A Plea for Pray-ers
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Can I be frank? I'm distressed by the low quality of public prayer that is being heard in too many worship services today. Too often, prayer is used as a transition from one event to another. But what if the pastoral prayer was (as some like to say) a main event?
When Solomon dedicated the temple, a large part of his public leadership was a quite pastoral prayer. He knelt and said, "Lord, there is none like you … you've kept your promises … please give attention to my prayer … may you hear the prayer your servant prays toward his place … deliver us when we've been defeated … teach us the way to live … help us to walk in your ways … when we sin, please forgive."
This is not a lightweight prayer. It takes in everybody in the crowd. As he opens the gates of the temple, the king (little k) is interceding to the King (big K) on behalf of all who will come to worship.
I love to be in worship when young men and women are leading. And many of them lead us so well. But when they come to the place where prayer is appropriate, the substance of the prayer sometimes reveals a person who has hardly thought for a minute what they are going to say next. If the music was done like the praying, we'd probably switch bands rather quickly.
"God … we just want to thank you for this day … that we just could … just … sing to you … that we could … just … love you."
Well meant, those words. But they lack thought; they lack power, and they fail to lodge themselves in the souls of their hearers. The aged one losing control of his life who is listening for assurance. The sinner who is listening for hope. The addict who listens for deliverance. And the joyful person, who listens for thanksgiving.
Prayer can be intentional, thoughtful, powerful. Let's give our prayers the energy and depth that our Audience—and our audience—deserves.
Gordon MacDonald is editor at large of Leadership Journal and chancellor of Denver Seminary.
Watch for MacDonald's full-length article on prayer in the Spring issue of Leadership Journal. Not a subscriber? Try a free trial offer!
Copyright © 2012 by the author or Christianity Today/Leadership Journal.
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Gordon MacDonald is chancellor of Denver Seminary and editor-at-large for Leadership Journal. He is author of numerous books, including Going Deep: Becoming A Person of Influence.
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Hard Hearted Iowan
Jeff is right. I've sat through a lifetime of public prayers and they're pretty much all done in complete violation of Matthew 6:5. Luckily, it makes it easy to spot the conniving weasels among us...whether you're in the chambers of the US Senate or just at a Chamber of Commerce ribbon cutting, all you have to do is look for the people making the biggest show of piety. And just as luckily, Matthew makes it easy to stay on the right side of God when it comes to prayer: "When you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you."
Cyndi Bloise
I feel the same about people who say, "Father God," or any other name of God in every other sentence of the prayer. If a friend spoke to me by interjecting my name in-between every other sentence, I would wonder what was going on and if they perhaps needed a reminder of my name or something. I think people do that instead of saying "um," which is, in essence, taking the Lord's name in vain.
Paulette Archer
And that would be why I love liturgy. 'Almighty God, to whom all hearts are open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hidden, cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, that we may more perfectly love you and worthily magnify your holy name.' Beautiful. And not a 'just' in sight. I am of the opinion that there is nothing wrong with using the well-composed prayers of others in public worship, provided they are spoken with sincerity. Sadly, there seems to be a strong trend in the church today to equate spontaneity with sincerity, whilst the considered work of composition and memorisation is seen as evidence of insincerity and false worship.
Carl H Lenz
There is a difference between the prayer spoken in our "closet" and the prayer voiced in public. Public prayer is worship. When participating in worship the pray-er must realize why he is there. He must open his heart and have it his intent to lead those who listen into God's presence. Sounding sincere does not make it good. If it does not praise the Lord and balance with Scripture it is not prayer and is sincerely wrong.
Ricky Ray Taylor
Public prayers need to be purposed to stray from the speakers personal desires and transcend to every listener. Yet, it is true that by doing so - "thought" needs to be involved beforehand on what 's to pray for. Some attempt has to be made to bring the listener to a fresh revelation towards God.
Jeff Fairchild
I sometimes wonder if most public prayers are just to show how spiritual the prayer is. Jesus had something to say about that with the Pharisees prayer-show put on for public consumption. We really need to rethink public praying. Who are we praying to. Are we showing off our elegance or are continuing the sermon? I am becoming convinced that sitting in the quiet of the study that the pastor should be prayerfully writing out the public prayer and allow God's Spirit to lead him/her. Maybe then there would be some integrity in the public prayer. We also need to be very careful who is called upon to pray and that they too should be encouraged to actually prepare to pray.
John McCallum
I wonder anymore if it's possible to say a public prayer without the word "just" being said 20 times. I read someone who called so many of our public prayer "wejus" prayers. "Lord, wejus come to you and wejus want to thank you . . ." The heart is good; the content could be better thought out and expressed.
Phillip Gunton
Public prayer reveals private prayer, and I think it is also why many do not like to pray publicly - their private praying is lacking both quantity and quality.
duane dunham
Consider the power of the early Church when they prayed so earnestly in Acts 4. Remember Jonathan Edwards' usual LONG prayers in his church and then the mighty revival that stirred a young nation. Prayers heard in church ought to be the best efforts of a godly leader addressing the transcendant God and worthy of the privilege.
Brian Stenner
Preachers spend hours preparing what they will say to people in a service. They often spend mere minutes preparing what they will say to Almighty God in public prayer. We are getting our priorities wrong somewhere
Bev Murrill
Very True Gordon... to be honest, I hate the repetitive use of the word 'just' ... Lord, we just really want to thank you and we just really want to tell you how much we just love you... Think People... and get rid of the word just out of your conversation unless you just have to say it!
MJA
Actions speak louder than prayers. =
Leslie
I also love having a benediction. Few Protestant churches do this, but it is a prayer of encouragement and blessing over the church as we go out to minister to the world. Yes, we pray from our hearts when we go in to worship, and we pray that the message will speak to us and speak to our needs. Many of us are broken when we come in, so we do need those prayer. But once we are filled up with the light of the Word, it would be so nice to give thanks for that, remind us how awesome that feels, and to go be the light for others. Most often, in the interest of time, so many churches bring out the piano player for the invitation and final words and then we are dismissed. It feels like we just got out of school or a theater production rather than being sent out to deliver a message of life to a broken world. Thank you for your thoughts, there is souch power available to us through corporate prayer, I hope many will read your wise words on this topic.
Glen Wheeler
Oh how I miss the "pastoral prayer." Last Sunday, the prayer for the communion, the offering, for the one baptism, for the 12 going to Haiti on a mission trip were the prayers. No prayer for the church, no prayer for unity, no prayer for the grieving, no prayer for the unemployed, no prayer for the warring couple, no prayer for missions, no prayer for the unsaved, no prayer for forgiveness---and the list of the spiritual needs of the worshippers goes on. We stand and sing and sing--but it is by His power the church grows. Oh that congregations would strive to be known for their prayer power.
David Walden
Very true. Our words in prayer carry so much meaning and can be our greatest message on a Sunday morning.
Patricia Thomas
Looking forward to the full article as this snippet is right on target, sadly.
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