As a follow up to the meetings with Joe Humrichous I want to some of what he taught. His sessions are available here. I am not going to duplicate his teaching or his outlines, but in my own words I list the principles I think are most important for us to understand and practice as a church.

• Prayer is about a relationship with Jesus. Prayer is often viewed as a means to get something, but getting things is the least important feature of prayer. The importance of prayer is found in the marvelous truth that in prayer we converse with our God and Savior. Through prayer we enter into fellowship with Jesus our Creator and Redeemer.
• We pray together as a church because of who Jesus is. Jesus is the Head of the church, the source from which comes all the church needs. Prayer connects the body of Christ to its all sufficient Head who supplies all the resources we need to be a God exalting, Christian building and gospel proclaiming church.
• Jesus must be obviously present in the gatherings, work and prayer of the church. He must be actively in charge of our ministry, our fellowship and our discipleship. We must accept no substitutes for His presence or power.
• When the presence of Jesus is acknowledged and His will obeyed then Jesus will be the basis of harmony in the church. Jesus is our unity.
• When Jesus’ presence and lordship is welcomed, He becomes the resolution to interpersonal conflicts. Jesus is our peace.
• When Jesus is in our midst and we are submissive to Him, He will bring us to maturity in the faith and to holiness as a church. Jesus is our sanctification.
• Prayer for the inner man is of supreme importance. The prayers in the Bible over overwhelmingly concerned with the spiritual. The physical is never ignored, but the glory of God and the spiritual well-being of others is of greater significance than the ease of physical difficulties. Because “as he thinketh in his heart, so is he” (Proverbs 22:27) and because out of the hear “are the issues of life” (Proverbs 4:23) we ought give our attention to praying for the inner man.
• Prayer is a conversation. Do not let prayer be a monologue. Pray with your Bible open. Listen to God’s Word. Respond to Him through prayer. Praise Him for His character revealed in the text. Intercede to Him for the needs suggested in the passage. Don’t just talk, listen.