Notes and quotes from The Power of Prayer Meetings by Peter Masters.

1. In the early church, there were two distinct types of services – a pattern still followed today. The more public gatherings for worship and instruction – referred to at length in 1 Corinthians 14 – led by pastors, teachers and other leaders in the church. The other being the distinctive prayer meeting.  Less ‘public’ and less formal.  No teaching element.  All those attending appear to have been believers.  Both men and women participated.

2. “To this day the prayer meeting is often the least regarded and supported gathering in the church programme.”

3. Most believers agree in theory that the prayer meeting is the ‘power house’ of the church.

4. “A church prayer meeting is not a season for surprises, shocks, novelties and innovations. Nor is it an opportunity for individuals to bang particular drums, or promote causes that may not be in accord with the concerns of the whole prayer meeting. It is certainly not a time for the airing of complaints.  This is a gathering in which all will be agreed.  There will be an appropriate ‘agenda’, and common desires, and people will broadly pray in agreement with those things.”

5. Don’t make the prayer meeting an optional extra.

6. In the early church – ‘many’ – gathered to pray. “A great rebuke to numerous believers today.”

7. Masters like Spurgeon ain’t no fan of combining the weekly prayer meeting with the weekly Bible Study. Obviously it is better than having no prayer meeting at all. Spurgeon could not understand why churches should want to do this and asked how a combined meeting could do justice to either purpose.

8. What are some of the benefits of corporate prayer? 1) Bonding the church; 2) Demonstrate dependence on God’s power; 3) Focus minds on the church and its mission; 4) Extends faith’s horizons; 5) Provides schooling in prayer.

9. “The prayer meeting provides a clear and emphatic demonstration of our complete dependence upon God’s power for all our work.”

10. “In the prayer gathering, preoccupation with ourselves as individual believers, slips away, and we become a group of people longing for the blessing of others, and the prosperity of the cause.”

11. The church that prays together, stays together.

12. It is at the church prayer meeting that the young in faith learn the way of prayer, and even those who are older in the faith are lifted and stirred by the fresh earnestness of the young.

13. The meeting ordained by Christ is first and foremost an asking meeting.

14. “Of course we ought to pray for revival, but surely the ministries that we actively pursue, in season and out of season, are bound to occupy most of the time.”

15. How should we pray? With great feeling and earnestness. Using direct and plain language.  By means of many contributors.  Addressing prayer to the Father.  All joining in the loud ‘Amen’.

16. “We should pray as those who truly believe that Christ is present and the Father is listening.”

17. “As many people as possible should pray audibly in the prayer meeting.”

18. In prayer meetings at the Metropolitan Tabernacle we reserve a final portion of time for brief, single item prayers, which may be only two or three sentences long.

19. A loud amen signifies attentive minds and fervent hearts.

20. “Every great blessing in the life of a church is obtained through prayer.”

21. Throughout church history, the story is the same, all the great awakenings and reformations beginning with the Lord waking up souls to pray for these things.

Notes and quotes from A Praying Life by Paul Miller.

1. Why do we never get around to praying? It’s because we don’t think prayer makes much difference.

2. “Our inability to pray comes from the Fall.”

3. We need to know what good prayer looks and feels like in order to develop a praying life.

4. “A praying life feels like our family mealtimes because prayer is all about relationships. It’s intimate and hints at eternity. We don’t think about communication or words but about whom we are talking with.”

5. Being a son or daughter of God means you have complete access to your heavenly Father through Jesus.

6. “Dependency is the heartbeat of prayer.” Our trust in ourselves and in our talents makes us structurally independent of God.

7. Ask like a child. What do children ask for? Everything and anything. How often do they ask?  Repeatedly.  Over and over again.  How do they ask?  They just say what is on their minds.  But they do so supremely confident of their parents’ love and power.  Instinctively they trust.

8. “Life crowds out prayer.”

9. “Jesus is, without question, the most dependent human being who ever lived. Because he can’t do life on his own, he prays. And he prays.  And he prays… When he prays, he is not performing a duty; he is getting close to his Father.”

10. Jesus encourages us to pray in the privacy of our rooms, so our out loud praying doesn’t become a verbal show.

11. Praying out loud can be helpful because it keeps you from getting lost in your head.

12. “If you are not praying, then you are quietly confident that time, money, and talent are all you need in life.”

13. 7 suggestions for praying in the morning: 1) Get to bed; 2) Get up; 3) Get awake; 4) Get a quiet place; 5) Get comfortable; 6) Get going; 7) Keep going.

14. “They have no wine” (John 2:3) – is a perfect description of prayer. Prayer is bringing your helplessness to Jesus.”

15. “Strong Christians do pray more, but they pray more because they realise how weak they are.”

16. Parenting tip: Speak less to the kids and more to God.

17. The Greek Orthodox Church still uses a simple fifth-century prayer sometimes called the Prayer of Jesus: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”

18. By praying slowly through a portion of Scripture, you allow Scripture to shape your prayers.

19. James describes two dangers in asking. The first danger is Not Asking. James writes, “You do not have, because you do not ask.” The second danger is Asking Selfishly: “You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.”

20. “Thanksgiving looks reality in the face and rejoices at God’s care.”

21. Prayer is inseparable from obeying, loving, waiting, and suffering.

22. “The name of Jesus gives my prayers royal access. They get through. Jesus isn’t just the Saviour of my soul. He’s also the Saviour of my prayers. My prayers come before the throne of God as the prayers of Jesus.”

23. The bottom line is we don’t write down our prayer requests because we don’t take prayer seriously.

24. It is clear from Paul’s description of his prayer life in his letters that he regularly prayed for an enormous number of people. James Dunn, the New Testament scholar, wrote, “Paul must have had an extensive prayer list and presumably spent some time each day naming before God all his churches, colleagues, and supporters. This would help maintain and strengthen the sense of a faith shared with ‘all the saints.’”

25. “I’ll keep you in my prayers” is the easiest way to back away politely. Roughly translated it means, “I have every intention of praying for you, but because I’ve not written it down, it is likely I will never pray for it. But I say it because at this moment I do care, and it feels awkward to say nothing.”