Join a Prayer Meeting
One of the simplest ways to engage in spiritual exercises with other believers is by joining a prayer meeting.
In this blog, I advocate a lot for spending ample amounts of time connecting with God in personal times of prayer, reading Scripture, worship, and contemplation each and every day. I believe each of us needs to commune with God individually every single day. Our Lord Jesus Christ did it. So should we.
Although I advocate for lots of personal time with God, this doesn't mean that I don't believe that there's any value in communal times of prayer. Along with communing with God on a personal level, we should also seriously consider spending time worshiping God in the company of other believers. The author of the book of Hebrews encouraged believers to meet together and to avoid neglecting this holy habit (see Hebrews 10:25). Being with other followers of Christ and engaging in spiritual practices together is a vital part of growing and flourishing in our own spirituality.
One of the simplest ways to engage in spiritual exercises with other believers is by joining a prayer meeting. Most churches and Christian communities have prayer meetings that happen on a regular basis. If you attend a church in your city, you might already be aware of a prayer meeting going on there. Joining a prayer meeting is such an easy way to be with other believers and engage in the spiritual disciplines of prayer and worship together.
There are plenty of benefits to joining a prayer meeting. First, it's such a blessing to be able to pray for other people and have others pray for you. We firmly believe that God hears the prayers of the saints. It's also such a joy to see God answer any of the prayers that were said in past meetings. Second, it helps us obey God's instruction to pray for others. Many passages in the Bible encourage us to pray for others. Joining a prayer meeting is a practical way for us to obey Christ in this regard. Third, it helps keep us accountable to the regular practice of prayer. Committing ourselves to a regular prayer meeting can be just the thing we need to commit ourselves to a regular habit of prayer in our own personal lives. Fourth, you can learn how to pray. Each person prays a little differently. That's because we're unique human beings with wonderfully different experiences. It's nice to discover how other people pray and learn a thing or two from them about their way of communicating with God.
In my own life, I like to attend a prayer meeting about once a week. This usually happens in the evenings and over the internet (it's so accessible now that there shouldn't be any excuse not to join one!). As a tip, I consider participating in a prayer meeting as a personal spiritual exercise. Some of you know from previous blog posts that I spend three to four hours each day in spiritual exercises. If I join a one-hour prayer meeting, I can count that as part of my daily overall hours. So, if it helps, you can think of the one-hour prayer meeting you participate in as having done your "devotions" to God for the day.
I hope you'll commit yourself to a regular prayer meeting and see yourself grow spiritually through this beautiful communal practice.
Barnabas the Monastic
Servant of Christ. Husband. Dad. Modern Monastic. I have a wild ambition in life: get as close to the Lord Jesus Christ as I can while on earth. I explore and integrate ancient Christian monk wisdom in modern everyday life. Lives in Canada.
