Only a Prayer Meeting

 

A deceptively wicked statement is "Only a Prayer Meeting."

At the same time, an amazingly awesome statement is "Only a Prayer Meeting."

Let me explain how both of these statements can be true.

Deceptively Wicked

In Only a Prayer Meeting, a collection of Spurgeon's studies on prayer meetings and messages shared at prayer meetings, he begins by saying the church gathered together to pray is sometimes "wickedly described as 'only a prayer meeting."

The thought that the church meeting together is optional because it is "only a prayer meeting" and not a significant part of the church reveals a sad reality about the church's thoughts about God and Prayer.

This statement, in this context, is deceptively wicked because it shows that the most important things in church are people and what they are going to do.  The deception focuses on the wrong person and the wrong time.  

In church life, prayer becomes one of many different programs to do.

The focus needs to be on God, His glory, and what he has done, is doing, and will do.

The focus is upward and on eternity.

Amazingly Awesome

The phrase Only a Prayer Meeting can also be amazingly awesome when it refers to a group of people gathering together for an extended time of only prayer with the mindset that "Prayer is not one more activity of the church - it lies at the heart of all the church's ministry,"  from Praying Church by Paul Miller 
OnlNot to do a Bible study.

Not to talk about prayer and prayer requests.

Not to sit around and enjoy one another's company.

Even though all of those things are good.  

"Only a Prayer Meeting" is when a group of people know they are totally relying on God alone because their hope is in Him. They know dedicating time to call out to Him is not only helpful but also absolutely awesome.  

That is why this fall, I want to encourage the men of Trinity Baptist Church to gather together with a group of men for the purpose of prayer.  These prayer times will not be scheduled or monitored by me.  

While the specific challenge for the Men of Trinity Baptist Church is through the rest of September until the end of October,  this need for prayer is true of every child of God.

For the rest of this post, I want to offer a couple of group prayer suggestions..

• Prayer with a pencil.  Sometimes, much of our "prayer time" is spent sharing and discussing our prayer requests.  We don't take much time to pray.  Something I do occasionally is have group members pray their requests to God instead of talking about their requests to people.  Other members are encouraged to use a pencil or pen to write down prayer requests so they can prayer later for one another.

• Pray in silence.  Don't be nervous about silence.  If the group decides to focus on prayer, don't let silence be a problem.  Use it to focus your mind and heart on God.

• Pray for a set time. Determine the amount of time you plan to pray and stick to it.  These Only Prayer Times with the Men of TBC are scheduled, and the time is 30 minutes.  If you need to extend that time, do so, but don't do less than your time, even if there is silence.

• Pray Scripture.  At the beginning of your prayer time read a verse or longer passage of scripture.  Here are two suggestions.  
• Read a Psalm (Psalm 62 is a good one).  Here is a post about a workshop I did on praying the Psalms - https://drodgersjr.blogspot.com/2025/03/praying-psalms.html
• Read and Pray the prayers Paul shared in his epistles.  Here is a video study to help you do that - https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/course/praying-with-paul/#introduction-to-the-course 

• Here is some of this same information along with some specifc information about the September and October prayer times trinitybaptistgr.churchcenter.com/pages/only-prayer

Study the Bible for Growth Week 2

The goal of this class, as it relates to Trinity Baptist Church, is to be more than just a class on personal Bible study. 
The class will help individuals study the Bible better personally AND learn how to study it better with others.

Don't let the "with others" part scare you.  The class will help you read and study the Bible with your friends, coworkers, and family.   While the focus will not be on teaching in a class setting, the class could help in fine-tuning your preparation skills.

Another aspect of the "with others" that may be even bigger is that this class will help you understand how Trinity Baptist Church desires to use God's word in its classes, sermons, and everywhere to show the beauty of Christ and how to live for his glory.

Not meant for serious theological consideration.
Meant for humor.

Goals of the curriculum - Bible Study Basics:  Foundations For Interpreting and Applying Scripture by Dr. Ray Lubeck - are

1. to KNOW the different categories of literature that are in the Bible.
2. to KNOW the four steps involved in Bible study as presented in this course.
3. to be able to APPLY the four-step Bible study method to reading and studying biblical stories and poetry.
4. to UNDERSTAND the message of Jonah and to APPLY it to your life.
5. to gain a greater APPRECIATION for the importance of competent reading, study, and application of Scripture.
6. to gain a greater CONFIDENCE in your ability to skillfully interpret the Scriptures.
7. to grow in your AFFECTION for God and his Word
8. to be CHALLENGED toward a lifelong commitment to independent, self-directed Bible study.

Why the Bible?  This class begins with the assumption that the Bible is true.  If you want to explore the idea of manuscripts evidence, transmission of the text, and other "why is the Bible true?" questions, check out the following resources.

• Ferrell's Shepherding Group - trinitybaptistgr.churchcenter.com/groups/co-ed-groups/shepherding-group-ferrel
• Wesley Huff - online apologist - https://www.wesleyhuff.com/
• Scribes and Scriptures book www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUXJ8Owes8E