Moving Prayer From a Valued Concept to a Culture

Prayer is more than a program. Our goal in the ABNWT is for every church to become a house of prayer that reaches the lost. This isn’t about programs, it’s about Spirit-filled culture. That outcome was the goal of our recent Prayer Gatherings in October.

A Church-wide Culture of Prayer

To develop a church-wide culture of prayer, focus on leadership modelling, practical resources and training, integrating prayer into daily church life through consistent rhythms and special events, and fostering a collective responsibility for a "house of prayer".

This process requires commitment, patience, and year after year effort to move prayer from a valued concept to a practiced reality within the entire congregation. 

Here are practices enculturating prayer, gleaned from churches in the ABNWT.

1. Lead by Example and Cast Vision

• Leaders Pray:

Church leaders must be the primary examples, visibly and consistently engaging in personal and corporate prayer. Taking a knee on the platform to lead in weekend service congregational prayer is a visual statement of humility and dependency.

• Cast Vision:

Clearly cast a vision for a culture of prayer, emphasizing its importance in every aspect of church life. 

• Share Stories:

Celebrating answered prayers builds faith and inspires others. 

2. Integrate Prayer into Church Life

• Schedule Gatherings:

Schedule regular prayer meetings, prayer services, and prayer emphasis times to provide dedicated times for seeking God. 

• Everyday Prayer:

Encourage prayer during all aspects of church activities, such as starting every meeting with scripture-based prayer. Use an app, a group text or WhatsApp to send the congregation prayer reminders and requests daily.

• Prayer Requests:

Create clear pathways for people to submit prayer requests and ensure they are prayed over by the congregation and a dedicated prayer team. 

3. Equip and Resource the Congregation

• Provide Resources:

Offer recommended books, articles, and videos on prayer to inform and inspire your congregation. By Name is a great starting point, and it’s priced at $2 Canadian/book plus shipping. Purchase in bulk. (50 books for $80).

• Practical Training:

Teach practical, varied ways to pray, giving "baby steps" like encouraging two minutes of prayer daily to build the habit over time. 

• Prayer Spaces:

Establish prayer rooms or spaces where people can pray corporately or privately during services and during the week. 

4. Foster a Collective Responsibility

• Personal Commitment:

Emphasize that prayer culture is a personal commitment, not something that can be forced upon anyone. 

• Habit Formation:

Help people understand that building a prayer habit requires discipline, intentional action, and consistency over time, like building physical fitness. 

• Patience:

Recognize that cultivating a prayer culture is a generational endeavour that requires time, patience and perseverance.

There’s no better time than now to start.

Practices of a Culture of Prayer

Northwest Pentecostal Assembly, Edmonton   🔗

• Pre-service prayer on Sunday mornings.

• The pastors make time to pray in every service. People are invited to the front, anointed with oil, and prayed over by a pastor, a board member, an elder, or a prayer team member.

• Prayer happens in staff team meetings twice a month.

• Thirty minutes of prayer is on the agenda of every board meeting.

• A monthly congregational prayer gathering where they make use of prayer stations.

• Prayer walks when congregants walk the neighbourhood and pray for people in their homes, teachers and students in schools, and each business in their neighbourhood.

• Every year begins with a series of Sunday messages on prayer and two weeks of prayer emphasis.

• There is a 24/7 e-mail prayer chain.

God is drawing people to pray. Even employees from a nearby Indian restaurant come to the church during the day to pray. One worker is a Buddhist, and one is a pre-believer, with whom the pastoral team has engaged in redemptive conversations.

BP Church, Calgary 🔗

Over the last eight years, BP church has enculturated prayer through what they call their Prayer Shield. Their target is 10% prayer coverage – 10% of the congregation praying daily for the ministry. The church's growth is fueled by prayer, and there is a tangible effect in the church with the ebb and flow of prayer.

There are four functions in the Prayer Shield.

• Armour Bearers – a prayer team for the pastoral staff. The staff sends their requests for prayer to this team.

• Intercessors – Wednesday night prayer times; a prayer chain for requests.

• Gatekeepers – people who pray in the prophetic

• Personal prayer – there is teaching three or four times a year on different types of prayer to build a personal prayer life.

Wainwright Pentecostal Assembly 🔗

We empower and unleash prayer leaders, hold prayer meetings, and equip intercessors for missional prayer—not just internal needs. A map of Wainwright is displayed in the prayer room showing every street and business. Congregants adopt geographical areas for prayer and take prayer walks to pray for families, businesses, and community leaders.

Abundant Springs Community Church, Pincher Creek 🔗

We hold a monthly children’s program with 63% unchurched kids. On the Sunday before the program starts, we hand out arm bands with the children’s first names and ask the congregation to pray for that child each week.

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