Why Are Prayer Meetings Dying?

I once heard a visiting pastor said that if you want to determine the spirituality of a church, don't go to its Sunday worship service. Instead, drop by at its prayer meeting. There's a lot of truth in this. At the same time, I've heard many pastors lamenting the low turnout at their church prayer meetings. But I've yet to hear a pastor asking the honest question - why?

Not too long ago, a friend of mine told me about his pastor who was addressing lay-leaders in his church. The pastor claimed that members of his church had lost their first love for God. The pastor went on to expound Revelations chapter 2 to prove his point. How did that pastor arrive at that conclusion? Simply because members of the church are no longer interested in the many conferences & seminars organised by the pastor. I suppose the pastor of that church was unfamiliar with the word - "Heresy".

In that same church, attendance at its prayer meetings has been dropping rapidly. The pastor's prediction that the current recession in the country will drive more people to church, especially to its prayer meetings didn't bear fruit. Instead, more people are keeping away. Why?

Having joined my friend for a few of its prayer meetings, it's not difficult to see why members of the church are keeping away from its prayer meetings. On the few evenings I was there, the bulk of the time was spent in praying for the pastor's pet conferences & seminars that he had organised. All I heard was the pastor's agenda & programs. If anyone had a need, the prayer meeting was certainly the wrong meeting in that church to go to.

I asked my friend whether since the recession started a year ago, did the leadership/pastor of the church ever held a prayer meeting to pray for its members? He replied "No." As with the prayer meetings that I've attended, the prayer items have always been the pastor's conferences & seminars. The pastor himself had not visited anyone of its members who had lost his/her job or home, to date.

This church is no pushover. It's a popular, charismatic church with a big reputation in town. If there was one thing I've learnt in life, it's in knowing the difference between having a reputation & having character. Your reputation is what people know of you. Your character is what God & angels know of you. No doubt the pastor of that church was a very nice guy. Having big conferences & speakers with big names will certainly help a church to build up an awesome reputation, but its character may still be found wanting.

Looking at that church & the many so-called mega-churches around the country, it's not hard to see why prayer meetings are dying even in these mega-churches. Needs are not met, the sick & wounded are not healed. When the pastor is not asking for more money to build bigger barns, its about the pastor's agenda. The members are like sheep without a shepherd. The pastors are no longer shepherds, but hired hands.

An evangelist once said, if God was to withdraw the Holy Spirit from the early church, 90% of its work will come to a halt. Today, if God was to do likewise, in most churches 90% of the work will go on. It's no longer about God, it's all about the pastor's agenda & programs. Therefore, is it any wonder that prayer meetings are dying in many churches? I think not.