Just like that, you may be asked: Can you lead us in prayer? Sometimes you can expect that question — if you have presented a seminar or were a guest speaker somewhere. Then it is not so strange to be asked to close the evening in prayer.

It can also happen that you have been invited for dinner somewhere, and that the person who typically leads asks you, as guest, to utter a prayer of thanks. On the agenda of a church council meeting it is also usually mentioned who is expected to close in prayer. And in most cases during a church service, the leader is likely to be the one to express a prayer.

Also on Behalf of Others⤒🔗

“Leading in prayer” is a fixed expression. You are never leading in prayer when you pray privately. If it is a matter of “leading”, there are always at least two people involved. And then the one who leads utters a prayer out loud, also on behalf of the other(s) present. It is clear that there are certain requirements to be met in regards to such a prayer expressed aloud, just as there are for every other prayer. And then the matter is not so much that you must speak clearly and intelligibly. That much is obvious. What matters is that you pray in such a way that it really amounts to “leading”: you take the other with you in the thoughts you verbalize. And the aim is that your words also begin to count as the other’s words, directed at the Lord.

Clearly, this is not to say that each word and every expression you use would be used in exactly the same manner by the one who is praying along with you. No one can or should fault you when, also in praying out loud, you have your own style, word choice and pace. But it is good if the one who leads in prayer is continuously aware that he is not bringing private issues to the Lord, but that he formulates and addresses things to the Lord also on behalf of others.

Leading in Faith←⤒🔗

The expression “leading” involves not only the notion that you pray together with others, but also that of “going ahead”, of “providing leadership”. This means that the leader does more than just verbalize the thoughts of others. In praying publicly he also brings matters to the fore which seem essential to him, but which those praying along would maybe never have thought of themselves.

As an example I think of the prayer for the return of our Saviour. Although the Bible absolutely leads (sic!) us therein, this is a prayer that is (consciously) but sparingly prayed. The reality is that we often leave this prayer to people who are in great need, due to sickness or for other reasons. But if we as church have discovered that we may be the bride of Christ, it is entirely logical for us to also verbalize our longing for our Bridegroom and his return in our prayers. Someone who asks for the swift return of Christ in his public prayer can therewith contribute a healthy correction to many believers’ sole concentration on the life of the here and now. It is good when in this way a leader takes his fellow brothers and sisters along in a correct beseeching of the Lord, without the prayer turning into a sermon-in-disguise to enlighten “the ignorant” in one way or another. After all, then the prayer no longer amounts to a prayer.

The Title “Lord” as Interjection←⤒🔗

There are several pitfalls that loom over a person (leading) in prayer, for which we must be on our guard. One that especially tends to appear when a praying person has not been able to prepare is that of association. In fact, because the prayer and the content thereof must be thought of then and there, two necessary activities come to the fore: the thinking up and formulating of subjects. Doing two things at once is not always easy and therefore, just like that, we might resort to “filling time” by adding the name of the Lord. Then the title “Lord” no longer serves as an address, but has become an interjection.

Besides that, we will tend to formulate subjects that flow forth, as it were, from our earlier words. You could say that we pray associatively. For example, we pray for our soldiers in Afghanistan and consequently think of peacekeepers. Those are also in Africa and there are refugee camps and that is how we get to the subject of hunger. We pray for our queen and think of the most recent state visit to an Arabic country, and hence end up praying for fellow believers who are persecuted.

Prepare Yourself←⤒🔗

Such issues about which we pray are fully worth of being brought before the Lord. Yet we come to these questions addressed to the Lord not so much because there is an acute need at stake which we verbalize on behalf of others, but rather via association. Certainly it is good, in regards to prayers to be used during a church service, to prepare these beforehand. In the past Prof. Dr. C. Trimp taught us that we as pastors rightly spend much time on the preparation and elaboration of a sermon on paper. After all, what is at stake is not just some presentation, but the explication of the Word of the Lord. As servant of the Word, you may speak on behalf of the Lord. But why then should we not also spend the same amount of time on the words (of response) we express to the Lord after he has spoken to us? A well-prepared prayer is carefully put together and contains no repetitions. A prayer sloppily put together, with many repetitions and illogical leaps of thought, results in the leader no longer being a real leader in the end, but someone “praying on his own”. The listeners have been dropped! But even if your prayer is well-prepared, you can lose quite a few fellow persons-in-prayer along the way, whether due to length or heat or stuffiness! Just as with a sermon, you must take into account those who are listening and praying along.

You are Speaking To God←⤒🔗

Another pitfall — and here we are again concerned with the principal prayer during a church service — occurs when the leader begins to repeat a part of his sermon. Clearly you may thank the Lord on behalf of the congregation for the proclamation of the gospel. But the intention is not that the Word that was just proclaimed in the name of the Lord, is consequently to be repeated in the prayer addressed to him. When a pastor falls into this pitfall, he is in such a moment also really speaking more in the direction of the congregation than in the direction of God. Now it is undeniable that in a public prayer, expressed in the presence of other people, there is also always a dimension of those praying along being addressed. If they are not addressed at all, it becomes difficult for them to pray along. The Lord will perhaps understand it if you express confused thoughts in a prayer, but those who are praying along will not. This indicates that as prayer leader, you must continually be conscious that you are speaking to the Lord God, but that you are also doing that on behalf of those who are present. This ought to be carefully balanced.

Prior Information←⤒🔗

When the names of particular congregation members are mentioned in a prayer, you can usually notice that it suddenly becomes much quieter in church. It is as if what is now going to be said comes much closer. But also, church members do not like to miss what is going to be said regarding one of their own. To prevent that prayers turn into disguised news bulletins for the congregation, I believe it has become a general habit that the subjects of intercessory prayers are announced beforehand. This also helps to prevent that all sorts of unnecessary information is uttered during a prayer. If there are brothers and sisters with the same name in a congregation, it must of course become clear whose issue is at hand. But that is a piece of information that is clearly meant for the congregation and not for the Lord. Therefore it will sound rather strange if an address and house number are also mentioned in a prayer, as if the Lord needs such information to be able to hear and answer our prayer. And we need not tell the Lord either how an intended treatment in the hospital is to take place precisely. If such information is necessary for the congregation, this is better passed on before the start of a prayer.

Making Your Point?←⤒🔗

Leading in prayer in a pastoral context is a very specific occasion. I presume that most leaders close a pastoral conversation with a prayer. That’s a good thing. But also then, it ought to be a matter of real “leading” in prayer. That means that you need to take care that the other person can also really pray along. If the matter concerns asking the Lord for comfort, that will not be a problem. But what if a challenging conversation took place wherein you did not come to an agreement? Then as pastor or leader you may be convinced that you are right on the grounds of the Word of the Lord, but the question is whether you also need to tell the Lord about your rightness during the prayer. The very great danger in such a case is that you do not speak to the Lord at all, but still want to emphasize to the one praying along how things are according to you.

A prayer following a conversation wherein you did not come to agreement will have to be formulated very carefully. It must really be a prayer. A speaking to God also on behalf of the other. Such a prayer must not entail an ongoing argumentation to which no answer is possible anymore. In such a case a prayer need not be lengthy either. After all, God was witness to the conversation and we need not tell him the content thereof, as if he is not yet aware of it. Such a prayer actually only needs to include a few questions. We may ask for the Spirit of the Lord to take ownership of our hearts and for him to clarify, through his Word, what he expects of us in this concrete situation.

Such a prayer can be prayed by both “parties”, without the one who is only listening being dropped because the prayer that is expressed is not his or hers. Subsequently you can utter a prayer for conversion on your own, when you also bring your own shortcomings before the Lord.

Lord, Teach Me To Pray←⤒🔗

In the above I have sought to introduce/mention a few matters for consideration. I realize that the whole or the exact application thereof is also influenced by the context and the personality of the one who leads in prayer. In a concrete situation you can of course pray for the conversion of a (sometimes named) brother or sister. The person concerned is not likely to pray along when it comes to such a prayer. But, if things are right, it will also be the prayer of the congregation. I can also imagine that in a particular situation, following a pastoral conversation, you pray for the conversion of the person you spoke with. If you perceived doubt and uncertainty, sometimes a careful choice of words in such a prayer might just be the little push [OR encouragement] that someone needs. But that simultaneously means that an unwise word choice and inconsiderate formulations can be counterproductive in regards to the one you are praying with.

In putting all of this on paper, I realize all the more how necessary it is that everyone who is called to pray with and for others, cannot escape from regularly asking the Lord: Lord, teach me to pray!