of the weapons in our arsenal as a church.
“praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints.” Ephesians 6:18
“First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.” 1 Timothy 2:1-2
Third, prayer meetings are vital to the church because they are a practical way for us to love one another.
“Bear one another’s burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ.” Galatians 6:2
“Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.” 1 Thessalonians 5:11
A prayer meeting is a great way to practice all of the ‘one another’ commands of the New Testament.
As I mentioned earlier, I am simply summarizing an article written by the Pastor of Corona Presbyterian Church. The link to his article is listed below.
Before we leave this topic, I want to quote Pastor Ryan McGraw in his booklet, “How Do Preaching and Corporate Prayer Work Together.”
He writes, “Many people come to Sunday morning worship services. Fewer come to Sunday evenings services, and fewer still come to midweek Bible studies. Prayer meetings are often relegated to the lowest place on the list of church activities. Some only come because there is a short Bible study attached to the prayer meeting, and they do not view corporate prayer as the main event. If this attitude persists, our American churches will likely die slow and painful deaths under increasingly powerless preaching.”
“And he said to them, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” Luke 10:2