I ended our last blog in this series with the question, “Where do we go from here?” In our previous blogs we made a biblical case that the church is to be based on worship and prayer as its centerpiece in similitude to the model of David’s Tabernacle. If that is true, and I believe it is, it means a lot must change in the church. I believe we are at the beginning of a reformation in the way church is understood and expressed. I believe we are going to see an incredible shift in how the church functions over the next decade. The church is about to change from a platform-based or program-based model to a prayer-based model. We like the term Presence-Centered, Prayer-Based to describe the church that has embraced a Tabernacle identity.
So, what must change? Do we just shut it all down and only conduct extended worship services all day? Close all the ministries and services that aren’t prayer and worship?
Absolutely not!
Acts 2:42-47 offers several clear activities the community of the church is called to operate in. They include teaching, prayer, generosity, camaraderie, care, unity, fellowship, meeting, and evangelism. Much has been written on these components as foundational to the New Testament Church. I wholeheartedly agree and encourage pastors to lead their congregations in these activities. At the same time, I believe Acts 2 gives us a glimpse into the church only at its inception while Acts 13 (Antioch) give us a glimpse into the church in its operation. The facets that we see at Antioch of 1) daily ministering to the Lord, 2) waiting and hearing prophetically for the Lord’s direction, and 3) sending out ministry teams are as important to the operation of the church as the functions we see in Acts 2. We can safely assume the believers in Antioch were practicing the components we see in Acts 2:42-47 along with the components identified in Acts 13. They were living in vibrant community, with teaching, fellowship, discipleship, care, and evangelism all taking place from the centerpiece of ministering to the Lord.
The key that I’m suggesting is that we put the priority of our churches where it was in the first century – we prioritize ministering to God above everything else. Not instead of, but above other things. We make it first. If we are a kingdom of priests our first ministry is to the Lord, vertically, not to one another, horizontally. I don’t suggest we quit ministering to people, but we must regain our identity as priests unto the Lord first, above every other ministry activity.
So how do we do that? We start and maintain prayer meetings as the centerpiece of our church communities. I encourage these prayer meetings to be Worship-Led, Leader-Led, and Irreplaceable. Worship-Led could simply be a worship play list that helps to engage those in the meeting with adoration and ministry to the Lord. Or it could mean you have a full worship team leading a time of worship and adoration. Leader-Led sets the culture of the staff and community. Whatever the leaders do is seen as the priority and culture of any spiritual family. Irreplaceable makes it the priority of the community. It doesn’t move for the Christmas play practice and isn’t cancelled because of the outreach. It’s an irreplaceable part of how the spiritual family functions.
I suggest you start with one a week. Pick a time when people can attend and don’t change it or postpone it. Stay with it for a year to establish consistency before you re-evaluate its effectiveness. Once you have one established, if there are other times during a week when people are willing to come and worship and pray, you can add additional meetings. But only add them if you have a leader that is willing to commit to leading them for defined period of time. I suggest a year.
By building prayer meetings in this way, you will begin to center your church around worship and prayer as the priority. It’s not that you don’t do the other components, its where you put the priority. I believe as we begin to prioritize ministry to the Lord through worship and prayer, we will begin to see our churches take on a more authentic and fruitful expression of New Testament life.
I have been greatly instructed in recent days by the stirring at Asbury University that has sparked many other campuses and church communities. The humility that the leadership at Asbury has shown has been powerful. They haven’t allowed any person to take centerstage accept the person of Jesus. They quit using last names and titles to focus the attention on Jesus alone. The outstanding facet of the ongoing revival meeting is that it is a simple worship and prayer meeting at the core. Ministry to Jesus is central to all that is happening there and in other places around the nation. It’s a stunning development.
I am greatly challenged and encouraged that as God is moving in these places, He is raising up worship and prayer as the centerpiece of the gatherings. What does this mean for the church at large? The sound of revival is in the air. I believe I see, “a cloud the size of a man’s hand” but we have yet to see the full outpouring of the “abundance of rain.” I believe it is coming. Could it be that continuous worship and prayer is the container that the Lord wants to use to steward an ongoing and dramatic move of the Spirit? I believe so. We live in amazing days. Let’s continue to pray and believe for Jesus to transform His church into all He is dreaming for her.
If you’ve made it this far in this series, congratulations! If you’re interested in more on this topic, check out my class on David’s Tabernacle here. If you’re a pastor and want to connect with other pastors who are on this journey, reach out to me here and I will get you connected. Great grace to you!!
