The more we see it, the more we recognize — creating a culture of prayer can’t happen merely by scheduled events. We have to get people praying all along the way, along the journey. Whenever anyone even mentions a concern or a need, we need our leaders, as well as all our team members, to be thinking about prayer — and then we need them to “stop the presses and pray” right there on spot. This behavior is “better caught than taught.” But we’re convinced that one of the keys is just promising one’s self that, if the idea even occurs in one’s head to pray, one simply MUST pray, out loud, with the team member, at that time. Maybe that prompting comes directly from the Holy Spirit. Either way, it has to be real. It can’t be fake. Was it Jim Cymbala who wrote, “When ministry becomes performance, then the sanctuary becomes a theatre, the congregation becomes an audience, worship becomes entertainment, and man’s applause and approval become the measure of success. But when ministry is for the glory of God, His presence moves into the sanctuary. Even the unsaved visitor will fall down on his face, worship God, and confess that God is among us.”
Thank you! Seems to me this is much needed in many places.