Inviting God to Stay in the Room

By Elaine Helms

Does anyone have a prayer request?” This is the way many prayer times in our churches begin. That question generates lots of detail about health, wealth, and other temporal issues of life. It’s as though we are asking God to leave the room so we can talk about what we’re going to talk to Him about when we pray. When we finally get around to praying, we usually rush because we used up our time by sharing details of our requests. I believe this pattern is one reason prayer gatherings dwindle.

Perhaps a Better Way? While it is biblical to bear one another’s burdens (Gal. 6:2), there may be a better way to approach leading a prayer time.

Asking for prayer requests first, keeps us focused on ourselves and how big our problems are. For example, if I hold an opened book in front of my face, it will seem like the biggest thing in the room. But when I put the book on the table, I see it in proper perspective to everything else.

Much the same way, if we focus on our circumstance, it seems like the biggest and most urgent thing in the world. But when we instead begin a prayer time with praise, focusing on how great and mighty God is, we see life issues in proper perspective. Nothing is too difficult for God (Jer. 32:17). Adoration restores our awareness that we are approaching our holy, holy, holy God. He is exalted—high and lifted up—and we, like Isaiah, respond, “Woe is me” (Isa. 6:4–5).

As soon as Isaiah confessed his unworthiness to be in God’s presence, God forgave the prophet’s sin and gave him work to do. We see the perspective of a right relationship with God in 1 John 1:9 also: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” That right relationship prepares us for our assignment from the Lord.

From this vantage point, we are more concerned with God’s glory and His will being done. What is the Holy Spirit prompting us to pray? With a glance back to those huge problems and dire circumstances we brought to the prayer meeting, we see that they look like deflated balloons. We’ve put them in perspective. Our God is bigger than anything we encounter. He can handle our circumstances. He is in control.

God repeatedly tells us to give our requests to Him and trade our anxieties for His peace (1 Peter 5:7, Phil. 4:6–7, Matt. 6:25–33). He loves us and cares for us. When Jesus taught His disciples—and us—to pray, His prayer began with praise of God, then casting our cares on Him by trusting Him for provision, then asking for forgiveness of our sins and protection from evil. With the anxieties of life taken off our shoulders, we can get back to the business of prayer, seeking God’s glory and His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Putting It into Practice

Set the tone for worshipful prayer first by reading aloud a Scripture passage of praise, such as Psalm 96 or Ephesians 1, as individuals read along in their own Bibles. Then invite everyone to pray back to God what you have just read. This fresh dimension helps others learn to praise God for who He is.

Encourage the group to share other Scripture verses or short passages if the Holy Spirit prompts them. By doing this you are leading the group to use Scripture, to rely on the Holy Spirit, and to ground their prayers in the character of Jesus.

Often praise will lead to a time of confession, so you might read a Scripture such as Ephesians 4:25–32 to help people deal with issues that need attention. To close the confession time, read or have someone else read Psalm 32:1–5, which naturally leads to thanksgiving for cleansing and renewal.

Then the group is ready to cast their cares on our loving Father, who is more than able to handle anything that concerns us. Encourage the group to ask God how He can be glorified through the specific trials and tribulations that are facing His people.

Connecting with our Living God encourages people’s hearts and prepares them to face whatever challenges come their way.

Jesus said in Matthew 18:20, “For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” This is the reality we need to acknowledge when we meet with Him to pray.

He is already in the room!

ELAINE HELMS is director of Church Prayer Ministries (churchprayerministries.org), the national prayer coordinator emeritus for the Southern Baptist Convention, and the author of Prayer 101: What Every Intercessor Needs to Know.