Action at the Altar

By Terry Teykl

Several months ago, I boarded a plane in San Diego to return home, and found myself seated next to a sharp-looking, young man who was working on a laptop computer. Everything about him shouted success—from his expensive, neatly pressed suit to the confident way he smiled and nodded when I sat down. I learned that he was the leading salesman in his company, and that he was on his way to make a presentation that could win another profitable account. I told him I was a pastor. He seemed eager to talk about his work, and since I had nowhere to go, I listened.

After several minutes, something he said prompted me to ask how long he had been married, and for the first time since I got on the plane, he hesitated to answer—his gaze falling to the floor. He looked up slowly and said, "Almost three years. My wife has cancer. She was diagnosed shortly after we were married, but she seemed to be doing fine until several weeks ago. That's when they found the cancer in her lungs."

Before we got off the plane, I asked the man if I could pray for him and his wife, and told him I would put their names in our prayer room to be lifted up daily by intercessors. I cannot begin to explain the peace that came over him. As I left the airport, my heart was burdened for this young couple and the battle they were facing, but I was equally troubled by something else he said. Although they been regularly attending a church there in San Diego since they were married, they had never received personal ministry through prayer!

Early one Sunday morning, not long after that, a lady walked into my office looking very troubled. She closed the door, sat down on the couch, and pulled a small handgun out of her purse. She had my full attention. She told me that she was extremely depressed, and that her situation was so bad she could find no reason to go on living. She said that she didn't really want to die, but she needed someone to give her hope. I was her last resort.

That lady was not interested in baking pies for a potluck supper or joining the United Methodist Women's group. And the man on the plane from San Diego probably didn't really care whether his church sprinkled or dunked. I doubt either one of them would have found much comfort in a sermon that outlined the Council of Bishops political views on immigration. What they both needed was to feel the love of Jesus from the tops of their heads to the soles of their feet.

Every Sunday, our churches are filled with people who are run over by life. They wear a smile on their face to hide the hurt of marital problems, abusive relationships, children who have turned away, financial failures, and terminal illnesses. Our society is coming unraveled at the seams—plagued with violence, crime, immorality, homelessness, and hopelessness—and we all bear the scars. How tragic it is that broken people often pass through our doors and receive nothing but a bulletin and a nice, three-point sermon! They come to church week after week, desperately needing a touch from God, and often leave in the same condition in which they arrived.

A House of Prayer
The day that Jesus, in righteous indignation, drove the money changers and tax collectors from the temple, he was angry with what was taking place there. But I believe he was just as displeased, if not more, with what was not taking place there. I can just imagine Jesus approaching the temple, stepping over the lame and the lepers, pushing his way through the blind and the afflicted, all of whom had come hoping for a touch and a prayer, but had received nothing. As he turned over the tables and drove out those who were buying and selling, he said to them, "My house will be called a house of prayer…." And as soon as Jesus had cleared the temple, Matthew says, "The blind and the lame came to him…, and he healed them" (Matt. 21:14). Jesus knew people needed a personal touch.

Engine or Spare Tire?
I believe a new prayer movement is sweeping the earth today, and part of that movement involves prayer as a ministry—both within the body of Christ and to unbelievers. Unfortunately, it is often the least organized ministry in the local church, if it is considered a ministry at all. As pastors and leaders, we can be guilty of leaving the prayer life of our church up to chance, just hoping it will happen. But it doesn't have to be that way. A prayer ministry can be like a good Sunday school program or pledge campaign, with organization, goals, leadership, recruitment, training, feedback, and results. We can set aside special places for it to happen, and we can schedule time for it like we would any other priority ministry. We can give it direction, meaning, and purpose. It doesn't have to be the spare tire in the trunk that we turn to only in times of crisis; it can be the engine that supplies all the power for us to move forward.

If we are trying to have an impact on our cities and communities for Jesus, we must be relying on prayer to see results. Evangelistic efforts will be fruitless unless they are preceded by and based on prayer for the lost. It is important that we learn to pray for the felt needs of unbelievers so that as those needs are met, we can point them to Jesus, their provider. As Christians, we must find ways to pray with each other for the salvation of our cities. This kind of organized prayer force must begin in the local churches.

Conduits
It is the responsibility of pastors and church leaders to develop prayer as a ministry within our congregation. We can invite God into our services and be available to let him minister through us to those in need. We don't have to produce anything ourselves, we just have to be "user friendly" to God, and he will supply the power. With one hand on the need, and the other extended to him, we can be conduits of God's love and mercy. But we have to be willing to pray the price. We might even have to be willing to stay past 12:00 noon and be persistent in prayer to see a breakthrough. We can't just throw up 30-second prayers that end with, "if it be your will…," and expect God to do miracles. We must learn how to pray as long as it takes.

All across the nation, prayer with this kind of force is growing in the form of 24-hour prayer rooms, prayer hotlines, schools of prayer, city-wide concerts of prayer, altar prayer, and prayer-evangelism. One of the most exciting programs I have seen in the area of prayer can be found at a church in Phoenix, Arizona, where they have developed a full-scale college of prayer, offering over 150 courses. The catalog lists requirements for a bachelor, master, and doctor of philosophy degree in prayer. I consider this to be on the cutting edge of the prayer movement, and in stark contrast to many of our own denominational seminaries that do not offer one single course in prayer! Also at the forefront is a Baptist church in Houston with a 24-hour prayer hotline in the prayer room; Voice of Pentecost church in San Francisco, which organizes prayer for every single home in the city; and a Church of Christ in Pittsburgh that prays for hospital patients who do not list a home church. These churches, and many others like them, are having an impact on their cities and communities because they are finding meaningful ways to minister through prayer.

Tissue Box Ministry
One sure sign of a church with a dynamic prayer ministry is an altar speckled with tissue boxes. I see it in churches of all types and sizes, Methodist, Baptist, Episcopal, Lutheran, Assemblies of God, charismatic, traditional, big and small—good prayer ministries begin at the altar where individual needs can be lifted up. Personal ministry is the common denominator in praying churches, because it must be learned and modeled within the church itself before it can be turned outward.

At the church I once pastored in College Station, Texas, as well as in many others that I visit, time is always set aside during the services for people to receive individual prayer at the altar or in their seats. For the man I met on the airplane, and to the lady who brought the handgun into my office, this would be the most important ten minutes in the week. The opportunity to share their pain with another believer, to be touched by the Father, and to receive compassion and healing, would mean more to them than the best sermon I could ever preach. We enlist laypeople who have a heart for this kind of ministry to be conduits, and they are always on call at the altar. During this time of personal prayer, I become a facilitator and they become the ministers.

Altar Training
The success of altar ministry depends greatly on training. It is important that the people doing the praying are "commissioned" by the pastor to ensure that they are equipped for the task. Allowing someone who is not spiritually mature enough or who has the wrong motives to pray with people could do more harm than good. We use the following guidelines in our training course for all altar workers:


Missing God
The burden of ministry in these churches is being taken off the pastor's shoulders, and put on the body. For some, this is scary. Praying for others involves listening to God, and we can become self-conscious and worried about being wrong. But it is important to remember that we are not the power supply—we are just the conducting agents. As I travel and speak to pastors, leaders, and laypeople about prayer, I love to demonstrate this principle during the seminar. After a time of teaching, I have the people stand up and I pray for them. I then ask them to place their hand on the person in front of them, praying the first thing that comes to mind. I even ask them to pray out loud if they feel comfortable doing so. I conclude by having each person find out what the partner prayed, and then we have an informal time of sharing. It always amazes me how, in a room full of strangers, many people testify that the person behind them prayed in a specific manner for a real need in their lives! They allow themselves to become conduits through which God pours out his love and grace. For some it is the first time they have ever taken a chance on hearing God—allowing him to minister through them—and they are blessed as a result.

I always stress to the group that it's okay to "miss" God. He is more interested in our availability than he is in our ability. I remember when I was a young pastor, God spoke the word "shingles" to me one Sunday morning during the service. I'm not very smart, but I'm reckless, so I began to pray for all the roofers in the building to be saved. Nothing happened. The following Sunday, God again spoke the word "shingles" to me, and this time I prayed for one particular roofer in the church named Bob. He wasn't there that day, but said later that he appreciated the prayer. It finally occurred to me that I should pray for anyone with the medical condition known as shingles, so I did. Still, no one came forward or acknowledged that this word was for them. After the service was over, I felt discouraged and a little silly. But then a young woman approached me apologizing. She said she had been so stunned that God would single her out, that she was too embarrassed to speak up during church. She shared that she had a rare case of shingles that sometimes affects young people, and that the treatments had not been working. I admit to being somewhat relieved that I had not completely missed God's message.

Building A Ministry
Building a dynamic prayer ministry takes time, patience, and persistence. Here are a few guidelines to keep in mind that will make your church more effective in prayer:

Back in the early Methodist camp meetings and revivals, the focal point of prayer was the "mourner's bench," from whence we get our modern-day altar rails. Accounts of these meetings indicate that believers spent much time kneeling at these rough benches praying for the lost to experience forgiveness, deliverance, and spiritual renewal. They prayed with expectancy, and received the seekers as they responded to the gospel. Over time, however, as the role of prayer seemed to dwindle, the mourner's benches evolved into a symbolic structure where perhaps communion was given or new members were greeted.

Today in many churches, altars are simply fences to keep me away from you and you away from me. Our churches would be much more effective if we could recapture the spirit of fervent prayer that once took place at the mourner's bench. John Wesley once said, "Prayer is a means of grace." As churches, let us be in the business of lavishing that grace on everyone we can reach.

Terry Teykl is a full-time prayer evangelist/teacher. He is well known for his books and seminars on prayer and its relationship to evangelism and church growth. Dr. Teykl is now developing the Prayer Center and Prayer Ministries for the 8, 000 member Windsor Village United Methodist Church in Houston, Texas. The senior pastor of the church is Kirbyjohn Caldwell.

This article was published in Good News magazine (March/April 1996).