As evangelical churches become increasingly user-friendly in an attempt to reach their world for Christ, one of the aspects of corporate worship that has fallen on hard times is what is customarily known as the pastoral prayer. This longer time of prayer (about five to seven minutes in my church) is a very important part of a local church’s worship, a time during which a pastor leads his flock to God’s throne of grace (Heb. 4:14–16). For the believers, this becomes a singular time of communion with God as they affirm in their hearts, and perhaps discreetly with their voices, the praise, thanksgiving, and supplications that are brought to God’s ears. For the unbelievers, this longer time of prayer may make them feel uncomfortable (visitors have commented as much), but there is no reason to apologize for that. Church is for the church—if we understand the Bible correctly. This does not mean we go out of our way to offend unbelievers, since we ought always to show them the gracious love of Christ. But we certainly must not “design” our worship services with unregenerate desires in mind. To do so is to abandon a biblical ecclesiology.
The ministry of James
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