Dear Pastor,
I feel I need to share some thoughts with you about your chosen topic last night: Corporate Prayer.
Some people may not come to prayer meetings because they don’t pray at home and believe they will be hypocrites by coming to a prayer meeting.
Some may have a very strong private prayer life and feel they can be just as effective, or maybe more so, by praying at home. These individuals could even resent the implication (in announcements) that corporate prayer is the only effective way to pray.
Some may have been to prayer meetings, at this church or elsewhere, but don’t return because the format is not comfortable for them. I, for one, find myself distracted by others’ prayers. As a result, when in corporate prayer meetings, I pray quietly in the Spirit in order to stay focused on prayer. I love corporate prayer meetings where prayer is one at a time with the others agreeing with the vocal person.
There may be other reasons folks don’t come to prayer meetings. It might be worthwhile for you to privately ask individuals their reasons. Or ask folks to complete an anonymous form on the subject. Such questions could even be incorporated into a more comprehensive questionnaire about how folks feel about a variety of church related issues: home groups, fellowship, outreaches, gift expressions, etc.
© Beverly Caruso