Reason 1 - Too Few People

One reason I don’t like to go to prayer meetings, is that there are too few people in the prayer meeting to start with. I know that it’s like the chicken and the egg deal. Since there aren’t that many people going to prayer meetings, there are fewer people to go to prayer meetings. It’s a vicious cycle that I’m hesitant to break. Why don’t I like to go when there’s no one around? You’d think given my shyness I’d like it when there’s not that many people around but then you’d be wrong. Why? I’ll tell you why.
First of all, prayer meetings are all about sharing. Whether it’s your problems, your family’s problems, or you co-workers problems, you still gotta share. It’s like a requirement or something. Another requirement is that a prayer meeting has to last a minimum of two hours. It’s not like you can all rush through the meeting and then leave. No, there’s a protocol you have to follow. Anyway, look at the math. Let’s say there’s 30 people. And with two hours to fulfill, that’s like 2 minutes per person to share, and 2 minutes per person to pray. Now, let’s forget fantasy for a little bit, and talk reality. There’s five people in the prayer meeting. So now, that’s 12 minutes per person for sharing, as well as at least 12 minutes of prayer time. Now you see the problem?
I have a hard time sharing 2 minutes worth of stuff. I don’t see how I can share a whole 12 minutes! And lest you say, I can always share less, well, sure that’s certainly feasible. But when I’m following someone who has poured out their heart for a good half hour about their dad having cancer, how they lost their job, how their kid needs braces. How can I follow all that with like a minute of, “Umm… my toe has a hangnail. Please pray for that.” I can’t… it’s embarrassing, so I have to make stuff up for at least 10 minutes, so I don’t sound too pathetic. And then 12 minutes of sharing… which means I have to remember some of what the other people were sharing about. It’s tough enough to pray for others, but now I’d have others praying about my lies. Hmm… that just doesn’t sound good.
Second of all, by joining such a small prayer group, it feels like I’m intruding or something. Sure, everyone welcomes me, however, soon the regulars start talking about ongoing troubles, and it just feels like I’m an outsider. Granted, if I keep going to the prayer meeting, eventually I’ll fit in, but how many times would I have to go before that happens? To me, it’s like trying to fit into a clique that have been friends since grade school. I’m sure everyone is very nice and friendly, but there will always be inside jokes, or past experiences that they’ve all shared. Then, in order to welcome you, they’d have to explain the experience, thus totally ruining the off-the-cuff remark. It’s very awkward, and even after the explanation, it still doesn’t seem funny to me. Then they’ll see my confused look and say, “You had to be there.” I hate those. If something is funny, I shouldn't have to be there to appreciate it. But that’s another topic.
So… what’s a way to solve this problem. One is to make the prayer meeting fun. Have some social activities, or drinks (lots of them!). Combine the prayer meeting with another activity, like, I dunno, American Idol watching. So first, socialize, then pray, then afterwards, watch Idol. This has the added bonus of ending on time, another reason I don’t go to prayer meetings, which I’ll talk about later this month. And please, don’t bring up that time when you and Bill went out karaoke-ing and ha ha haha, you had to be there.