There’s a bit of rhetoric going around these days that goes like this.

You can tell how popular your church is by how many show up on Sunday morning. You can see how popular your pastor is by how many show up on Sunday night. You can find out how popular God is by now many people show up at prayer meeting.

Catchy, and probably intended to carry some “you ought to” with it. Hey, it could be that prayer meeting is a miserable time. Maybe the intercessors of your church are the depressing–God’s glass is almost empty and His bowl is almost full–kind of people. Maybe the prayers offered carry so little faith that it actually leaves you less in love with God than when you came.

And yet, Paul says this:

Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving; – Colossians 4:2 NASB

Hey–I know you can pray in secret. I know prayer meetings can miss the mark. I know some people loath praying out loud. I know some people (I’m sure there are those who would point this finger at me) seem like they love the sound of their own voice.

But we must pray.

It’s the first thing to slip in our lives.

Private, personal prayer is the first thing to go as we drift.

The first thing to slide in the Church setting is corporate prayer.

My inclination is to end with a “you oughta’…” but instead, I’m just going to ask you to meditate on this one phrase today:

Devote yourself to prayer…

And see where it takes you.

Hey – thanks for coming by.

Shine on!

Ben