James 24:7

Not long ago I wrote a bit about what a "praying church" might look like.  I received several thought-provoking emails and comments.  You can scroll down and read some of those in other blog posts.

One comment in particular set me to thinking about whether it is more important for a church to have a reputation as a "praying church" or whether it is more important for a church to have a reputation for a quality of life and ministry that could only be accounted for by the fact that they pray. 

An analogy that came to my mind as I thought about the question is the analogy of a great hitter in baseball.  Such a hitter is known not for the hours and hours of practice he puts in but for how he performs at the plate.  His performance at the plate is the evidence of the hours of practice.  If he somehow practiced and practiced but failed at the plate he would not become known as a great hitter even though he put in hours of practice.

I guess the point is that it is conceivable that a church could put in hours of prayer but fail to bear fruit, especially if the hours of prayer somehow became a competitive event.  (One commentator spoke of visiting a church that is known as a "praying church" and found the prayer meeting to be something of a competitive sport.  Who could pray the most passionately?  Who could pray the most breathlessly?  Who could pray the longest or the most eloquently?   When we allow ourselves to get into that, we would do well to remember Jesus' words concerning doing things for show versus doing things in secret and remember under what conditions it is that we "receive our reward." )

Prayer is part of the fabric of our relationship with God.  Prayer is not a competitive sport or a self-aggrandizing performance.  Just as verbal and non-verbal communication is part of the fabric of a friendship or a marriage, so prayer is part of the fabric of our friendship with God.

In such prayer we may express our praise, our wonder or our thanksgiving.  However, in the context of that friendship we may also make requests, offer petitions and intercede.  In any case, prayer is a God-appointed practice that builds and expresses friendship with God.