I held a three-hour seminar on prayer this past Saturday at my church. It was intended primarily for the people of my local congregation to lay a foundation for becoming the house of prayer our God wants us to be and for which our Lord Jesus is zealous.  I opened with what I envisioned the seminar would be like. 

In this vision, I was Steve Jobs. Over the months leading up to the seminar the buzz had been building. As a result, the room was full to overflowing. A live web feed carried the seminar around the world.   

All eyes would be on me as I unveiled God’s design for prayer. It could well be called “iPrayer 7.” The “7” would not suggest six previous iterations, but that God had designed perfection from the start. Its only improvement would be when the faith that is the operating system to prayer gives way to sight.   

People would lean forward in their seats as I spoke of the great power of prayer and explained where that power resided—not in the prayer itself or the one(s) praying, but in the true and living God Himself. The thoughts of the audience would be stirred. Their imaginations stretched.   

People would be taken aback at prayer’s simplicity of use. Yet they would marvel at the complexity behind it.   

I’d walk the audience through the many features and vast applications of prayer. All these apps are pre-loaded, I would point out. Nothing needed to download. And all free with the iPrayer.   

That was just the start. I would describe the amazing potential for prayer in God’s design and purpose. The audience would be awed to hear of what God had put in their hands.   

The people in the room and around the world would be pumped, eager to bring this sort of prayer to their lives and homes and churches. Ripples of repercussions would emanate and be felt around the world from that day till the age to come. Lives would be changed. The church built up. The kingdom of God and His Christ expanded.   

But then I realized what I envisioned for the seminar was not going to happen. I didn’t own a turtleneck!!

Stan Gale is a Teaching Elder in the Presbyterian Church in America. He holds an MDiv from Westminster Seminary and a DMin from Covenant Seminary. He currently serves as pastor of Reformed Presbyterian Church in West Chester, PA. This article first appeared at his blog and is used with permission.