The Heartbeat of a Healthy Church

When Jesus drove the moneychangers out of the temple, he told them, "My father's house will be called a house of prayer" (Matthew 21:13). God doesn't dwell in a building made of stone, but in the hearts of his people. The church is God's building, his ekklesia, his household (1 Corinthians 3:9; Ephesians 2:21, 22; 1 Timothy 3:15). Jonathan Edwards once said it was his goal to be a "God-besotted man." Is the church you attend so devoted to prayer, so saturated with faith, that it could be described as a "God-besotted church"? How can we help our congregations be "houses of prayer"?

We can provide more opportunities for prayer. Could your church set aside a room to use as a prayer chapel, or create a garden where shady trees and flowers provide an outdoor setting for quiet worship? Could you hold special prayer services for the community on the Wednesday night before Thanksgiving, on New Year's Eve, or during the week before Easter? What about organizing prayer walks where church members quietly canvass their neighborhoods to pray for schools, families, and community leaders? Does your church have a group of prayer warriors who pray throughout the worship services for people to respond to the gospel?

We also can provide more leadership in prayer. Like Jesus, busy leaders must find quiet, secluded places away from the crowds for unhurried prayer (Mark 1:35; Luke 5:16). When is the last time your church's elders and staff were on a retreat together mainly for the purpose of prayer? Do your leaders sometimes pause in the midst of a business meeting to seek God's will on their knees? Does your congregation lift the leaders up in prayer when they are calling a new staff member, wrestling with a difficult doctrinal issue, making a key financial decision, or trying to resolve a potentially divisive problem? Do your leaders pray regularly with the sick and the troubled in hospital rooms, in the hallways after church, or over the phone? Are parents encouraged to model prayer at home so their children will grow up knowing it's normal to talk with God? Do you have a group of people in your church who are committed prayer intercessors on behalf of their leaders?

We also can provide more education about prayer. Christians best learn how to pray through personal involvement, but regular sermons and elective classes on prayer will help ensure that our experience conforms to Scripture. Why not provide printed information in the church bulletin every week, briefly describing each missionary the church supports and listing prayer requests for the worker's family, mission field, and any personal needs? Why not make available high-quality books, magazines, and cassette tapes that deal with prayer? (A good resource is Harvest Prayer Ministries, www.harvestprayer.com.) Could your church offer a training session for those who lead in public prayer to help them make this part of the worship service more "powerful and effective" (James 5:16)?

Prayer is not only a one-on-one encounter with God. It's also the heartbeat of a healthy congregation's body life. If we're serious about growing in the spiritual disciplines, it will help if we "spur one another on toward love and good deeds" (Hebrews 10:24) by working on the disciplines together.