HEALTHY CHURCH: Spiritual Dynamics — Disciplined Prayer

Prayer is the most difficult spiritual discipline to maintain. You know you should be praying more, but for some reason, that knowledge does not seem to translate into disciplined action. Chuck Lawless stated, “Prayer loses its place in our lives, and we fight today’s battles based on yesterday’s power.” You know you should pray more, and the Scriptures instruct you to pray more, but our practice does not live up to that truth. Most of the time, you have to practice something as a habit before it becomes part of who you are. The goal in building a culture of prayer is to make progress, not perfection.

Building habits into your life requires the disciplines of intentionality, scheduling and consistency. Habits are not built in a day, but they do require starting today. As stated before by Charles Swindoll, “Discipline is control gained by enforced obedience.” In other words, sometimes you have to force yourself to do what you know you should do even when you do not want to do it. Swindoll continued, “When I see the word discipline, I think of punishing workouts that produce results everyone admires… and no one enjoys.” There is a price that must be paid today for things to change and be different tomorrow.

The term discipline does not immediately cause you to jump up and down with joy, but you still must consider the need for discipline to achieve the desired outcome in your life, whether physical or spiritual. In the area of prayer, this requires a commitment and dedication to personal and congregational development. In Acts 2:42, Scripture says, “And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.” They devoted themselves to prayer, and that means they zealously committed to communicating with God without ceasing.

The temptation and tendency in this age is to increase our speed and get busier in our Christian lives and ministries. In the process, our walk with God stays shallow, and our tank runs low on fumes. The means (spiritual discipline)leads to a very satisfying end (spiritual intimacy with God). I Thessalonians 5:17 challenges us to “Pray without ceasing.” You should be strong and committed to teaching people how to pray more effectively but also rejoice in the truth that no one requires significant training to simply talk to God.

From the youngest to the least-trained, to the newest believer and to the smallest church, the power of prayer can be seen and experienced through God’s working because of your persistence and faithfulness in crying out to Him. When prayer becomes part of the DNA of the church, God’s power is released. The DNA of prayer can be defined as “a fundamental commitment or foundation that characterizes (describes) a church.” Do people know your congregation as a house of prayer? Is prayer seen as your first recourse or your last resort? Is corporate prayer in your church practiced or only promoted?

If prayer is your DNA, both individually and as a congregation, that means you pray consistently. It means you not only talk about and preach about prayer, you pray. It is far too easy to talk and teach about prayer without really praying. Concerning prayer being in our DNA, Chuck Lawless said, “When something — such as prayer — is so ingrained in a church that they (and others) equate the church with that commitment.” Pastor, are you preaching, teaching, challenging and admonishing others more than you are actually praying? How can you increase your prayer life individually and as a congregation?

If you are not dedicated to protecting and practicing prayer consistently, you can easily fall into the trap of prayerlessness. Jack Taylor defined prayerlessness as “That state in which one prays less than he ought, less than the Father desires and less than you know you should.” Developing and raising up prayer warriors will take time, and you must be willing to start small and not become discouraged with the modest numbers. You can start today and then watch God move while you remain committed to persevering and running the race of persistent prayer. Don’t ask God for tasks equal to your abilities. Pray for God’s power equal to His tasks.

Are we no longer desperate for God? Have we advanced to where we trust more in our planning, systems, programs, initiatives, education, experience and work ethic than in the power of prayer? Chuck Lawless expounded on this dilemma when he said, “Seemingly capable, self-dependent congregations with little or no burden for nonbelievers simply do not pray well.” Even when prayer is difficult, pray. Even when the newness of prayer wears off, pray. Even when you wonder if God is hearing you, pray. Even when you feel like you are the only one, pray. The embers of your prayer life may eventually produce a flame and fire in your church.

Here are a few resources you can check out:

• Prayer with No Intermission: 40 Days to Unceasing Prayer by Bill Elliff

• The Potential and Power of Prayer by Chuck Lawless

• A Praying Church: Becoming a People of Hope in a Discouraging World by Paul E. Miller

• Prayer 101 by Warren W. Wiersbe

• Praying the Lord’s Prayer for Spiritual Breakthrough by Elmer L. Towns

• Reach out to us for this free resource to use in your church — Developing a Prayer Culture.

Will you be ready for God’s assignment when He calls and when He is ready to reveal it to you? Your prayerfulness declares your dependency on God. Your prayerlessness declares your trust in yourself.