Being in ministry for a little over 15 years, I have seen many different American churches and Army Chapels. So, I do not want to appear to critique a specific chapel or church. However, an observation that I made several years ago remains to an observation regarding the lack of authentic prayer that occurs in our church services. I remember thinking in chapel when I was downrange, “Why is it that nearly every service that I attend only has a couple of preprogramed prayers?
I find that these prayers typically come in two forms: First, there is the Short and to the point “let’s get this over with” prayers. On the other hand, I remember the long “let’s draw this out as long as it takes to feel spiritual prayers.” These two categories are harsh descriptions and not at all found in all church.
But these two types of prayers lead me to wonder the if in church, do we really pray, or is it something we stick in the service because we have to. I have been in services where the prayers were authentic and appropriate and well meaning. We simply don’t have enough of that. The church service needs to be a place of prayer. Church leaders need to be teaching prayer in the service, demonstrating how it is done, and teaching how to pray in our own lives. We must remember that demonstrating worship is so important to a culture who has forgotten God.
Let’s stop praying in stale spur-of-the moment prayers and begin communicating with God. It doesn’t have to long, but it needs to be authentic.
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This post is a fresh rewrite of a post title “We don’t pray enough in Chapel” from April 2008.
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