Prayer meetings... sort of

One of the first things I do on Monday mornings (or most mornings for that matter) is check my iPhone calendar. A few weeks ago, the glowing brick told me that I had more than twenty meetings on the schedule for the week in question. I suppose that number could be high or low depending on your context. For me, those twenty-plus meetings translated into quite a busy week. The journey of the week took me from staff updates to contractor bids to funeral planning to rehearsals to property insurance renewals to coffee shops and back again. Some meetings were fun and littered with vine work. Some were not. All, however, were necessary.

A couple of years back, Colin Marshall and Tony Payne came to our church for a Trellis and the Vine workshop. During that meeting, Colin made a point that I’ll never forget: litter your necessary trellis work with vine work.

The truth is, most of us have trellis work that we can’t and probably shouldn’t give up. The question for disciple-makers is, how can I infuse a bit of vine work into this necessary trellis? In relationship to meetings, I wondered, what would it look like if I was more intentional about prayer in my regular meetings? What if every meeting became a prayer meeting of sorts?

The idea of regularly incorporating prayer into meetings is far from revolutionary. However, approaching these times of prayer as intentional disciple-making opportunities is a little different than what can amount to a trivial drive-by request for God to bless our great ideas. Disciple-making prayers shine a spotlight on the glory of God, our deep need for grace, and the blessings of the gospel. As we pray the truth of God's word, we are nudging people forward toward maturity in Christ—people right across the desk from us.

Toward the end of his letter to the Romans, Paul asks for the church to "strive together" with him in their prayers (Romans 15:30). Prayer is a wonderful exercise of personal Christian devotion and discipline. However, prayer is also a ministry of striving together. It invites and deepens gospel partnerships. It is a platform for disciple-making.

If you find yourself in a ministry position that requires a lot of trellis meetings, redeem a bit of that time by making disciples through regular times of prayer. Encourage your staff through your prayers. Teach your volunteers through your prayers. Proclaim the gospel to non-Christians through your prayers. And be encouraged that even the most rigorous, mind-numbing meeting can experience fresh life through the disciple-making ministry of prayer.