Getting back to the basics . . . of prayer
By James Meredith
J. Robert Ashcroft said it well: “There’s nothing easier to ignore, and nothing Satan fights more, than prayer.” Indeed, Christians recognize their need for personal prayer to become all that God has planned for them. Congregations know that prayer is key to the growth, effectiveness and vitality of their church. Pastors affirm the value of prayer through heartfelt sermons.
Yet prayer services are among the least-attended of all church events. Even the strongest of Christians sometimes strain to be consistent in their commitment to pray. And the question becomes, “How can Christians, and congregations, overcome the struggles to give prayer the kind of priority it needs and deserves?”
The National Prayer Center is working to become part of the answer. Over the past several months, NPC has developed an exciting new resource on prayer: Prayer Basics. Designed to be a “Prayer 101” course, it cuts through many of the misconceptions of prayer held by new believers, while reminding veterans in the faith that prayer, at its heart, is simply vital, intimate communication between Christians and our Savior.
Prayer Basics also confronts some of the most common struggles and concerns Christians face when setting out to pray consistently, such as lack of focus, time constraints and feelings of unworthiness. At the same time, it offers practical reminders of what’s at stake when we pray — or fail to do so — consistently.
Each of the seven chapters in the Prayer Basics book includes discussion and personal reflection questions, making Prayer Basics ideal for small group study, midweek services, prayer retreats, prayer seminars and Sunday School classes. And perhaps best of all, the book chapters and sermons are available as free downloads on the NPC Web site, www.prayer.ag.org.
The Web site also offers Prayer Basics video segments for each chapter as well as a free, downloadable sermon outline series. In addition, the National Prayer Center has just completed online lesson adaptations for children and youth, providing opportunity for an intergenerational study on prayer.
There are a wide variety of other resources, many available as free downloads, on the NPC Web site. Included in these free resources are “Ways to Pray” prayer guides designed to fit in a bulletin or Bible, interviews on prayer with pastors and prayer leaders, prayer alerts, a daily prayer-votional, prayer ministry helps and much more.
For more information about the National Prayer Center at General Council, stop by Booth #736 in the Exhibit Hall. Many of the NPC resources will be available at the booth to examine and take home.