Are we missing something?

So simple, those words in James 5: 16, “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.  The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.”  Then James follows this up by illustrating what he is trying to communicate with these words, “Elijah was a man just like us and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain for three years.  Again he prayed and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops. Prayer works!

In Ephesians 6:18, Paul writes, “And pray in the Spirit pm all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.  With this is mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.” Then he continues asking the Ephesians to pray for him.  Similarly, in I Thessalonians 5:16-18, Paul encourages the Thessalonians with these words, “Be joyfully always, pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

It seems that God wants us to pray for each other, and not the “Be with them,” kind of prayers.  If they are believers, he never leaves them.  The problem is that sometimes they don’t notice His presence. Our prayer then might be, “Help my friend to be aware of your presence and your love.  Help them to recall and be encouraged by your Words of encouragement in Scripture or song or messages that they have heard.”

Andrew Murray wrote, “It is because of lack of prayer that the working of the Spirit is so weak.”  And I wonder if there is any relation between the number of churches that no longer have prayer meetings. 

I was the parent of three kids, all of whom had church activities on different nights.  We could only have unhurried dinners about two nights a week, so I understand the desire to “tighten up” the church schedule allowing for more family time.  However, I wonder if there is another way to fix this, a way we can show that we understand God has called us to pray for each other.  Certainly we can pray alone in our homes, but I wonder what happened if we really gave ourselves, corporately, to prayer.