Why Praying is Important | National Equipped Conference 2026 | Pastor Charlie Matz

Main message: Prayer is essential to the church’s mission (the Great Commission) — we cannot reach, teach, or train disciples apart from God’s work, so Christians must cultivate both personal and corporate dependence on prayer.

Key points:

• Frame the church’s mission by Matthew 28:18–20: reach, teach, and train — all are humanly impossible without prayer.
• Reaching the lost requires speaking with wisdom (Romans 10; James 1:5) and pleading for God to give spiritual life (Ephesians 2).
• Teaching and sanctification need prayer for understanding, obedience, and ongoing transformation (Psalm 119 examples).
• Training leaders requires prayer (Matthew 9:35–38) — pray for God to raise up laborers before relying only on tactics.
• Corporate prayer is central in the New Testament pattern (Lord’s Prayer as a corporate model; Acts 1–2 devotion to prayer; Acts 12 and 16 examples of answered, desperate prayer).
• Practical exhortation: regularly pray for leaders, the lost, believers’ sanctification, and participate in corporate prayer gatherings.

Scriptures mentioned: Matthew 28:18–20, Romans 10:14–15, James 1:5, Ephesians 2 (esp. v.1 and following), Psalm 119:18, Psalm 119:34, Matthew 9:35–38, Matthew 6 (Lord’s Prayer), Acts 1, Acts 2:37,42, Acts 12, Acts 16:25–26