J.F. Cowan: The genuine prayer-meeting will not subordinate prayer, as its principal element, for essays on religious topics, for symposiums on popular amusements or the Sunday newspaper, for lectures, for song-services, or for anything else. It will seek to be true to its name - a prayer-meeting. It would be as rational to try to substitute something else for flour in making bread, as to seek to substitute something else for prayer in the prayer-meeting. It is a fine thing to have a warm social atmosphere before and after the meeting, in which warm handshakes and cordial greetings predominate. It is inspiring to have animated, spiritual singing, and much of it. It is refreshing to hear some strong, clear testimonies; but, given all of these, and much more that is good, without considerable strong, earnest prayer, the prayer-meeting is the play of Hamlet with Hamlet left out.
No amount of good talking can make a good prayer-meeting. The impression prevails in some quarters that little homilies, pious exhortations, interesting anecdotes with a religious bearing, and well-selected quotations from popular religious writers are of equal value with prayer in a prayer-meeting. This cannot be true. In the former case we are talking among ourselves. It may be very edifying and helpful; but in the latter instance we are doing business directly with God. An ounce of believing prayer is worth a ton of edifying talk, if the Scriptures are good authority. To be sure, no prayer-meeting leader should object to a personal testimony, or to any contribution calculated to edify, but at the same time there is great need, in the average prayer-meeting, of developing the volume of prayer. How may this be done?
1. By helping the people to understand what prayer is. There may be a great deal of prayer in the meeting that does not go by the name of prayer. There may be much that goes by the name of prayer that is not broad, symmetrical, Scriptural prayer. It may be helpful, here, to analyze prayer into some of its constituent elements; for example, as Mr. Moody did:
(1) Adoration. We cannot meet God on our own level. We must approach Him as One far above us.
(2) Confession. Sin must be put out of the way. There can be no communion with God while there is transgression between us.
(3) Restitution. We must make right the wrong, as far as is possible.
(4) Thanksgiving. If God has been blessing us and we keep still, that is denying Him.
(5) Forgiveness. We must forgive in order to be forgiven.
(6) Unity. Believers must be agreed touching the things they ask.
(7) Faith. We must ask expecting to get the things for which we ask.
(8) Petition. There is no prayer without asking, though all asking is not prayer.
(9) Submission. The "Thy will be done" spirit characterizes true prayer.
All of these elements need not be in every prayer, but all of them must be in the praying of the church, and in whatever way any of these are expressed in the prayer-meeting, that is a part of the praying of the prayer-meeting. Taking this broad view of it, the remark with which the second paragraph of this chapter closes might seem to need qualifying. It does in this way - no one can tell how much prayer there is in a prayer-meeting simply by counting the prayers; there may be praise, adoration, confession, submission, even petition, otherwise expressed, in song, speech, even looks.
2. But what are some of the ways by which the volume of prayer may be increased?
(1) By the use of the Bible. It is the best book of prayer. The greatest prayers are recorded here. Such prayers as those of Moses (Psa. 90), David (Psa. 51), Solomon (1 Kings 8), Paul (Eph. 3:14-21), and Jesus (Matt. 5 and John 17), are not only models of prayer, but incentives to prayer. When the element of prayer seems to be deficient, nothing could better supply the lack than reading together some of these, or other Bible prayers. The reading might be prefaced with the suggestion that each one joining in the reading try to make this prayer his or her prayer.
(2) Praying through song is another way of increasing the volume of prayer. There are, scattered through the hymnal, songs containing all the constituent elements of prayer specified above. If, therefore, audible prayer lags, the leader may suggest the singing of a hymn as a prayer. The singing of "Holy, holy, Lord God Almighty;" is well calculated to awaken feelings of adoration and reverence. "Hear us, O Father, while we pray," will call for a humble, supplicating spirit. In no way could a leader more effectually prepare himself than by going through the hymnal and checking off the hymns that are prayers.
(3) The use of the Psalms of praise is another way of introducing, indirectly, one element of prayer - praise. A word or two, calling attention to the thankful tone pervading the psalm, and then the audience may read it together as their expression of thanksgiving to God for His goodness. It may surprise some to hear that such an exercise should be called prayer, because the majority of us have been accustomed to think only of petition as prayer; yet thanksgiving for what God has given is just as truly prayer, as asking Him for what we want Him to give us.
(4) A place in the meeting for requests for prayer is a capital way to encourage definite, practical prayer. A box may be fastened to the wall of the room to receive such requests, which may be anonymous, and frequent attention may be called to it. Or, if this is to be only an occasional, and not a regular feature, the ushers or others may pass slips of paper, and, after the requests have been written, gather them up again for the leader. Such an exercise not only stimulates more prayer, but it turns the current of thought in the meeting away from self to others. It is a healthy practice, because a self-centered prayer-meeting is always a morbid prayer-meeting.
Should the audience be backward about presenting requests for prayer, the leader may write upon the blackboard a list of objects for which he would like to have prayer offered. It might include
Please Pray for
Our pastor.
Mrs. Jones who is in the hospital.
Our Sunday-school officers and teachers.
The family whose house was burned to-day.
Our Junior society.
This list is susceptible of a great deal of variation. Just think how many good causes in which you are interested, are never mentioned in your church or young people's prayer-meeting:- the public schools, the Salvation Army, the aged people's homes, the hospitals, the W.C.T.U., the men in our army and navy, the policemen, the firemen, the life-savers, etc. There is really no lack of something to pray about, things in which people are really interested, but the church members and young people need leaders who will lead their thoughts to these objects.
(5) Silent prayer is another resource of which not enough is made in the prayer-meeting. With many it has this advantage over audible prayer, that the effort to pray audibly distracts the mind from real communion with God. People shut their eyes at the telephone that they may have the sense of hearing more acute, and on the same principle, silent prayer, with bowed heads, and a hush upon the room, is a very valuable exercise. A season of silent prayer should be prolonged enough that the mind may have time to fix itself upon some definite subject. The average leader who makes use of silent prayer, makes the mistake of cutting the period so short that the purpose is thwarted by precipitancy. He says, "Let us have a moment of silent prayer," and almost as soon as people have bowed their heads he breaks out in audible prayer. A moment in silence, with the clock ticking loudly, is a much longer period than the leader is likely to wait, unless his attention has been called to this point. It would be better for the leader to hold his watch in his hand, or count sixty deliberately, before he gives the organist the signal to play softly some song whose strains will seem to take up the thought of the prayer and waft it heavenward.
By John F. Cowan, New York, 1906
Go to next chapter
Go to previous chapter
By John F. Cowan, New York, 1906
Go to Literature Index Page
This URL is www.abcog.org/cowan11.htm