Why do some churches have a Wednesday night service?

A regular meeting for prayer and exhortation during the week is not only suggested by the constantly recurring needs of the Lord's people, but by Scripture as well. How many and varied are the needs of the Church, and how blessed it is to come together for this purpose: the saints pouring out their hearts to God, interceding for one another, remembering the sick and afflicted, and pleading for blessing on the Lord's work! Ah, let us never neglect the prayer-meeting: we grow cold when we fail to avail ourselves of its privileges.*

One of the characteristic features of the day is shallowness — ignorance of, and distaste for, the word of God. Personal, prayerful study of the Scripture is the great remedy for this; it is also most helpful for the Lord's people to come together during the week for this purpose. The reading meeting is not mentioned in Scripture, but is most scriptural in its spirit. They had not the New Testament Scriptures as yet; whilst we have the word of God complete. The reading meeting should be an informal gathering. It is in this meeting that the teacher's gift is most enjoyed. Without definitely presiding, those instructed in the Word impart to their brethren, answering questions and unfolding Scripture. It will be found most helpful to take up and go regularly through different books of the Bible, the New Testament, and particularly the Epistles, as presenting the f all light of God's truth. This meeting should be guarded from useless speculations and mere vapid commonplaces. When there are none of experience and knowledge of the Word, it will often be found best for the Lord's people to come together and read some profitable work, with their Bibles in their hands, reading the references given, and turning to passages suggested. Such a practice will be found most helpful, and open the way to much profitable conference. We would not have it understood that one must be thoroughly taught in the Word to conduct a reading meeting, still a measure of familiarity with Scripture and some ability for communicating it are essential. We need hardly add that God meets and blesses His hungry people when they are looking to Him, no matter how little gift there may be among them.

The regular weekly prayer meeting is a church meeting equally with the breaking of bread. The throne of grace is then approached by the assembly as such, even if there are but a few in number.

What more necessary, then, to maintain the high position of being the pillar and ground of the truth than prayer? And when declension set in, and the few faithful began to be marked out from the mass, and distinguished as much for their weakness as for their faith, when the Lord Himself forbids all hope of restoration to the church's pristine position, and says, "I will put upon you none other burden; but that which ye have hold fast till I come" (Rev. 2:24), what more necessary to enable us to hold fast than the prayer-meeting? For it is the barrier against the inroads of the world, shuts the door against the wolf that seeks to enter and scatter the flock, keeps out heterodoxy and divisions, maintains the power of united testimony to the grace of Christ, is the expression of our dependence upon God, and opens the windows of heaven whence comes all we need. Had gathered saints been more mindful of the prayer-meeting, should we now behold the sad spectacle of saints once gathered to His name in present reckless scattering? But so much the more should there be confession, united confession, from the assembly. For if the scattering may not be wholly or at all healed, God will surely meet those who humble themselves on account of the common failure. There will be richer blessing, though not unaccompanied with shame for past unfaithfulness.

Let us then continue steadfastly in the prayer-meeting like these people of old. If you stay away from the prayer-meeting, of course you will not get anything of the corporate blessings they did. You do not want these gifts of grace, and so you do not unite to pray for them! We attend because we are poor, empty vessels, and want to be filled. We also have the priestly privilege of interceding for others. And we are sure to succeed because we know the grace of our God, and because we bring to Him a Name which He will not on any account disown or disclaim.

In the same month of the same year, as if by concert, four young men, near Connor, county Antrim, were led by the same blessed Spirit to commence what was termed "The Believers' Fellowship Meeting." One main object of these young men, in connection with this meeting, was to pray to God that He would bless their labours, as Sunday-school teachers, and that He would revive by His Holy Spirit the churches around them, which they felt to be in a dull dead condition. This humble beginning, like the one on the other side of the Atlantic, was greatly blessed of God; numbers rapidly increased. The power of prayer was soon felt throughout the whole neighborhood. Souls were converted in the prayer-meeting, the Spirit of God was working mightily, and the spirit of prayer so prevailed, that in the following year - 1858 - prayer-meetings were almost innumerable. There were known to be in one district, about sixteen meetings for prayer every night in the week. These facts we learnt from living witnesses on the spot at the time.*

Is the prayer meeting well attended? It has been remarked that the prayer meeting is the barometer of the local assembly. When the dews came back from exile, we read that they all came together, first to hear the law read aloud, and then to spend a fourth part of the day in confession of their sins and in prayer. (Neh. 9:23). In Acts 12, when Herod was seeking to destroy the infant church, having killed James and imprisoned Peter, we read that many were gathered together in the house of Mary, Mark's mother, praying all night. When we think that each of us is entrusted with 168 hours every week, is it too much to employ just one of those hours in corporate prayer?

In some places where the saints are scattered, and find it difficult to come together during the week, it may be simpler to have the prayer meeting after the Lord's supper, perhaps after a short interval, or else before, or after, the evening meeting. We are not told in the Bible at what hour we must come together, but we are enjoined to pray as an assembly (1 Timothy 2:1-11). See also Acts 2:42 and 4:23-31.

(3) The Lord being present, then, the prayer meeting ranks as an assembly - meeting of the first order, second only to the Lord's Supper. So it is placed, in the divine record of what characterized the first company of the church. "They continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers" (Acts 2:42 ). At a lecture, a gospel preaching, etc., the Lord may be with His servant who speaks His word, and all present may share the blessing; but He is not with the company, even if consisting of saints, in exactly the sense in which He is with an assembly of only two or three simply gathered together unto His Name.

(3) The Lord being present, then, the prayer-meeting ranks as an assembly-meeting of the first order, second only to the Lord's Supper. So it is placed, in the divine record of what characterised the first company of the church. "They continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers" (Acts 2:42). At a lecture, a gospel-preaching, etc., the Lord may be with His servant who speaks His word, and all present may share the blessing; but He is not with the company, even if consisting of saints, in exactly the sense in which He is with an assembly of only two or three simply gathered together unto His Name.

We remember revivals in the islands in the north of Scotland that were the result of prayer, some few saints gathering together and crying to the Lord to bring revival. When I was in America last year I went to a very large meeting in New York consisting mainly of black people, and I was told that at one point there was one brother and fifteen sisters, so when it was prayer meeting night they had one prayer. Well, then the sisters got together to have a prayer meeting, which meant fifteen prayers. There are over 150 in fellowship in that meeting today. It is wonderful what the Lord can do when there is definite exercise.