House of Prayer

Read a short little thought-provoking article on prayer the other day. I know which category most of the churches that I've been a part of fall into, and not only that, but also on a personal level how my own prayer life has at times looked like each one of these.

The guy who wrote this article, Jonathan Graf, says, "When I consider the typical prayer levels in various churches, I see most fitting into one of three models.

Church A: is a church that hardly recognizes the importance of prayer to its ministry. It may give lip service to it by opening meetings in prayer, having a pastoral prayer in the worship service, and holding special prayer meetings from time to time for important issues. Prayer, however, is largely outside of the ministry. There may even be a few people praying for the church and its ministries, but they are not specifically given requests and are not recognized as a ministry of the church.

Church B: recognizes that prayer is important. It wants to see things prayed for and wants to provide die-hard intercessors with a place to plug in. It recognizes prayer as a ministry of the church, much like youth or music. People who have an inner burden for prayer are involved, but not many others.

Church C: believes that nothing lasting will happen apart from prayer. It believes that prayer needs to permeate every ministry of the church. Every ministry must be prayed for, and prayer must be a significant part of each ministry. Virtually everyone in the church is involved in prayer."

(Compiled and Edited By Jonathan Graf and Lani C. Hinkle)

Do you recognize your church somewhere in these descriptions? This article is part of a book called, "My House Shall be a House of Prayer." It was sitting on the back of the toilet of a dear friend. I flushed when I read it. Why? Because I want my life and my church to be just like "Church C."