As the spiritual leaders of the local church, pastors can adjust the prayer climate of their congregations. No pastor wants to be the thermometer when he is called to be the thermostat as it relates to the spiritual fervor and prayer culture of the church. Still, pastors need help in this area. With that in mind, here are five effective, practical ways pastors – of any size congregation – can adjust the prayer climate in their church.

  • The pastor shapes the prayer climate by example

You can never lead anyone spiritually to a place you’ve never gone. Pastors lead more by example than they may realize. As Matthew Haste observed, “A brilliant sermon can be silenced by a lifestyle that contradicts it.”

Haven’t we all seen enough pastoral failure in recent years to agree that a good example, by contrast, is worth its weight in gold? Unfortunately, more than 70% of pastors struggle with consistent faithfulness in prayer.

The spiritual ceiling of the local church, therefore, is greatly determined by the pastor’s personal example – whether good or bad – in prayer. This was clear from the earliest days of the church when our apostolic role models devoted equal time to the priorities of “prayer and the ministry of the word” (Acts 6:4). Can we do less? Obviously not. If you want to lead a praying church, you have to be a praying pastor.

  • The pastor strengthens the prayer climate through preaching

The 19th century Anglican Bishop J.C. Ryles taught that preaching is God’s “principal instrument” of “the edifying of saints.” No wonder Stephen Olford said, “Only one thing will ever take the place of great preaching and that’s greater preaching!”

For most pastors, the pulpit is ground zero of his leadership. He influences more people from the pulpit than from any other platform. For this reason, the pastor must preach on prayer if he hopes to lead a house of prayer.

There are hundreds of passages in Scripture where the word “prayer” appears. In fact, one pastor could preach on prayer every Sunday for a decade and never use the same passage twice.

For this reason, a faithful pastor’s preaching schedule should include numerous Sundays devoted to thundering the truth about prayer.

  • The pastor supports the prayer climate with resources

We live in the information age. The average American consumes 74GB of information every day – about 850% more information consumed than only 30 years ago. That’s the equivalent of reading four or more books daily.

Americans crave information, and pastors must intentionally enter the arena of providing quality information if we want to make a difference in this culture. Our teaching role demands that we resource what we believe in. Tell people which books on prayer you recommend. Write or otherwise provide free prayer material for your church website. Guide people to sermons and teaching online. Remember, the appetite grows on what feeds it; so, provide excellent resources which feed a growing hunger for more prayer.

  • The pastor sustains the prayer climate by equipping

God has placed “watchmen on the walls” who are “never silent” in prayer, and they give God “no rest” (Isaiah 62:6-7). There are prayer warriors and intercessors, the watchmen on the walls, already in your church who will help the pastor change the prayer climate.

In addition to these few “watchmen,” the pastor should organize prayer conferences and training events to equip as many prayer warriors as possible. Equip men to pray. Equip teenagers in prayer. Host prayer training for women. Equip the staff in prayer. Of course, the pastor should be on the lookout for those men and women who are most inclined to intercede but train the entire church!

In this way, the church becomes saturated with a passion for prayer. Never stop equipping prayer warriors and intercessors.

  • The pastor stewards the prayer climate in prayer meetings

In order to ignite a climate of prayer, we must break out of the anonymity of the prayer closet alone and let the church see prayer in action (Acts 1:14).  The church was born in a prayer meeting, but today an astonishing number of believers know nothing of the power of praying together. In fact, 98% of believers never join with their church in a gathering for prayer.

It seems like an outrageous claim, but it is true that no church will ever develop a dynamic culture of prayer apart from regularly scheduled, organized, powerful prayer meetings. The pastor, therefore, must do whatever it takes, no matter how long it takes, to host life-giving prayer meetings for the entire church.

The New Testament is clear about the need for praying churches, and the pastor’s leadership is essential in creating a climate for prayer. It will take time, but every minute invested is time well spent.  The time is now, therefore, to turn the prayer temperature up!