You don’t have to pray just at the beginning and end of meetings.  Nehemiah, the praying systems analyst, gives an example of praying continually, in chapter 2 of his book.  He lived in the capital city of Susa, and made a plan for the rebuilding of far-away Jerusalem.  He had been pleading with God that his proposal would find favor in the sight of the king.  Now Nehemiah was cupbearer to the king.

One day the king engaged Nehemiah in conversation and asked a very pointed “What are you requesting?”  Nehemiah had rehearsed his response but still paused in verse 4: So I prayed to the God of heaven. 

We don’t know what he prayed, but we know it was short, probably less than five seconds.  He might have said, “LORD, bless me,” or “Please give me the words,” or “Remember my prayer,” or “Lord, have mercy.”  We also know it was effective, since the king did grant Nehemiah’s request, once he heard the plan.

So, a group prayer activity at the beginning of the meeting would be to list some options for mini-prayer phrases that would be suitable for upcoming agenda items.  Pray the short requests together at the beginning, but then remind each other to use them throughout the meeting.  Say them aloud or in silence, remembering that God IS with you! Say the quick prayers many times during the meeting.

As a reminder, you could have the list in the center of the table, or pray when a new agenda item comes up, or bring a chiming grandfather clock (or an app on a smart phone) to the meeting so you can pray whenever the hour rings!