Question: Is Your Church a Praying Church?

Today, our topic is prayer as we continue this blog series on healthy churches. Here’s a list of questions to evaluate your own church’s commitment to prayer. 

1. As a leader, are you personally a prayer warrior? This conversation really does begin here, as praying churches are led by praying leaders.
2. Does the church have a recognized prayer leader in addition to the pastor? Sometimes it’s a layperson, and sometimes it’s a staff member—but the strongest praying churches I’ve seen have somebody leading that charge.
3. Based on the worship service, would I recognize the church as a praying church? Is prayer central to your worship, or is it perfunctory and routine?
4. Does each small group have a designated prayer leader? Small groups can be prayer powerhouses for the congregation. If no one promotes prayer in the group, though, it’s not likely they’ll be that powerhouse.
5. When was the last time the church offered intentional prayer training? A lack of training will result in a lack of strong praying members.
6. Does the church talk about prayer more or actually pray more? Simply stated, we can talk about prayer a lot without ever talking to God. We can even do a prayer study without praying much.
7. Does your church pray more proactively or reactively? Do you pray for families only after you hear they’re struggling? Do you pray for young people only after you learn they’re wandering? Or, do you pray intentionally for each other before the enemy wins? 
8. Are new believers taught to pray? My church when I was a new believer told me that I needed to pray, but they didn’t teach me how to do it. That approach almost always results in weak prayer.
9. Does the staff pray together on a regular basis? I am continually struck by how seldom church leaders actually pray together. If leaders don’t seek God’s face regularly, why should they expect the members to do so?
10. Does your church share and celebrate answered prayer? Believers will likely pray more when they regularly hear more often about God’s intervention.
11. If a member of the community needed prayer, would he/she turn to your church based on your church’s reputation? Your members will spread the news if your church is a praying church that sees results—and the community will take note.
12. Would you say with confidence that your church is a “house of prayer” (Luke 19:46)? If you’re not certain, perhaps your church is not yet a praying church. Or, maybe your leaders have not talked enough about prayer that is happening in your congregation. Either way, improvement is in order.

Is your church a praying church?