Prayer is both an art—a living expression of love, trust, repentance, and worship—and a science in the older sense of an ordered discipline with principles that can be learned and practiced. A church that teaches prayer should therefore do more than explain it: it should create opportunities for believers to pray together, receive guidance, and grow in confidence. R. A. Torrey’s classic How to Pray is especially useful because it treats prayer as essential Christian work rather than a ceremonial addition to ministry.
Torrey emphasizes that prayer matters because it brings God’s power into personal life and Christian service. He repeatedly connects fruitful prayer with dependence on the Holy Spirit, attention to Scripture, faith, obedience, earnestness, and perseverance. These themes offer a practical framework for congregational teaching.
Begin with the purpose of prayer. Prayer is communion with God, not merely a technique for obtaining desired outcomes. It includes adoration, confession, thanksgiving, petition, intercession, listening, and surrender. Jesus’ model prayer in Matthew 6:9–13 begins with God’s name, kingdom, and will before turning to daily needs, forgiveness, and protection. This order helps Christians move from self-centered requests toward participation in God’s purposes.
Next, teach the conditions of faithful prayer. Drawing from Torrey and Scripture, churches can emphasize several foundational practices:
Pray according to God’s will. Scripture shapes our desires and gives substance to our petitions (1 John 5:14–15).
Pray in Jesus’ name. This means approaching the Father through Christ and asking in harmony with Christ’s character and mission, not simply attaching a phrase to the end of a prayer (John 14:13–14).
Pray in the Holy Spirit. Torrey places strong emphasis on the Spirit’s help, echoed in Romans 8:26–27 and Ephesians 6:18.
Pray with faith. Biblical faith rests on God’s character and promises rather than on emotional certainty (Mark 11:24).
Pray with a surrendered life. Confession, forgiveness, and obedience matter because prayer is relational (Psalm 66:18; Mark 11:25).
Pray persistently. Jesus teaches His disciples “always to pray and not lose heart” (Luke 18:1). Delay should not automatically be interpreted as denial.
The church should also teach the practice of prayer. A simple pattern such as ACTS—Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, and Supplication—can help beginners develop balanced habits. Members may be encouraged to keep a prayer journal, pair biblical promises with requests, maintain an intercession list, and record answers. These tools should serve relationship with God, not turn prayer into a rigid performance.
Corporate practice is equally important. Churches can include short guided prayers in worship, establish small prayer groups, hold seasonal prayer gatherings, and train ministry leaders to pray with others sensitively. Teaching sessions should be followed by actual prayer: five minutes of instruction, for example, might lead into fifteen minutes of guided practice. Mature members can mentor newer believers by modeling concise, sincere, Scripture-shaped prayer without pressuring them to imitate a particular vocabulary or emotional style.
A practical course might run for six weeks: why pray; worship and confession; praying Scripture; intercession; the Holy Spirit and prayer; and perseverance when answers seem delayed. Each session could combine biblical teaching, a selection from Torrey, discussion, guided prayer, and a weekly exercise. Leaders should also address unanswered prayer honestly. God is not controlled by formulas; His answers may be yes, no, wait, or something wiser than the request. Prayer seeks God’s will and presence, not mastery over outcomes.
The best measure of a church’s prayer ministry is not the length or eloquence of its prayers. It is whether people increasingly depend on God, love their neighbors, confess sin, persevere in hope, and participate in Christ’s mission. Torrey’s central contribution is his insistence that prayer is indispensable, learnable, and powerful when rooted in God’s Word and pursued in reliance on the Holy Spirit. A praying church is formed when sound instruction becomes shared practice—and shared practice becomes a way of life.
Reference: R. A. Torrey, How to Pray (originally published in the early twentieth century; available in multiple modern and public-domain editions). Scripture quotations and wording may vary by translation.