{"id":8723,"date":"2011-12-09T16:34:53","date_gmt":"2011-12-09T21:34:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/?p=8723"},"modified":"2017-12-22T19:27:48","modified_gmt":"2017-12-23T03:27:48","slug":"bad-habits-prayer-meetings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/bad-habits-prayer-meetings\/","title":{"rendered":"Did you pick up any of these bad habits from Prayer Meetings?"},"content":{"rendered":"

As we conclude this chapter from Close Your Church for Good<\/a><\/em> called “Let Prayer Meetings Cease<\/a>” I have two recommendations for prayer meetings. The first one is below, the second will get posted tomorrow.<\/p>\n

\"Prayer
Look at all of these prayer meetings! Would there be a better way for these people to spend there time?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Prayer Meetings Teach Bad Prayer Habits<\/h2>\n

First, we must recognize that most of the bad habits that people use in prayer are not learned from Scripture, but from prayer meetings. Scripture teaches us that God is a friend and a Father, there by our side, wanting to have an ongoing conversation with us about what is important to Him and what is important to us. We can talk to Him as we would talk to any other person.<\/p>\n

But the things we learn in prayer meetings would never occur to someone who had not ever attended a prayer meeting. <\/p>\n

It is in prayer meetings where we learn that prayer must be said in a certain location, using certain terminology and language, and sitting, or standing, or kneeling in a certain posture. <\/p>\n

It is in prayer meetings that people learn the repetitive use of God\u2019s name and certain phrases and to use 1611 King James English.<\/p>\n

It is because of prayer meetings that we feel justified in spreading gossip about others while calling it \u201csharing a prayer request.\u201d <\/p>\n

It is because of payer meetings that we delay praying for someone when they need it, telling them instead, \u201cI\u2019ll mention it at prayer meeting.\u201d <\/p>\n

It is because of prayer meetings that we often feel it is better to pray about a need than actually do something to meet that need. <\/p>\n

It is because of prayer meetings that we feel if we pray, we don\u2019t have to obey. <\/p>\n

IT is because of prayer meetings that we feel that if we pray for world missions and evangelism, we don\u2019t have to do it ourselves.<\/p>\n

Organic Prayer Meetings<\/h2>\n

\"Finding<\/a>Frank Viola has noticed many similar patterns in prayer meetings, and in his book Finding Organic Church<\/em><\/a>,\"\" he writes this:<\/p>\n

\u2026Many Christians have picked up a great deal of artificiality in the way they pray and talk about spiritual matters. This is largely due to imitating bad models. To be more pointed: The way that many Christians pray is abysmal.<\/p>\n

I would advise against having meetings where everyone offers a prayer request. Why? Two reasons. First, those meetings will no doubt turn out to be highly religious. (In every \u201cprayer-request\u201d meeting I\u2019ve ever been in, the kinds of things that some Christians ask god to do for them range from the ludicrous to the insane.) Second, those meetings will be the first step down a slippery slope that will eventually become the death knell for your group.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a great deal of unlearning and relearning that we Christians need when it comes to communing with the Lord. If the truth be told, most Christians would do well to allow their way of praying to go into death.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\r\n

Do you want to pray like never before?<\/h3>\r\n

Do you what to talk to God like you talk to a friend? Do you want to see more answers to prayer?<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

If you have these (and other) questions about prayer, let me send you some teaching and instruction about prayer to your email inbox. You will receive one or two per week, absolutely free. Fill out the form below to get started.<\/p>

\r\n
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If you are already part of a Faith, Hope, or Love Discipleship Group,
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\"Membership-become-a-member\"<\/p>\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While there are many good things that happen in prayer meetings, it is also where we sometimes pick up some bad habits about prayer. Here are a few of these bad habits from prayer meetings.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8724,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2234,2245],"tags":[1631,15,19,1475,2849,2827],"class_list":{"0":"post-8723","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-redeeming-church","8":"category-redeeming-life","9":"tag-answers-to-prayer","10":"tag-close-your-church-for-good","11":"tag-discipleship","12":"tag-prayer","13":"tag-prayer-meetings","14":"tag-what-is-prayer","15":"entry"},"yoast_head":"\nDid you pick up any of these bad habits from Prayer Meetings?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Most bad habits that people use in prayer are learned not from Scripture, but from prayer meetings. By cancelling prayer meetings, we help people pray.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/bad-habits-prayer-meetings\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Did you pick up any of these bad habits from Prayer Meetings?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Most bad habits that people use in prayer are learned not from Scripture, but from prayer meetings. By cancelling prayer meetings, we help people pray.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/bad-habits-prayer-meetings\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Redeeming God\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/290798794274804\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/290798794274804\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-12-09T21:34:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-12-23T03:27:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/prayer-meetings.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"480\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"250\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jeremy Myers\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@redeeminggod\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@redeeminggod\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jeremy Myers\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/bad-habits-prayer-meetings\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/bad-habits-prayer-meetings\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Jeremy Myers\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0df0211c3f7ba3d4c6cfa1f8411f481c\"},\"headline\":\"Did you pick up any of these bad habits from Prayer Meetings?\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-12-09T21:34:53+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-12-23T03:27:48+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/bad-habits-prayer-meetings\/\"},\"wordCount\":533,\"commentCount\":11,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0df0211c3f7ba3d4c6cfa1f8411f481c\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/bad-habits-prayer-meetings\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/prayer-meetings.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"answers to prayer\",\"Close Your Church for Good\",\"Discipleship\",\"prayer\",\"prayer meetings\",\"What is prayer\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Redeeming Church\",\"Redeeming Life\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/bad-habits-prayer-meetings\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/bad-habits-prayer-meetings\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/bad-habits-prayer-meetings\/\",\"name\":\"Did you pick up any of these bad habits from Prayer Meetings?\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/bad-habits-prayer-meetings\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/bad-habits-prayer-meetings\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/prayer-meetings.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-12-09T21:34:53+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-12-23T03:27:48+00:00\",\"description\":\"Most bad habits that people use in prayer are learned not from Scripture, but from prayer meetings. 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