Most churches pray, but not all are praying churches. Most churches pause during their gatherings to pray, sometimes out of ritual, but certainly out of sincerity. But how does a church make the leap to become a praying church, where prayer is the engine and fuel behind every spiritual advancement?
5 Steps to Becoming a Praying Church
1. Prayer is modeled.
Prayer is caught more than taught. Praying pastors model a prayerful life and those that are influenced by them tend to lead a prayerful life of their own. Some years ago we tried 21 days of prayer and fasting, with prayer meetings happening 24 hours a day.
2. Prayer is first.
In a praying church, the first response to any difficult situation is to pray. When there is still no solution, the answer is to pray again. Repeat as needed.
3. Prayer is proactive.
When Jesus taught his disciples to pray, he told them to first ask for God’s Kingdom to come to the earth. Later in the prayer, he told them to ask for daily bread. It is true that the most attended prayer services are normally after a national or local crisis and that is certainly warranted. However, we should be proactive in our prayers, asking now for the Kingdom to come.
