Prayer is the powerhouse of the church. It is said that the spirituality of a church can be measured by the substance and demeanour of its weekly prayer meeting.
We need to ask ourselves if there is a genuine evangelistic concern. Is there a heartfelt longing for the conversion of the unsaved? Is there a global vision and a fervent desire for revival and the propagation of the gospel to other lands?
But what is true prayer? John Bunyan defines prayer as ‘a sensible, sincere and affectionate pouring out of the heart or soul to God through Christ – in the strength and assistance of the Holy Spirit – for such things as God has promised according to his word for the church, with submission in faith to the will of God’ (John Bunyan, Praying in the Spirit, 1662).
The church should rally regularly at the throne of grace, to intercede for the lost, pray for the spiritual well-being of its members, and praise and thank God corporately – all to the edification of saints.
Corporate intercession
Spurgeon, the prince of preachers in nineteenth-century England, emphasised corporate prayer: ‘In 1866 Spurgeon instituted daily prayer meetings at the Metropolitan Tabernacle in London at 7 in the morning and again 7:30 each evening’ (The Life & Work of C. H. Spurgeon, Holden Pike, Banner of Truth, 1991).
