How Do We Do Church Now? We Can Start with Prayer!

We are all televangelists now!

What a Sunday. We had everything ready to go to live stream some sort of semblance of a worship service and our Youtube livestream crashed—along with thousands of other churches nationwide. I hear Facebook’s livestreams still worked, which is just the opposite of what we thought would happen. Most pastors are completely out of their element in this new online world. I have taught online for years, but this was different. It is exhausting to put a message online. But it is even harder not to be with the congregation I love on the Lord’s Day. We will do a video conference prayer meeting this week. That should help. I am sure we will get better with this over the next few weeks, but I am longing to meet together again with God’s people.

I have to keep reminding myself that God is in all this, and I have to make sure I do not miss the opportunities of the moment. I do know one thing. God wants us to pray. It is always time to pray, but God does not always have our attention as He has now.

Pray for God’s will to be done.

It’s part of the Lord’s Prayer. He is at work. In times of trouble like this God does big things. In the US, He has pulled down our idols. Sports events, movie theaters, bars, restaurants, gyms, and almost all conceivable types of entertainment venues are closed. The stock market is in disarray and uncertainty reigns. It is an opportunity for a brief moment of reflection. Dare we pray for revival among God’s people and an awakening among the lost?

Pray for People to Come to Christ.

This prayer is pleasing to God and we are already seeing God use the uncertainty of the moment to spark spiritual conversations and salvation decisions.

Pray for personal boldness.

How can we bold when we are isolated? How can we be bold when we are socially distanced from those around us? Thankfully we have technology that allows us to communicate with almost anyone at any time. Let’s pray for opportunities to have conversations we have never had before and the boldness to speak the truth in a wise and understandable way.

Pray for governmental rulers.

Isn’t it fascinating how the roiling political turmoil of an election year seems so trite now? We need to pray for those that rule over us—all of them. Pray that God will grant them wisdom. Pray that they will seek God and obey Him. Pray that God will frustrate the wicked plans of the wicked an honor those that will honor Him.

Pray for one another.

God put you in a church family for a reason. This is the time to reach out to one another. Your pastors cannot do all the personal work that must be done. Congregations need to minister to one another. That starts with communication. Find out what needs are. Meet those needs if possible. Pray always.

Pray of health care workers.

Doctors, nurses, and other health care workers are putting themselves in harm’s way right now to care for the needs of the sick. Many of those same workers are getting sick themselves. Since they are sick they are volunteering to work among those who also are already sick. These people, believers and unbelievers alike, deserve our respect, thanks, and prayers. Make a list. Pray for as many as you know by name, and then pray for the rest as well.

Pray for your missionaries.

These dear saints of God are trapped in their houses far from their native homes. While we have the ability to communicate electronically like never before, loneliness can be an issue. With the financial strain being placed upon churches right now, missionaries are also in financial peril. This would be a good time to email missionaries your church supports and find out how they are doing. It is easy for us to get so wrapped up in the necessities of our immediate circumstances that we forget that there are needs everywhere.

There is so much more to pray for, but this is a start. Let’s pray. If you want to add to the list, please do so in the comments below.