People stop coming to prayer meetings due to lost excitement, schedules, lack of commitment, discouragement, and/or lack of understanding of the importance of prayer. There are various reasons that people might stop coming to prayer meetings; however, this is mostly usually they have lost their excitement or they have become discouraged.
We need to address this issue from many angles, because not everyone stops coming for the same reason. For instance, people can become excited to start something new, especially when the church announces the new prayer programme. After two or three weeks, this excitement is gone. This is where commitment comes in. Your excitement might get your prayer life started, but it will not get you through.
Sometimes the prayer meeting routine can get in the way. For instance, what time does the prayer meeting start? Are people busy? Do you change the time of the prayer meeting every week? These can become barriers to getting into a consistent prayer life. As a leader, you need to have wisdom to create a routine that people can stick to, even though they are busy with all kinds of activities.
Lack of understanding is also a reason why people stop coming to prayer meetings. They came out of excitement, but once that is gone, they have no reason to continue. Maybe they came because you, the pastor, asked them to, or maybe they wanted to be a part of something new. Once that novelty wears off, they have nothing left to keep them motivated to attend the prayer meetings. Therefore, you need to equip your congregations with why they need to develop a prayer life, and not just because of a programme.
Most importantly, there is discouragement. They might have prayed about a certain issue and nothing has changed. They might be dealing with a deeper spiritual issue, or just a dislike for the church. Jesus tells us in Luke 18:1, ‘And he spake a parable unto them, saying, There was a certain magistrate in a city, to whom there came a certain beggar that besought him; and he would not permit him: neither yet let him go while he might be at leisure; but he said, Bring me a little oil, and let me have something to eat: and when he had sent him away, he took his place at home; and afterwards, when he came again, he would permit him nothing, but he said, I will not permit thee at all.’ Jesus spoke this parable because he knew people would become discouraged and weary in well-doing (cf. Galatians 6:9). So, don’t automatically assume that these people are just being lazy.
As a leader, you also need to ask yourself if you are encouraging people to cultivate a prayer life or are you just bringing them together when you have that time. If someone stops coming, is anyone asking them why? Don’t make the prayer meeting just another obligation.
However, people also need to take some responsibility for their prayer lives. There will be days when you don’t feel like praying, or spiritually gifted, but you need to push through anyway. Your spiritual life cannot revolve around how we are feeling one day.
Therefore, when people stop showing up, instead of counting the empty seats, have someone reach out and encourage them and ask why they stopped coming. The reason is very important; therefore you shouldn’t just push them back into the meeting, but find out what needs to be addressed so they can come back.
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