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Why Every Meeting Could Be a Prayer Meeting

A good friend of mine, Bill Velker, heads up prayer at LIFE International. I was talking with his wife recently, and she said, “Bill made little signs for everyone’s desk that say, ‘Every meeting is a prayer meeting.’ He wanted to remind people of the ever-present opportunity for prayer.” The phrase rang true and made me smile.

It wouldn’t have made me smile 25 years ago. Back then, I heard a ministry leader share that his board often prayed more than an hour during board meetings. I remember thinking, “Well, that’s downright ridiculous. Who does that? Who has time for that? It’s just not practical in the jam-packed world of leaders and board members.”

4 Reasons Prayer Is Practical

1) It’s a vital connection point. Think about the importance of communication within your organization – the emails, the conversations, the brainstorming. Imagine the lack, both relationally and missionally, if communication was diminished. Ratchet that up as you think of the importance of communication with God. Active prayer within your organization will keep your corporate relationship with God healthy and your mission on His track.

Active prayer will keep your corporate relationship with God healthy and your mission on His track.

- Lisa Hosler

2) God is the wisest person in the room. We know this, but we don’t always consciously act on it. God is all-wise, all-knowing, and has the best perspective. Prayer is a key way to glean His wisdom (James 1:5).

3) God has a strategy to share. God longs for us to seek Him and follow His leading. His ways of operating your ministry are hands-down greater and more effective than your own (Isaiah 55:8-9).

4) Prayer is two-way communication. We’ve all heard this, but it can be hard to put into practice. We’re prone to unload our concerns to God, ask for His wisdom, and then move on without pausing to listen. That’s one of the reasons God says, “Be still, and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10).

5 Ways to Incorporate Prayer in Everyday Meetings

1) Department Meeting. You gather with the people in your department. Instead of jumping right into urgent issues, you spend time talking with God about them. In time, it becomes as natural as talking to one another, and God’s wisdom emerges through the prayer and conversation. 

2) Middle of Board Meeting. Your board has gone round and round in a discussion without making headway. Someone suggests, “Let’s stop and pray about it.” Several people ask God for His perspective, and over time He directs your steps.

3) High Stakes Meeting. You’re in an important meeting, you need God’s wisdom, and you don’t sense the conversation should break for prayer. So you silently ask God for help, trusting He’ll direct your thoughts and words.

4) Phone Meeting. You’re talking with a consultant on the phone or having a conference call with regional associates. The initiator of the call offers to pray and invites others to join in. Through prayer, the purpose of the call becomes clearer and there’s a peaceful sense of being Christ-followers together.

5) Impromptu Meeting with Coworker. You sit down with a co-worker, and one of you shares a concern. You talk about it for awhile, and then you talk to the Lord about it. You leave knowing you’ve connected with your comrade and invited God to have His way.

We sometimes make prayer a big, hairy, official deal. Or sometimes it’s stale and filled with well-worn ruts. I don’t think God intended for it to be that way. I think He wants it to be instinctive – like when a completely-loved child runs to his dad and says, “I love you, Daddy. Can you help me fix my bike?”

When prayer flows from an anchored, trusting relationship with our heavenly Father, it’s consistently present within our everyday meetings. But someone has to initiate it.

How do you incorporate prayer into your everyday meetings? Feel free to share your thoughts in the Comments Section below.


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2024
Lisa Hosler. All rights reserved.
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