Prayer is an important part of our spiritual life. God speaks to us through His Word (the bible) and we speak to God through prayer. We speak to our earthly fathers and we should take time to speak to our Heavenly Father. While individual prayer is important, it is also important to take time in our worship to God to pray to Him in a public way also.
The Command
James 5:13 and Luke 18:1 tell us some important things:
- We should pray at all times
- We should not lose heart
- We should pray when suffering
The Action
When you visit with us, there will be several public prayers. Some are specific prayers for a particular thing, others are more general. Specific prayers include those for the bread and cup during the Lord’s Supper and a prayer for the offering. General prayers may include several topics:
- Forgiveness of sins
- Blessings on our evangelistic work (both local and international)
- Blessings on our leaders (both church leaders and governmental leaders)
- Blessings on the sick and suffering
- Thanks for the blessings that God constantly gives us (family, friends, jobs, homes, etc.)
- Thanks for the spiritual blessings that God has given us, especially in the form of Christ who came to redeem us from our sins
The Reasons
During his ministry, Jesus highlighted the importance of prayer. He often went off alone to pray. He also taught His disciples how to pray. It was extremely important for Jesus to speak to His Father. It’s important that we do so as well. Even imperfect earthly fathers want their children to talk to them, ask for advice, thank them, and tell them they love them. God is the perfect Father. He wants those things as well.
The Method
While in public worship, we are led in prayer by one of the brethren. Sometimes, he will come to the front of the auditorium and pray there, other times he may opt to remain in his pew and pray from there. It is at his discretion.
While praying, everyone is encouraged to focus their minds on the prayer. To focus, many people opt to bow their heads and close their eyes. This is not required. You choose to leave your eyes open. You may follow along with the public prayer being said or you may opt to offer your own silent prayer while the public prayer is being led. The important thing is that you are focused on praying to our Father.
When concluding the prayer, you will generally hear the person who prays offer the prayer in the name of Jesus Christ and follow that with the word “Amen”.
Colossians 3:17 tells us that “Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father. ” In other words we should pray to God the Father through Jesus Christ the Son. So, our prayers are addressed to God, but we do so in the name of (or by the authority of) Jesus Christ the Son.
The word “Amen” simply means “so be it.” It is used in the bible after many prayers and we follow that biblical example.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 ~ 16 Rejoice always; 17 pray without ceasing; 18 in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.