Last week we observed that many pastors in the church today are reluctant to give consistent, bold, and enduring public leadership to prayer in their churches.   We concluded that just as a pastor cannot lead the church in the ministry of the word simply from a desk, neither can you lead a church in prayer simply from a “closet.”  The kind of leadership that creates a culture of prayer in a church requires pastoral modeling and participation in a community context.

Of course, private prayer is essential.  The Scripture calls spiritual leaders to seek the Lord individually and regularly intercede for others.  Yet, too many good pastors seem content with leaving their prayer impact at the closet door.  Why is this?

Why Church Leaders Remain in Their Prayer Closets

In my book Fresh Encounters, I wrote extensively about these issues based on my own struggle in prayer and conversations with many pastoral colleagues.  As I see it, our reluctance to lead our churches in prayer is rooted in the eight following factors:

Rugged individualism – Perhaps the defining characteristic of Western Civilization is rugged individualism.  Professor and Pastor Gene Getz notes that our “lens” of individualism causes us to re-interpret the prayer commands in the New Testament, making them individual in application when they were really given in a community context in the early churches, and applied accordingly.  Today, we can easily conclude that it is sufficient simply to pray in an individual setting.

Closet Confusion – We have misunderstood the meaning of the place of prayer in Matthew 6 where Jesus is giving group instructions to His disciples about their prayer lives.  Even though the model prayer is composed entirely of plural pronouns (“Our Father…give us…“), we have turned their upper room into a solitary cubicle based on our own cultural overlay and unfortunate misunderstanding of the word “closet” (used only in the 1611 KJV).  Again, I have two chapters about this in Fresh Encounters.

Limited vision – Most pastors have never really experienced a positive example of a dynamic, praying church.  What many of us did experience was counterproductive in the form of request-based gatherings that include endless lists of physical needs, some discussion, and even a little gossip – but little real prayer.  I often note the Brazilian proverb that says, “The heart cannot taste what the eyes have not seen.”  Without the living vision and experience of transforming prayer, it is hard to understand the clear path to bold, enduring leadership.

Inadequate training – Bible colleges and seminaries marginalize prayer when training pastors.  Seldom is there even one entire class devoted to the subject of prayer.  Many seminary leaders omit prayer because it is not “academic” enough.  They subvert the biblical requirements for pastoral leadership in the name of scholarship.  Virtually every pastor I know admits that college and seminary offered very little training in how to develop a prayer culture or lead a church in prayer as a pastor.  We just assume they will “get it.”  Most often, they do not.

Cultural pushback – Our quick fix, results-oriented culture expects a pastor to be a program-producing CEO who speaks, manages, and runs to the next meeting with Wall-Street pizzazz.  These expectations can leave a pastor with little margin and waning motivation for real impact in prayer.

Personal defeat – Some pastors are defeated in their own prayer life and do not feel adequate to lead in prayer.  Yet, if they start leading, everyone prays more – including the pastor.  Prayer grows and deepens.  The ministry wins.

Spiritual distraction – The devil does not have to destroy a pastor; he simply needs to distract a pastor.  The devil is not too troubled by talent, education, charisma, and administrative ability.  A praying pastor who has taken up the powerful weapons of spiritual warfare to fight the good fight – by praying always, personally and in community, threatens the enemy.

Fear of intimacy – Because so many of us have grown up with such relational dysfunction, we carry a low-grade fear of real, wholesome intimacy.  This is evident in marriages, in friendships, and in the church.  We see it among pastors as well.  Because prayer is an exercise of spiritual intimacy, praying in community is often avoided.

The Blessing of Coming Out of the Closet

One of the great joys of my life is the experience of watching churches grow into a life-giving congregation that exhibits a real culture of prayer.  Not only have I known the grace and joy of seeing this happen in the congregations I have served – but also every year I am with pastors around the nation who are providing essential public prayer leadership for their people.  The blessings abound when this occurs:

1. Christ-honoring Ministry – The Lord is delighted when a church truly becomes a “house of prayer” (Mark 11:17) and when they implement Paul’s command that the church pray “first of all” (1 Timothy 2:1).  Christ is exalted when the kingdom advancements in a ministry are directly attributed to the Spirit of God in connection with the prayer activity of the church.  This correlation points to the power of God rather than the wisdom of men (1 Corinthians 2:5).

2. Spiritual Health – Congregational health emerges when a Spirit-energized movement of prayer grows in a congregation.  Believers who experience the power of worship-based prayer enjoy a genuine unity of heart and mind.  Trust is strengthened as hearts connect in worship and believing prayer.

3. Missional Impact – Just as the early church could not help but speak of what they had seen and heard (Acts 4:20), praying churches are empowered and equipped to share the gospel, reach out to the needy, plant churches, and expand their global outreach.  The Holy Spirit is a witness-bearing Spirit and real prayer brings Christians more fully under practical surrender to the Spirit’s control.

4. Manifest Presence – Praying churches experience the reality of 2 Corinthians 3:18 as they collectively behold the glory of the Lord and are transformed from “glory to glory” into Christ’s image by the power of the Spirit.  It is common for church guests to be gripped by a sense of the presence of God.  Every pastor longs for his church to be identified by the reality of the manifest presence of Christ.  Praying churches tend to enjoy an authentic experience of this reality.

Following the Spirit’s Direction into New Experiences of His Blessings

In truth, many other benefits and blessings accompany a growing, pastor-led prayer culture.  Let us make it our collective prayer that these positive realities will become the norm in our nation.

Today, if you are a pastor reading this devotional, I pray that you will ultimately sense the Spirit’s clear direction for your life and ministry as He guides you into a growing realm of influence in prayer in your church.  He is always faithful to direct and to provide the time and energy for the things that are close to the heart of Christ.

If you are a church member, continue to pray for a greater movement of God’s Spirit in awakening the church and her leaders to their need to seek God’s face.  Keep a godly and supportive heart as you find opportunities to engage in prayer with others in your church.  If the Lord wants this kind of movement to occur (and we believe that He does), He will continue to prompt hearts and orchestrate opportunities.  Trust Him – but move ahead with passion and perseverance.