During a recent prayer seminar, Chuck Pourciau asked people
to identify what activities usually dominate their Wednesday night prayer meetings.
Two people said more time is spent singing than anything else.
Nine people said their church spends the most time on receiving
prayer requests.
Thirty people said Bible study or preaching takes up the largest
portion of time.
Editors Note: The following article is from a seminar
presentation at the recent Louisiana Baptist Great Commission Prayer Conference.
The Baptist Message will present additional articles from the conference in
upcoming weeks.
During a recent prayer seminar, Chuck Pourciau asked people
to identify what activities usually dominate their Wednesday night prayer meetings.
Two people said more time is spent singing than anything else.
Nine people said their church spends the most time on receiving
prayer requests.
Thirty people said Bible study or preaching takes up the largest
portion of time.
Only six people said prayer does.
“The patient is critically ill,” said Pourciau, pastor
at Broadmoor Baptist Church in Shreveport. “But thats pretty much
the way every prayer meeting I ever went to before two years ago was.”
However, two years ago, Pourciau said he decided to lead his
church to hold “real” prayer meetings – focused on praying.
Pourciau said one of the things that led leaders to change
prayer meetings was Mark 11:17, in which Jesus says, “My house shall be
called a house of prayer for all nations.”
During a recent seminar presentation, Pourciau reminded persons
that the verse indicates the church is Jesus house, not theirs. “One
of the reasons we hesitate … to cause prayer meeting to cease being an oxymoron
is possessiveness, …” he said.
“Weve always done it this way, and its
become a possession of ours. … The possessiveness of the people who attend
Wednesday evening prayer meeting often causes us to be slow to change it. But
I ask you – whose house is it?”
Mark 11:17 also clearly states that Jesus intends his house
to focus on prayer, Pourciau said. “He didnt say it was going to
be a house of singing or preaching. … He didnt say it was going to be
a house of offering up prayer requests or supper. … He didnt say it
was going to be a house of contemporary, traditional or liturgical worship.
… He didnt say it was going to be a house of Sunday School or FAITH
evangelism. He said it was going to be a house of prayer. … So, the very least
we can do is give him one of our services for his stated purpose.”
However, an evaluation of activities at Broadmoor showed the
church was heavy on what Pourciau refers to “Scripture intake” or
Bible study and preaching. It became obvious the church needed to focus on prayer
in order to help members become fully-rounded disciples of Christ, he said.
He said he knew the decision to shift priorities would result
in criticism from some that he no longer was preaching on Wednesday nights.
However, there is plenty of focus on the Bible in other activities,
he noted. “And we teach in the Bible, Folks, you gotta pray.
But we dont ever give them a chance to.”
Thus, Pourciau and his staff decided to begin devoting at least
75 percent of every Wednesday night service to prayer.
They immediately asked persons to enter the service through
a single door, where they could receive prayer requests. Members entered into
a dimly-lit auditorium, where a video wall greeted them with a Scripture passage
or a reminder to enter reverently and maintain an attitude of prayer.
“Its clear (from the setting) youre supposed
to be in there praying, …” Pourciau explained. “If you had never
been to our prayer meeting, … you would know its about prayer. … Its
different.”
That is key – communicating the change and the emphasis
on prayer, Pourciau said. “You have to change the priority – and you
have to communicate it … in everything you do in prayer meeting.”
Wednesday night services at Broadmoor now are spent primarily
in prayer. Pourciau no longer preaches a “sermon.” He offers a short
pastoral challenge (no more than 10 minutes) but only if he has time at the
end of the service. And 30 percent of the time, he does not have time, he said.
“And thats fine,” Pourciau said, insisting
some pastors will have to get over their egos to make the needed changes and
realize it is okay if they do not preach.
The shift at Broadmoor has changed how members pray and what
they pray for, Pourciau explained.
The church uses various types of praying during the Wednesday
evening services, and there is a heavy focus on praying for the lost –
by name, Pourciau said.
Requests are remembered. One night, leaders also asked persons
to write down the “trash” they needed to get rid of in their lives,
then lay them on the altar and pray.
At others times, members pray the Scripture. The church observes
seasons of prayer on specific needs or issues as well. Some pray silently –
others out loud. Children come to microphones to pray. “Youll hear
someone go to the microphone and beg God to break the hard heart of her son
who is in prison or break every heart in there,” Pourciau recounted. “Youll
hear somebody beg for their husband to come back.
“How we participate (in prayer meeting) has changed. It
used to be Deacon Jones, wasnt it? And we preachers did that. Wed
call on Deacon Jones because he was respected and he could pray good. Hed
get it over with, so we could preach.”
Despite the changes, Pourciau acknowledged it is difficult
to free up everyone from other activities to be in prayer meeting. But that
remains a priority and something the church is working towards, he said.
“Were trying to remove the barriers, trying to remove
the barricades between our people and effective prayer.”