Letter from Aaron Kennedy – Vicar of Otley Parish Church
I wonder what comes to mind when you read the words “Prayer Meeting”? Do you say to yourself, “Oh no, not for me – stifling, awkward silences? No thanks”. Or perhaps you think, “Sitting in a room for an hour with strait-laced, po-faced keenies? I’d rather clean the oven!” Or perhaps your internal monologue goes like this, “Talking to God with other people? I don’t even do that very much on my own! No thanks – and I hate speaking in front of a large group!”
Of course, it’s always possible that you say, “Yes! I am hungry for more of God in my life, and I want to see his kingdom come in Otley. Get me to the church on time!”
Even if you were willing to attend a prayer meeting, you may also freely admit that it can be awkward, boring, and uncomfortable at times. Well, I don’t think prayer meetings need to be like that, and I have a few suggestions about how we might avoid that in the future. (Yes, we’re launching a new church prayer meeting very soon, so watch this space for details.)
- Come in Faith. We must come to prayer in faith. Whether we are praying individually or in a group, if we come to pray believing that God hears our prayer and has the power the answer it, we are off to a good start. So, check yourself. Am I allowing my mind to be filled with unfounded doubts and negativity towards God, or am I coming to him in faith? Nothing will happen in prayer without faith!
- Come Full. Prayer meetings are not where we come to get topped up in our walk with God. If we come to a prayer meeting hoping to get our walk with God back on track, especially if this is true for many of those gathering, we are guaranteed to have an awkward, boring, and uncomfortable time together, wondering, “Why did we put ourselves through this?!” So, if we all come to the prayer meeting overflowing with strong praise, and hopeful petition, we’ll have a more fruitful time.
- Up! For many of us a prayer meeting involves taking turns, and speaking out loud to ask God for things from a long list of wants. This is intercessory prayer, technically, but if all we think about in a meeting are our needs, we will be terribly aware of what we don’t have. This is depressing, and makes for a torturous prayer meeting. Rather, if we first lift our eyes to heaven in praise and worship, we will then have a vision for prayer.
- In! A prayer meeting without Jesus is pointless. But he promises us, “Where two or three are gathered together in my name, I am there in the midst of them” – Matthew 18:20. And so, the Lord will want to minister to us, his people, to strengthen us and empower us to carry his presence into the world, so an essential part of a prayer meeting is listening carefully to the Holy Spirit who may speak through Scripture, a picture or word, to encourage, guide and direct us. That is both exciting and empowering!
- Out! Having placed ourselves in an awareness of God’s presence and goodness through praise, and received from him in ourselves, we are then in a place to reach out to the world around us in prayer.
Boring? Awkward? Uncomfortable? No thanks! Let’s come in faith, come already full of God, to look up, in and then out. Let’s pray!
- Look out for details of forthcoming prayer meetings coming soon!