Introduction
How do we pray to the Almighty? Prayer in its simplest form is directed to God, the object of our prayer. It is not something to be taken lightly. In this short article, I hope to address public prayer expressed by a nominated person to lead a prayer on behalf of the congregation.
Present Day Prayers and How to Improve Them
To quote from Brother Eddy’s sermon on 24 September 2023, “Prayer is our access to God. The God of the universe wants to hear us and help us. There is power in prayer.” In the church context, a brother is pre-nominated to lead a whole congregation in prayer.
We have observed that on Sunday, we have the opening prayer before Bible class and the opening prayer during worship. This is not the time for testing/training our young men, they ought to be taught how to lead the prayer prior to being put up as prayer leaders. They are, after all, leading the hearts and minds of all the congregation.
Prayer is not a one to two minute narration without any structure, which is neither leading or inspiring the soul to deeply approach the Almighty in a spiritual embrace. It is also not a lengthy discourse, which is repetitious and draggy, delivered in a monotone. This causes the listener to lose interest and drains his thoughts into different directions, just waiting for it to end.
Some denominational prayers can go on and on for 20 to 30 minutes, with the prayer leader repeating phrases like, “Praise the Lord, Hallelujah”, peppered throughout the prayer, as if these words have some magical powers by themselves. Let’s face it. Long and lengthy prayers are not really useful in a congregational setting.
Tone
Public prayers must be clearly delivered, not monotonous and flat. The congregation should not be straining to hear them. One can argue that it is our duty to concentrate. True, but like a class teacher in a public school, the recipient wants to clearly hear what is being delivered.
Content & Structure
The lack of content and structure in a public prayer makes it a misdirected prayer. Without a planned structure, the prayer leader says whatever comes to his mind at that time. Some address God in one sentence and then launch straight into the request and supplications. Some sentences are not really required in our context, for example, “We pray for those who are on their way to church.” We are not living in perilous times. If they are still on the way to church, then they are late. In ancient times or during calamitous events, such as bad weather, this would be a good thing to say due to the uncertainties and dangers.
Structure – Possible Format
There may be other formats, but a useful one is the acronym, A.C.T.S. Here is the breakdown:
A – Acknowledge God.
Bring the congregation into the presence of God. Address Him, acknowledge Him as our God. Talk about God as Almighty, Provider, Giver and Controller of All Life, Sustainer, Our Peace, Mercy Giver, lover of human soul and our judge. Some of these terms will come at this stage of the prayer. We are calling out to Him.
C – Confession.
Here in the next step, the prayer leader leads the congregation as a whole to seek forgiveness for our sins. (Remember Romans 3:23 – ‘for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God’). Here is the opportunity for all individuals to deeply atone for our sins and seek forgiveness. Then as a church, the congregation of believers can also seek forgiveness for our failures and show a commitment to redeem ourselves in our service to God.
T – Thanksgiving.
In this step, we give thanks and glory to God for the things He has done for us. Individually, we commit our thanks to the Lord. Collectively, we thank God for His oversight and blessings upon the Church. The prayer leader acknowledges God’s love and we express our gratefulness to God for the elders, deacons, faithful servants, God’s blessings for things He had already done for the Church, which we may take for granted. Lord, we thank you for 1, 2, 3, 4, etc.
S – Supplications.
In this last step, we make our requests known to Him, though He already knows, we must still voice it out. Jesus made some reference to this when He said not to make vain repetitions because God knows what we need before we even ask of Him (Matthew 6:7-8). Even so, we are still to pray because following what He said, Jesus taught His disciples how to pray (Matthew 6:9ff). Paul also exhorted the Thessalonians to pray regularly (1 Thessalonians 5:17). Supplications that can be submitted involve areas such as church programmes (Gospel meetings, lectureships, others). It will also include prayers for the sick and prayers for the needs of the church. Others may include special requests by a church member for his/her spiritual improvement, travelling etc. The request acknowledges that God is in control, and we need His assistance to overcome the crises, difficulties and obstacles that we face. Don’t forget the prayers for our Four Seas College, students, faculty, their programmes and the families of our students.
Supplications can also include regional issues that can impact us here in JCOC or the local church. These may include:
The safety of Christians in other parts of the world who face persecutions and natural disasters.
Poverty reduction and God’s care for the poor in this world.
Our fellow COCs in Asia who are generally poor and suffer hardships. If we know specific issues, these can be prayed for.
For wars and conflicts to end, so that world evangelism would not just be a dream, but a possibility.
For God to raise righteous men and women to lead and remove corrupt and evil people who bring harm to humanity.
Our country, leaders etc.
Others.
Conclusion
Remember, prayer leaders have a solemn responsibility to bring the congregation’s prayers to God’s throne in a respectable, coherent and thoughtful manner.
Remember also that the listeners in the congregation have a responsibility to be properly led in prayers. People by and large know if a prayer is respectfully and carefully presented, or if it is not.
The details mentioned in this article would equally apply to our individual prayers, as the essentials are the same.
Therefore, let us consider carefully how we present our prayers to the Almighty. There is nothing wrong with writing down our prayers if that is what we desire and reading them out publicly. A good prayer refreshes us all, the hearers, and we can concentrate in worshipping God in spirit and in truth.
Ask Myself:
What is a possible structure I can use in prayer?
What did Jesus tell His disciples with regards to prayer in Matthew 6?
Using examples in the Bible, how can I improve my prayer life and help others in their prayer life?
Answers:
Acknowledge God, Confession, thanksgiving, Supplications.
Do not make vain repetitions (Matthew 6:7-8) and don’t follow the heathens in how they pray.
You may discuss this with the writer or your Bible class teacher.