Priority #2: Prayer

How would your priorities change if God were real?

Put it another way. Imagine you asked two people to grow your church. The first was a successful business consultant who advised numerous local businesses on how to grow their customer base. The second was an experienced pastor. What would be the difference between the priorities of the two?

The biggest difference would be prayer.

There'd be many similarities. Both men would want to get the word out, perhaps through door-to-door work or inviting friends. Both would consider events that are likely to draw people in.

But the business consultant would consider prayer a waste of time. Why talk to the ceiling when you could be doing something?

However, if God is real (which he is), asking for his help should be way up your priority list.

Many of us act like the pragmatist businessman. We want to do not pray. Evangelistic courses, pastoral visits, sermon preparation, event planning, one-to-one bible studies. All of these are good. But nothing moves the needle like prayer.

I confess I feel like a hypocrite writing this article. I'm not as good at prayer as I'd like to be. I'm not even as prayerful as I once was. I write this largely to draw my attention back to prayer. I hope it encourages you to do the same.

Here are five ways to prioritise prayer in your church.

1. Prioritise Personal Prayer

It’s easy to pontificate at others. It’s much harder to change yourself. But that must be where we begin.

Carve time out for prayer as a priority. If you’re a pastor, put aside an hour in the week for focused prayer. Youth leader, pray for one young person a day. Husband, agree with your wife before you turn on the TV you will pray for your kids for five minutes.

Whatever it looks like for you, make a priority of prayer. If prayer isn't taking time you'd fill with entertainment or activities, it isn't a priority at all.

2. Prioritise Leadership Prayer

The next people to win over are church leaders. Communicate to your leaders that prayer is not a waste of time.

Some ideas that might help

• Tell new members of staff to schedule time to pray for members every day. Affirm it's not dossing off, it's their job.

• Pray in the elders' meeting for church members by name.

• When doing an evangelistic event, have people arrive early to pray, before you focus on practicalities.

If you win over church leaders, it can create a viral culture of prayer which spreads throughout your church.

3. Prioritise Whole Church Prayer

Find ways to communicate to the church that prayer is important.

This starts on a Sunday morning. In many churches, prayer on a Sunday morning has been reduced to a one-minute transition between song and sermon. Devote time in the church to bringing needs before God.

This can be done in small groups too. Don’t let prayer get choked out. Also give guidance. It can be good to pray for medical needs but people rarely pray for evangelistic opportunities unless they are encouraged to share them.

Periods of prayer and fasting are also good for the church. Our church devotes a Saturday in the new year to prayer and fasting. Some members will be there for an hour, some all day. We want everyone to know prayer is a priority.

4. Prioritise Gifted Prayer Warriors

Everyone should evangelise, but only some are gifted evangelists. In the same way, everyone should pray, but some are gifted prayer warriors.

Find out who these people are in your church. Often, they are the older Christians, who (after years of sanctification) have found out the power of prayer. Once you've found them, figure out how to unleash them.

Two ideas that I've seen in our church. One of our deacons organises a weekly prayer meeting. It's half an hour on zoom, and it is for the sole reason of praying for evangelistic contacts. There are around a dozen people who will join when they can. Most people in church probably don't know it happens. But I'm sure that those prayers have affected dozens of people.

Another idea came from one of our youth leaders. He learnt that one of our housebound ladies had a heart for young people, but had now reached a stage in her life where she couldn't go out. So before the young people went to camp, he went round and shared with her things to pray for.

Let me ask again: how would your priorities change if God were real? Surely, if there were an omnipotent God who promised to hear his people's prayers, then we'd pray more.

Think of one thing you can do in the next week to prioritise prayer in your life. It may feel like it isn't work. But in truth, there's little more powerful for transforming your church.