Yesterday, we attended the quarterly “When We Pray” county-wide concert of prayer. Each time it’s held, the 4-hour Saturday morning even is housed in a different evangelical church building throughout Lake County, IL. There aren’t many places where believers from a w-i-d-e variety of churches can come to intercede for the time and place in which we live. The gatherings are not characterized by truce-like ecumenism, but by a kingdom desire for John 17 -type unity.
Attendance over the last few years we’ve participated has ranged from maybe 80 to more than 300, depending on the weather, location, how much promotion has gone on, and what other events are happening across the county.
Did I mention that Lake County, IL has over 700,000 residents?
Though Jesus says 2 or 3 gathered in His name is a spiritual quorum, a minyan, I can’t help but wonder what would move more people to participate in county-wide corporate prayer.
My question isn’t about creating programming to attract people. Programming isn’t prayer. My question is more about what it will take to bring us out of our church silos to do the thing God’s beloved children alone have the privilege of doing – coming to our Father in repentance, asking Him to bring revival to our brothers and sisters across the county, seeking Him for salvation for our families, friends and neighbors.
Are our differences in worship style and minor points of doctrine really enough to keep us apart?
Are our lives so busy that dropping in for even an hour is too much of a tall order for most of us?
Is it because so many of our churches aren’t really characterized by prayer, so the idea of coming together with people from other churches is just too big of a jump for people?
Do socio-economic factors keep us apart from one another?
What am I missing?
I know there are pray-ers across the county: kids who love to pray, mothers whose intercession is more tears than words, dads who want to seek for righteousness for their families, teens groaning deep in their souls for their friends, pastors at the end of themselves, older folks crying out with first-love fervor.
What would draw these people together, out of their silos, to seek God? Any thoughts?
Sharing is caring!
I hear your confusion. I really think the desire to pray together is based on whether or not we are actually praying from Monday through Sunday. Intimacy with Christ starts in our own prayer closet and then spills out when we gather in one accord. I really think its that simple, that we bring to the prayer meeting what we have learned in our private prayer closet. (Did I say prayer meeting–sadly finding one of those is about as easy as finding a service to honor Jesus on Christmas Day).
Agreed, Joanie. It starts in the prayer closet and overflows into our corporate gatherings.
What makes me sad is that the corporate gatherings (prayer meetings in most churches, or regional prayer meetings like the “When We Pray” gathering I described in this post) aren’t well attended. If as the church are called to be a house of prayer, seeing the lack of interest is a little disheartening.
Are corporate prayer gatherings well-attended in your church?