Northpark Prayer Meetings

I've been going to the weekly prayer meetings at my new church for a few weeks now. It's a lot different from any prayer meeting I've ever attended, and God has used it as a huge learning experience for me.

Very Small
First of all, it's tiny. Northpark is a 300+ person church, but the prayer meeting averages around 8 people. That's less than three percent of the church. I remember someone (I think it was Sara) saying to me that she read in a book, "You can tell how popular the pastor is at a church by how many people show up on Sunday morning, but you can tell how popular Jesus is at a church by how many people show up at their prayer meetings." I don't want to jump to conclusions about the church or make unfair judgments on the spiritual lives of others, but I've gotta admit that the small number of people at the prayer meeting was quite disappointing to see.

Very Elderly
Not only was the prayer meeting small, but all of the members in the prayer meeting were very old. Apart from me, the average age of an attendee at the prayer meeting is probably 70-75. The youngest person there aside from me is probably around 60 years old. I must admit that in my pride, I looked down on the old people, but I've been learning to love and appreciate the elderly. But it just doesn't seem right that the prayer burden of the church is placed on a few elderly of the church. I don't really know how else to describe it. It just doesn't feel right that the only people going to prayer meetings are the elderly.

Very Unfamiliar
What we pray for in the prayer meeting is also quite different from what I'm used to. The majority of the time is spent praying for those with physical ailments and the families of the recently deceased. Considerable time is also spent praying for the country, as these older folk are extremely conservative and upset that the US is no longer a "Christian nation." We haven't prayed for the global church and we rarely pray for the salvation of the unsaved. Being in these prayer meetings and praying for these things weekly has taught me a lot. In my pride, I was quite annoyed at first that we didn't pray for "things that matter." But like my parents tried to teach me earlier, God cares about everything, not just what I consider to be "important things."

Very Edifying
Praying with these older people really has taught me a lot. The love they display each week for those they are praying for is to be imitated. But what has surprised me the most is the childlike faith of the people I'm praying with. One of the older men has bone cancer, but when he prays, he just gushes praises and thanksgiving. It's absolutely amazing. The solid faith of walking with the Lord for more years than even my parents has been alive is a joy to observe. But again. It's absolutely humbling how childlike their faith is - how they come before God completely convinced of his power and sovereignty. How they don't feel the need to use big words or loud petitioning or eloquent speech. They just pray with faith. It's amazing. I feel like such an immature young man with them...with my subconscious need to "pray a powerful prayer", if that makes any sense.