“You who make mention of the Lord, do not keep silent, and give Him no rest till He establishes and till He makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth.”  Isa 62:6-7

“God’s professing people must be a praying people, must be public-spirited in prayer, must wrestle with God in prayer, and continue to do so…
“God is so far from being displeased with our pressing importunity, as men commonly are, that He invites and encourages it; He bids us to cry after him…
“It is a good sign that God is coming towards a people in ways of mercy when He pours out a spirit of prayer upon them and stirs them up to be fervent and constant in their intercessions.”    – Matthew Henry on Isa 62:6-7

The Mysterious Case of the Disappearing Prayer Meeting

As mentioned in my last post I find it difficult, at times, to pray.
But, as Don Carson observed, in A Call to Spiritual Reformation:

“In itself this is neither surprising nor depressing: it is not surprising, because we are still pilgrims with many lessons to learn; it is not depressing, because struggling with such matters is part of the way we learn.”

But then he adds:

“What is both surprising and depressing is the sheer prayerlessness that characterizes so much of the Western church. It is surprising, because it is out of step with the Bible that portrays what Christian living should be; it is depressing, because it frequently coexists with abounding Christian activity that somehow seems hollow, frivolous, and superficial.”[i] [emph. mine]

This, he observed, was the case a generation ago!

This, I too fear, is perhaps the greatest weakness of the Church in the 21st Century.
I believe (speaking generally), we in the West have lost that sense of urgency that once drove us, as a church, to our knees, in humble dependence upon God in prayer.

Not all churches, I’m sure.
But many churches today give a low priority to meeting together to pray together.
One church I know of even removed any reference to meeting together for prayer from its summary of aims.
And some churches have abandoned the prayer meeting altogether.

Praying in the Early Church

When you look at the practice of the early church you find that, not only did believers back then pray; but nearly all references to prayer in Acts are to corporate prayer, i.e. to the church coming together to pray.

1. The church was conceived in a prayer meeting

We know from Acts ch 1 that Jesus continued 40 days on the earth after He rose from the dead. But the Holy Spirit was not poured out on the church till the Day of Pentecost, 50 days after He rose from the dead.
What was that handful of believers doing during those ten days in between?
They were praying!

Jesus had “commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 1:4-5) Jesus didn’t tell them to have a prayer meeting; He told them to wait.
But Jesus didn’t have to tell them what to do while they were waiting.
In the Bible, “waiting” – especially, “waiting on the Lord” – usually means “praying”. The people of God – the thoughtful people of God – have always known what to do, as they wait upon the Lord: they meet to pray!
And, that’s exactly what they were doing: “These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.” (1:14)
For ten days, they met and prayed.

2. The church prayed together to choose a new leader

During this time, they chose a replacement for Judas.
They looked to the Scriptures to guide them. They considered possible candidates.
Then, before making their final choice, they prayed together: “You, O Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which of these two You have chosen.” (1:24)

3. The church was nurtured in praying together

On the Day of Pentecost the Holy Spirit was poured out, and 3,000 were gathered into the church.
But how will this new church be nurtured?
“They continued steadfastly …” (2:42) – the word means literally: “they were very strong in this”, “they were committed to this”.
“They continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.” (2:42)
Other activities, meetings, events might come and go – but these four things: “the apostles teaching them, fellowship, the breaking of bread, and praying together” were absolutely essential to their life together as a church.

4. Facing threats, they met together to pray

In my last post the disciples faced bitter opposition before the Sanhedrin.
What would they do? They would pray, yes.
But more importantly they met together to pray: “Being let go they went to their own companions and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them.” (4:23)

Then: “… they raised their voice to God with one accord…” (4:24) i.e. they prayed, together, with one heart and one voice.
And, “when they had prayed [not before!] the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.” (4:31)

5. When one of their number was imprisoned, they met together to pray

In Acts 12 Peter is arrested.
So, “constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church.” (12:5)

This was not just the members of the church, individually, praying for Peter in the privacy of their own homes. This was the church, meeting together, to pray together.
We know this. Peter knows this; he even knows where they will be meeting together, when he escapes from prison.
He knows they will be meeting to pray at the house of Mary, the mother of Mark. Presumably, he knows this because this is where they regularly met to pray together.

6. The Great New Testament Missionary Movement was launched in prayer

In Acts ch 13, the Lord determines to mobilize the church in Antioch for the great work of missionary outreach.
Why did He choose the church in Antioch?
I guess there were a number of reasons. But one such reason must have been how the Lord found that church in choosing them to send out Paul and Barnabas. “While they were worshipping the Lord and fasting…” (13:2 ESV).
They were worshipping, they were praying. The Lord chose this church, that He found at prayer, to be the church that would spearhead the Great New Testament Missionary Movement.
Then, once it was clear they are to send Paul and Barnabas, it was only “after fasting and praying” that “they laid their hands on them and sent them off.”

 7. Further Examples:

1) On their return trip, on that First Missionary Journey, Paul and Barnabas appointed elders in all the churches they visited – then joined together with those in each church to pray together. (14:23)

2) In Philippi, Paul and Silas were thrown into prison. There they were, the only two members of the church present – broken and bleeding, cold and shivering.
What did they do? We all remember they sang hymns together.
But, before that “they prayed” together. (16:25)
They might have been the only two members of the church present. But even two, if there are only two, can come together in Jesus’ name and pray together; and Jesus promises: “There I am, in the midst of them.”

3) In Acts 20, returning from his Third Missionary Journey, Paul catches up with the elders from the church in Ephesus. Having met together, before he departs, it says: “He knelt down and he prayed with them all.” (20:36)

4) Later he arrives in Cyprus. There he meets with the believers. And, again, before he departs (it says): “We knelt down on the shore and prayed.” (21:5)

The early church was born in prayer.
The early church prayed together.

Prayer in Paul’s Epistles

Paul often exhorts his readers to pray.
But it is important to remember that his exhortations were to churches.
We can certainly apply his words to each of us individually. But, first and foremost, they are words to individual churches.

1) When Paul wrote the words I referred to in my last post: “In everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God” (Phil 4:6), he was writing to a church: the church in Philippi.

2) When Paul wrote: “Pray without ceasing” (1 Thes 5:16), and also “Brethren, pray for us” (v 25), he was writing to the church in Thessalonica.

3) “Pray always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints” (Eph 6:18), is addressed to the church in Ephesus.

4) Likewise, when Paul goes on to ask them to “pray for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel” (v 19), he was imploring the church there to pray for him.

5) In writing to the church in Corinth, he tells them how, at one time: “We despaired even of life; we had the sentence of death…” (2 Cor 1:8); but, he says: “You help us together in prayer for us.” (v 11)
He attributes his deliverance to the prayers of the church, as they prayed together for him, when he was in Ephesus.

As important as it is that you and I spend time on our own, and with our family, in prayer (and it is!), never underestimate the importance to the life of the church of meeting together to pray.

Even the Lord’s Prayer is, first and foremost, a prayer we pray together.
When Jesus taught His disciples to pray, He began with: “Our Father, who is in heaven…”

Corporate prayer is vital to the life of the church. I have referred to this elsewhere (here, and here, and here).
Without prayer, a church is dead.

Don Carson asks pointedly:

“Is it not true that by and large we are:
– better at organizing than agonizing?
– better at administering than interceding?
– better at fellowship than fasting?
– better at entertainment than worship?
– better at theological articulation than spiritual adoration?”[ii]

Cheshire Church

When Alice wandered through Wonderland, she came across the Cheshire Cat; it kept appearing and then disappearing.

“I wish you wouldn’t keep appearing and vanishing so suddenly,” complained Alice. “You make one quite giddy.”
“All right,” said the Cat; and this time it vanished quite slowly, beginning with the end of the tail, and ending with the grin, which remained some time after the rest of it had gone.
“Well! I’ve often seen a cat without a grin,” thought Alice; “but a grin without a cat! It’s the most curious thing I ever saw in my life!”

Today, in many churches, as the substance slowly disappears, there is still a grin. But, in their effort to become “seeker sensitive”, they now look little different from the world around them.

Thankfully not all churches have succumbed; I am thankful for where I presently worship.
But I have personally observed the following in some quarters:

• Sermons of substance that give way to brief and trite exhortations, whose appeal is in the funny stories told.
• Lots of repetitive songs that say very little, that depend heavily upon hyped up emotion. I believe passionately that we are to rejoice in the Lord; but often it appears to be more about rejoicing in our emotions than in the Lord – like the young woman who marries because she is in love with love.
• Reverence in worship is disappearing – again, being replaced by light-hearted banter and humour. Puppetry and trivia are making a comeback.
• “Meet and greet” the person next to you is also making a comeback. So as not to be misunderstood, I have long maintained that friendliness is vital to the life and witness of a church (e.g. see here). But please, don’t interrupt the worship of a holy God with what (in the brief time allowed) can be nothing more than superficial chit-chat (that can also, therefore, make visitors uncomfortable).
• In fact, the holiness of God (if referred to at all) is often misrepresented in worship today. I once heard a preacher explain that the real meaning of “holiness” is that God loves you and wants to make you happy.
• Gimmicks continue to be used in the vain hope of attracting and converting outsiders (e.g. such as a “Poker and Whiskey Night”.)

And especially when it comes to prayer!

• Prayer in worship is often brief and folksy; while corporate prayer, outside of the worship service – if it has not ceased – tends to be poorly attended.

But all the while (as Don Carson put it) there is “abounding Christian activity that somehow seems hollow, frivolous, and superficial.” The substance may vanish; but at least the church still wears a friendly smile.
“Well!” I thought. “I’ve often seen a church without a grin. But a grin without a church! It’s the most curious thing I ever saw in my life!”

[i] Carson, A Call to Spiritual Reformation (1994) p 9
[ii] ibid. p 24