My last blog was about ‘un-prayed prayers’. Today I’m bringing that topic into the prayer meeting scenario.  Many intercessors love to participate in prayer meetings, and so does the Holy Spirit (the Ruach HaKodesh). The Ruach never declines invitations to attend prayer meetings. In fact, given the open invitation that true intercessors extend, the Ruach sometimes invites and brings along other guests, and sometimes supplements or re-prioritizes our humanly prepared agendas 🙂

I remember attending prayer meetings where the Ruach had brought me from afar for a specific purpose, and what a joy it was to have that purpose fulfilled!  Sometimes the main purpose was to receive and be blessed by the discernment and prayers of others, but sometimes the main purpose was to give and to bless. Sometimes it was simply to join in the prayers of agreement and to support the prayer agenda of the leaders; but at other times the purpose was to fill a particular role that the Ruach would reveal – sometimes to my delight, and sometimes to my emotional ‘ruin’ (like that of Isaiah in Is. 6:5).

There were some prayer meetings, though, that I thought should really have been called ‘small-talk meetings’, or even feel-good therapy sessions. Don’t get me wrong; small-talk and feel-good therapy are both essential to life, but these activities should not be confused with prayer. Gatherings for general sharing and other fellowship delights need to be scheduled, but to label them ‘prayer-meetings’ is a misnomer.

When a meeting has been called for prayer, the talking should be purposeful – related to topics that are to be addressed by the intercessors present. So, after the praise and WORSHIP by which we corporately enter the presence of the Lord, the talking should be (1) sharing of testimonies or scripture for faith building, prayer-related encouragement, as well as sharing of prayer needs, and then (2) prayer. Talking, then prayer; talking, then prayer. Not talking and talking and talking around matters being raised, until someone realizes that the time available for prayer is almost spent.

I saw a wonderful demonstration of this principle in a prayer meeting led by an African pastor, Samson Dazogbo. He led the meeting into praying for each topic raised before moving on to a new topic. Only when the “Amen” had been declared on the former, was the group’s attention allowed to focus on the latter. In that way, there was no list of prayer requests crammed into the end of the meeting to be dealt with in a hurry.

Leaders should also refrain from making a prayer meeting into a general preaching or teaching meeting. Yes, people need to hear preaching and teaching; but if you are not succeeding in attracting them to the appropriate venue for those ministries, that is a separate issue. Something is wrong that can indeed be a topic of prayer, but general preaching and teaching in a prayer meeting at the expense of prayer is not the answer. Some attendees may have come to that prayer meeting being either themselves IN SERIOUS NEED OF CORPORATE PRAYER, or bearing in their hearts the burdens of others in serious need of corporate prayer. The only reminders they need from the preacher-teacher part of your brain at that time are those directly related to our standing with God, which is the basis on which we pray and expect Him to answer.

Even when we have considered all of the above, the adversary of our souls will still try to subvert the prayer meeting if he can. One of the ways he does this is with distractions, and a common distraction is for one person’s need to become a lasting focus, to the exclusion of other expressed or known needs. Persons leading prayer meetings should be sensitive to this, seeking constantly to be led by the Holy Spirit, prepared to ask for moments of quiet if necessary to seek direction, and prepared to defer personal ministry for an individual to a smaller follow-up session.

The disregard for such considerations can lead to burdens (of believers or of the Ruach) entering a prayer meeting and leaving without having been lifted. They leave as they came – clouds of ‘un-prayed prayers’. Brothers and sisters, for that to happen is a waste of ‘sharing’ time, a squandering of God’s promises, and a succumbing to the devil’s attempts to divert us from actually praying. After all, Satan has so much to gain from that, and we have so much to lose!

Let us highly regard our calling to intercede; let us value the time and orchestration that God invests in gathering us together for prayer. Let’s not underestimate His ongoing intervention in our lives, which has positioned us for such service. He has kept at bay those satanic attacks aimed at hindering us from gathering to pray. He may have allowed recent personal sorrows to tenderize our hearts for bearing the burdens of others. For the purpose of the intercession He desires to lead, He may have highlighted specific scriptures in the hearts of attendees, tightened their grip of the Sword of the Spirit, given them dreams and visions pertaining to prayer needs that will be shared, or prepared for specific gifts of the Spirit to be manifested in addressing those prayer needs.

Brothers and sisters, it’s prayer meeting time. Let’s pray!