In the third and final article in this series on prayer in the local church, we continue to examine how the most effective evangelistic churches utilize prayer in their ministries.

The prayers of the pastor

Most of the pastors in our study have a singular devotion to prayer. They believe their prayer lives are critical for two reasons: First, their own spiritual growth and relationship to God; and second, their example to their congregations. Let's look at how some of these pastors articulated their self-expectations of prayer.

Pastoral leadership is vital in all areas of the church, and prayer is no exception. C. Peter Wagner—who has done more research on prayer in the local church than anyone else—is adamant about the example that pastors must set for prayer in the church. He states, "The churches I have found with dynamic congregational prayer ministries have pastors who have given prayer a high enough visible priority in their lives and ministries, to assume the leadership of the prayer ministry."

But he is not advocating a solo prayer ministry by the pastor. In fact, Wagner claims, "This does not mean they themselves do all the prayer ministry. Far from it. But they do hold themselves responsible and accountable for the quantity and quality of prayer in their church. The buck stops with them."

Prayers for the pastor

Many pastors shared that they know of church members who pray for them daily. Some of these pastors send letters to inform known intercessors of their prayer needs and the prayer needs of their families.

A pastor in California told us how the intercessory prayer of others is a key factor in his remaining in ministry. "As I see how God is blessing our church today, I remind myself how close I came to leaving the ministry altogether. God convicted me that I had become too self-dependent. Because of pride, I would not let anyone help me."

During that difficult time the pastor sank into despair. He continues, "I finally confided in a spiritually mature man in the church. When he saw my hurt and desperation, he simply said, 'Pastor, we need to get some people standing in the gap for you." Within a few days, 15 men were praying daily for their pastor. Not only did he stay in the ministry, but also the church went from virtually no conversion growth to becoming a very evangelistic church.

Prayers for evangelism and conversions

One word we frequently encountered was "intentional." Sermons were intentional about evangelism. Outreach was intentionally evangelistic. Ministries were intentionally designed to reach people for Christ. Sunday School was intentionally organized to be evangelistic. Many church leaders reported that same attitude about prayer.

"I think it's unbelievable," said a pastor, "that we do not ask God for souls to be saved. We have the great power of prayer, yet we do not ask Him to give us the souls of men and women. Most of our churches are not evangelistic because we fail to ask God."

While the intensity and frequency of prayer in these evangelistic churches is commendable, equally noteworthy are the types of corporate prayers churches offer. Repeatedly, pastors, staff and laypersons told us that their churches prayed for the lost by name. Matthew Leilich, minister of education at Cana Baptist Church in Burleson, Texas, said, "Every week we distribute a list of known lost people to our intercessory prayer groups."

Members at Riverland Baptist Church in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, volunteer one hour per week to pray specifically for the lost. Consequently, most of Riverland's growth has been through conversion growth.

Wayside Baptist Church in Miami, Florida, has grown to 700 in worship attendance. Leslie Williams, minister of education, told us that their church's small groups pray specifically for the lost. She also said, "The pastor and staff meet regularly to pray for the lost."

And Bobby Harrell, pastor of First Baptist Church of Leesburg, Georgia, spoke excitedly about their strong prayer ministry, which has specific concern for the unsaved. "Our two strongest prayer groups are our deacons and senior adult ladies. They regularly pray for the lost."

I recently reviewed my consultation notes covering dozens of churches I visited over the past few years. Most of them were in the kind of slow decline that is sometimes mislabeled "plateau." Conceivably, the absence of dynamic corporate prayer ministries, more than any other single factor, is the contrasting element when compared to the 576 evangelistic churches in our study. More explicitly, as I looked at my notes, I could not find one declining church that had an ongoing prayer ministry specifically for the lost. Perhaps dying churches do not have, because they do not ask.