Integrating Worship with Prayer - Church Prayer Leaders Network

By Daniel Henderson

All my life, worship services have seemed basically the same. Of course, some stylistic elements have changed. Hymnbooks have been replaced with modern song lyrics projected on a screen. Keyboards and guitars have taken center stage. ProPresenter software images and video clips frequently appear. Pews have disappeared in favor of theater seating. Large wood pulpits have given way to smaller stands—or nothing at all.

In spite of these changes, few elements have changed in the vast majority of worship services. The essential components usually occur in the same order: singing, then preaching, interspersed with occasional prayer and announcements. The service divides neatly into two segments—worship in music and worship in the Word. Prayer is typically a seasoning lightly sprinkled on the gathering.

Why So Segmented? Who says it has to be this way? Here is a radical proposal that might change how we worship on Sundays. Instead of 20 minutes of music followed by 40 minutes of preaching, zipped up neatly with an opening and closing prayer, imagine the service looking more like this:

Worship in song—8 minutes
First preaching segment—12 minutes
Praying together about what we have just heard—5 minutes
Short worship song—3 minutes
Second teaching segment—15 minutes
Praying together about what we have just heard—5 minutes
Short worship song—3 minutes
Third teaching segment—10 minutes
Praying together about what we have just heard—5 minutes
Worship and response—7 minutes
Worship through giving and ministry announcements—5 minutes
Final worship—3 minutes

Some may immediately object, arguing that shorter teaching segments compromise the Word in some way. Of course, Scripture is clear that we must accurately teach and passionately preach God’s inspired Word. However, if you time how long it takes to read some of the New Testament sermons, you will find they are shorter and more effective than most sermons in our churches today. (See Acts 2:4–41, 4:8–12; 7:2–53.)

Benefits of Integration I see several benefits to an approach such as the one I suggested:

1. Attention. Like it or not, the attention span of Americans is getting shorter. Research shows that with all the technological multitasking we practice via smartphones, iPads, and email, our brains are actually being remapped, making activities that require extended focus more difficult.

Shorter components in our church services, punctuated with prayerful application and worship, might encourage better focus and engagement. I remember attending a church where the sermons typically lasted 55–65 minutes. I suspect that after 50 minutes few people could even remember what was said at the beginning of the sermon.

2. Interaction. We have become a spectator culture when it comes to worship. Even when we sing, we give our attention to the performers on the platform. We passively listen to extended messages with very little crowd participation.

Taking time to pray and worship in connection with shorter segments of teaching and response helps our minds and hearts engage via the power of God’s Word. Contextually appropriate expressions of prayer give worshipers the opportunity to connect with one another at a meaningful level. This could include private prayer, small group prayer, prayer led from the front, and other formats.

3. Application. Recently, I heard a senior pastor say, “I’ve become convinced that the most powerful way to apply God’s Word is to pray it.” I agree. Within a worshiping community even the opportunity to sing songs related to the theme of a teaching segment can inspire us to engage with the truth.

The goal of teaching is to engage the mind and heart in order to affect the will, which, in turn, leads to deeper application and obedience. The goal of singing is to use our whole being to extol the character of God with a keen awareness of His presence. Substantive prayer, woven into the service, enhances all of these goals.

A more interactive experience will likely threaten some who are satisfied with the status quo. However, the boldness to try a different, more engaging approach might produce a different result. A different result might shape a different kind of disciple, leading to different kind of impact on the world that so desperately needs to encounter passionate, pure, and powerful believers walking in the light of Jesus Christ.

DANIEL HENDERSON, president of Strategic Renewal, is also prayer pastor at Mission Hills Church, Littleton, CO.