A few simple practices can help a congregation recover the corporateness of corporate prayer. Pray we instead of I, just as Jesus did in the Lord’s Prayer. Pray concisely. Jesus was clear: length in prayer is not necessarily a virtue. Often, in fact, brevity helps others pray with us rather than mentally checking out. Pray loudly. It seems like a small detail, but volume can help or hinder our prayer as a body. Say amen. When the whole congregation joins in the “amen” at the end of a prayer, we formally agree: “This was my prayer too!”
