Lenten Prayer Emphasis

This week marks the beginning of a special focus on prayer in our church. Our worship services in March will be highlighting different aspects of prayer in a variety of ways. Many of our Sundays School classes will be studying prayer. Our library has some prayer resources on display. Prayer will also be emphasized in several ways on Wednesday evenings, and prayer resources will be on our church website. Beginning March 8 we will even have “prayer walls” throughout the church where people can post their “prayers of the heart.”

This prayer emphasis was first launched by our Christian Formation Ministry Team. They believed that Lent (the period of 40 days leading up to Easter) was a good time to challenge our church to focus on our inner spiritual lives. They also believed that prayer was essential to our health as Christians and as a church. It has been fun to watch the emphasis take on a life of its own as different people and groups have gotten on board!

I’m not sure what the result of all this prayer emphasis will be. The hope of the team that launched it was that it would encourage people to draw closer in their own relationship to God. I certainly share that hope and am praying to that end. An enjoyable side benefit in the planning, however, has been that it has caused people to share more about their own prayer lives. I’ve had conversations I wouldn’t have normally had, and have learned about fellow church members’ joys and struggles in prayer.

One question I like to ask folks is “What has helped you the most in your own prayer life?” For me it was learning that God loved me unconditionally. Prayer was an effort when I pictured God as a judge wanting to criticize me. It has become a real strength in my life since I discovered he was more like a loving parent wanting me to come to him.

What might help you most in your own prayer life? Answers will vary from person to person. Perhaps your greatest immediate need is to discover and deal with whatever inhibits your prayer life. Maybe you’re accomplished at intercessory prayer but need to strengthen other elements, such as praise or confession or listening for God’s guidance. Some of us need a prayer partner - someone to pray for and with us. Others of us need to cultivate the discipline of private prayer.

What might help you most in your own prayer life? My prayer is that you find the best answer for you in the course of our prayer emphasis.


Phil Potratz



To respond to this blog go to the Connections Google Group where I have started a conversation called Prayer Emphasis and join in the discussion.