Whatever Happened to the Prayer Meeting

1. WHATEVER HAPPENED TO
THE PRAYER MEETING?
By Dr. Peter Hammond

3. “After they prayed, the place where
they were meeting was shaken. And
they were all filled with the Holy
Spirit and spoke the Word of God
boldly.” Acts 4:31

4. For centuries the prayer meeting was a central part of
church life, an indispensable part of the weekly
programme. Yet today few Western churches have a
prayer meeting.

5. What was once a major emphasis of church activities has
either been relegated to the sidelines and ignored by most
members, or it has been dispensed with altogether.

6. Many prayer meetings today involve
little prayer.
Even in meetings set aside for
prayer, other activities typically
crowd in and leave little time for
adoration, confession, intercession
and thanksgiving to the Lord.
We need to ask ourselves:
Why is that?

7. When I was converted, 44 years ago, my local church had a
dynamic men’s meeting, prayer meeting and outreach evening
each week.

8. However, television had
been introduced into South
Africa the previous year and
was beginning to encroach
upon the church’s activities.
The men’s meeting was
“temporarily suspended”
because it clashed with
“Rich Man, Poor Man”,
a popular weekly TV
programme.
( the men’s meeting
never reconvened).

9. The weekly door-to-door outreach was also suspended, because it
clashed with many people’s TV viewing. The prayer meeting became a
special gathering for a few dedicated members rather than the weekly
activity of most members. It appeared that in the daily demands and time
pressures, prayer and evangelism were expendable.

10. One would have thought that the church had few greater
priorities than our relationship to God in prayer and reaching
out in evangelism to our neighbour.

11. But then I remember in one of the first church member meetings I
attended that while improving the church’s acoustics at the cost of
R4,000 was approved, it was agreed that the monthly support of the
church’s missionaries could not be increased and would stay at R100.
Evidently missions wasn’t as high a priority as music

12. On one of my first missions behind the Iron Curtain to Eastern
Europe,

13. • one of our persecuted brothers explained how they were
able to recognise true believers, and identify informers
planted by the Communist government:

14. “A real Christian loves God,
a real Christian loves to read the Bible.
A real Christian loves to pray.
And a real Christian hates sin.”

15. Then this pastor added: “We don’t count our members by how
many attend the Sunday service, but by who attends the Bible
study and prayer meeting.”

16. By that standard:
how many real Christians and true
members do we have?

17. A hunger for God’s Word and a desire to pray are some of the first
evidences of the new birth. I remember as a new Christian spending
hours each day in Bible study and prayer. In the army and in the early
years of this mission we spent whole nights in prayer.

18. It was completely natural
and thoroughly enjoyable
as we poured out our hearts
to God in prayer. And
evangelism naturally
flowed out of our times of
intercession.
The more of God’s Word
we studied the more we
wanted to pray. The more
we prayed the greater our
compulsion to share the
Gospel with the unsaved
around us.

19. This is what
the early church
experienced.

20. As they laboured in intensive, heartfelt prayer, they
were filled with the Holy Spirit. Then they went out
and proclaimed God’s Word boldly (Acts 4:31).

21. The Church is called to be “a House of prayer for all
nations”. Intercession, evangelism and missions should be an
indispensable part of every congregation.

22. The prophet Samuel described prayerlessness as a sin (1 Samuel 12:23).
The Reformer John Knox prayed: “Give me Scotland or I die!” No
wonder Mary Queen of Scots declared that she was more afraid of the
prayers of John Knox than of an army of ten thousand.

23. The Bible places great emphasis on prayer:
“Pray continually” 1 Thessalonians 5:19

24. “Look to the Lord
and His strength;
seek His face
always.”
1 Chronicles 16:11

25. “You will seek Me and you will find Me,
where you search for Me with all your
heart.” Jeremiah 29:13

26. “Search me
O God and know my
thoughts I pray.
See if there be some
wicked way in me;
cleanse me from every
sin and set me free.”
Jeremiah 17:10

27. “Watch and pray, lest you enter into
temptation. The spirit indeed is
willing, but the flesh is weak.”
Matthew 26:41.
Our ability to withstand temptation is directly related to our prayer life.

28. It is after the
disciples had failed
to stay awake and
watch and pray
with the Lord Jesus
in the garden of
Gethsemane, that
their courage failed
them and they fled.
Prayer is serious,
spiritual warfare.

29. “Then Jesus told
His disciples...that
they should
always pray
and not
give up.”
Luke 18:1

30. The Bible speaks of a variety of postures for
prayer.

31. • We read of some
lifting up their hands
in prayer
(Jeremiah 8:6),
• standing
(Mark 11:25),
• Kneeling
(Acts 20:36),
• bowing down
(Jeremiah 8:6),
• lying down
(Matthew 26:39),
• and praying with
ones eyes open

32. While it can be very
helpful to fold our
hands, close our eyes
and bow our heads
when we pray, to
avoid being
distracted, the
primary issue isn’t
the position of our
body, but the
condition of our
heart.

33. Frequently the practice of kneeling in prayer helps
humble our hearts before God. Most importantly,
our prayer must come from a pure heart.

34. “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and
you will find; knock and the door will be
opened to you.” Matthew 7:7

35. “Yet you have not called upon Me…you
have not wearied yourselves for Me...”
Isaiah 43:22

36. “No one calls upon Your Name or strives
to lay hold of You.” Isaiah 64:7

37. “Will the evildoers never learn… who do
not call on God?” Psalm 53:4

38. “The shepherds are senseless and do not
inquire of the Lord; so they do not prosper
and all their flock is scattered.”
Jeremiah 10:21

39. “All this disaster has come upon us, yet we have not sought
the favour of the Lord our God by turning from our sins and
giving attention to Your truth.” Daniel 9:13

40. Prayerlessness is a root sin. To reverse this disastrous trend
we need to give attention to the Word of God, study the
Scriptures, pray the Psalms, turn from our sins, and seek the
Lord.

41. A sinning man will stop praying.

42. A praying man will stop sinning.

43. Men would live better if they prayed more.

44. Men would pray more if they lived better.

45. A prayerful life is always a powerful life.

46. A prayerless life is always a powerless life.

47. “If I regard
iniquity in my
heart,
the Lord will
not hear me.”
Psalm 66:18

48. “The effectual, fervent prayer of a
righteous man availeth much.” James 5:16

49. THE POWER OF PRAYER
“If you remain in Me, and My Words remain in you,
ask whatever you will, and it will be given you.”
John 15:7

50. If you are too busy to pray then you’re busier than
God wants you to be.
There is nothing beyond the reach of prayer except
that which is outside the will of God.

51. Praying is to the spiritual life
what breathing is to the physical life.

52. Prayer is communication with God.

53. God speaks to us through His Word, The Bible.

54. We must respond to God in worship, adoration, confession,
thanksgiving and supplication.

55. We are commanded to pray: “Seek the Lord and His
strength; seek His face evermore!” 1 Chronicles 16:11

56. “Then He spoke a parable to them, that
men always ought to pray and not lose
heart.” Luke 18:1

57. All spiritual failure,
dryness and defeat can
be traced back to a lack
of prayerful contact
with and dependence
upon the Lord.
Prayer is the source of
spiritual growth.
Prayer is the price of
spiritual success.

58. “Pray always with all
prayer and supplication
in the Spirit, and
watchful to this end with
all perseverance and
supplication for all the
Saints.” Ephesians 6:18
Part of putting on the whole
Armour of God is:

59. “If My people,
who are called according to My Name,
will humble themselves and pray
and seek My face
and turn from their wicked ways,
then will I hear from Heaven,
I will forgive their sin
and I will heal their land.”
2 Chronicles 7:14

60. “And pray in the
Spirit on all
occasions with all
kinds of prayers and
requests…
be alert and always
keep on praying for
all the saints”
Ephesians 6:18

61. “Call unto Me and I will
answer thee, and show thee
great and mighty things, which
thou knowest not.”
Jeremiah 33:3
It is an enormous privilege to
be able to communicate with
our Creator:

62. And our church ought to be “…a house of prayer for
all nations” Mark 11:17.
“Go ye into all the world and preach the
Gospel” Mark 16:15

63. “The
effectual,
fervent prayer
of a righteous
man avails
much.”
James 5:16

64. “If you abide
in Me and My
Words abide
in you then
you will ask
whatever you
want of Me
and it shall be
given to you.”
John 15:7

66. FRONTLINE FELLOWSHIP
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Newlands, 7725
Cape Town
South Africa
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