Kie Bowman

We learn about grace, worship, sacrifice, and generosity from shepherds and magi. But if we want to learn about prayer at Christmas, the stars of the pageant don’t really tell the story. Instead, to learn about prayer we turn to the “bit players” in the Christmas story. Let’s pull the curtains back to get a glimpse of the heroes of prayer.

According to the late Stephen Olford, “Only one thing will ever take the place of great preaching – and that’s greater preaching!” The concept of what constitutes “greatness” is a reflection of priorities. In this regard, the earliest preachers saw the greatness of preaching as an outgrowth of their commitment to prayer (Acts 6:4). Eventually, in the process of preaching, the two apostolic ministries uniquely conjoin when we preach on prayer. 

“Lord, teach us to pray.” That appeal, in itself, is one of the greatest prayer requests in the New Testament (Luke 11:1). The request is also a powerful reminder that prayer can be taught. Preaching on prayer, therefore, is a practice which follows in the ministerial footsteps of the Lord, who frequently preached on prayer (Matthew6:6-15;Mark 11:24-26; Luke 11:9-13; John 14:13-14; etc.). 

Thanking God for His goodness while we’re still in the process of making a request is biblical prayer as God intends it. God wants us to thank Him. In fact, Jesus was once astonished that people who had experienced a healing which was medically impossible in those days disregarded the opportunity to give Him thanks.

Americans are surprisingly optimistic about answered prayer. In fact, nearly 25 percent of people who pray told Lifeway that all their prayers are answered!

God moves powerfully when churches unite in prayer for their cities. On a prayer walk with his wife Mary Anne, under a streetlight at midnight in an Austin neighborhood, Pastor Trey Kent sensed the Lord leading him to recruit 30 other churches to cover the city in unceasing prayer.

Why are we so worried and what are we so worried about? No matter how we answer those questions, all of us can admit Americans are worried. The unpredictable economy, the immigration crisis, crime waves in American cities, and a war in the Middle East have done nothing to relieve our stress.

If you want your team to lead more prayerfully, a staff prayer retreat is a game changer. It’s a necessity for any church attempting to build a culture of prayer. Even if you’ve never led a staff prayer retreat, you should start planning one now. 

The old adage says, “Desperate times call for desperate measures.” Jonathan Edwards evidently believed something similar regarding prayer. For instance, one feature of the 18th century’s First Great Awakening was Edwards’ call to “extraordinary prayer.” By extraordinary prayer, he meant, among other things, frequent, passionate, faithful, and unified prayer with other believers in order to experience revival. 

Wesley Duewel, the 20th century missionary and prayer leader, once observed, “Praise gives you the spirit of triumph and overcoming. Praise fires you with holy zeal. It lifts you above the battles to the perspective of God’s throne.” As a result of the significance of praise, it must be obvious that no prayer life is maturing properly until it includes frequent expressions of praise.