Are We Praying And Do We Often Pray As A Community?

BY ELDER TAN ENG CHUN

For several years within GPC, we faced the uphill task of “moving” believers to sign up for our prayer and fasting chain, and to attend congregational prayer meetings, which had low participation. So, is the heart of praying as a community absent from the church or are there reasons holding us back?

We often hear the term “corporate prayer”. What does this mean? Corporate prayer is used to describe praying together with other people—in small groups or in larger bodies of people. It is where a community of believers are gathered together as a body of Christ to pray. Corporate prayer is an important component in the life of the church, along with worship, sound doctrine, communion, and fellowship.

It is a key part of the church and we read in Acts 2:42, where the early church met regularly and “they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” Corporate prayer edifies and unifies us as we share our common faith which was the foundational core value of the early church. The same Holy Spirit who dwells within each believer causes our hearts to rejoice as we hear praises to our Lord and Saviour, knitting us together in a unique bond of fellowship found nowhere else in life. To those who may be alone and struggling with life’s burdens, hearing others lift them up to the throne of grace can be a great encouragement. It also builds in us love and concern for others as we intercede for them. Whether we are participating as a community in prayer or praying by ourselves, the Bible gives good guidance on how we are to pray.

*    We are to pray in humility – “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up” (James 4:10).

*    We are to call on God in Truth – “The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth” (Psalm 145:18).

*    We are to be obedient – “Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him” (1 John 3:21-22).

*    We are to be thankful and not to be anxious – “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God” (Philippians 4:6).

*    We are to pray in confidence – “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need” (Hebrews 4:16).

Sadly, corporate prayer can also become a platform for those whose words are directed not to God, but to their hearers. Jesus warned against such behaviour in Matthew 6:5-8, “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men.” He warned against praying prayers that were eye-catching, long-winded, or hypocritical.

There is nothing in Scripture to suggest that corporate prayers are always “more powerful” than individual prayers in the sense of moving the hand of God. The Bible does not indicate that they are. Perhaps the misconception that some Christians have about the increased power of corporate prayer is based on Matthew 18:19-20, “Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.” It is important to read these verses in the context of the passage. These verses come from a larger passage which addresses the steps to follow for church discipline toward a sinning member. To interpret them as promising believers a blank check for anything they might agree to ask God for, no matter how sinful or foolish, not only does not fit the context of church discipline, but it denies the rest of Scripture, especially the sovereignty of God. Of course, Jesus is present when two or three pray, but He is equally present when one believer prays alone, even if that person is separated from others over long distances.

Far too many Christians equate prayer with “getting things from God,” and group prayer becomes mainly an occasion to recite a list of our wants. Biblical prayers, however, are multi-faceted, encompassing the whole of the desire to enter into conscious and intimate communion with our holy, perfect, and righteous God. We have a God who inclines His ears to His creatures causing praise and adoration to pour forth in abundance (Psalm 27:4; 63:1-8), producing heartfelt repentance and confession (Psalm 51; Luke 18:9-14), generating an outpouring of gratitude and thanksgiving (Philippians 4:6; Colossians 1:12), and creating sincere intercessory pleas on behalf of others (2 Thessalonians 1:11; 2:16).

Prayer means seeking to co-operate with God to bring about His plan, not trying to bend Him to our will. We abandon our own desires in submission to the One who knows our circumstances far better than we ever could and who “knows what you need before you ask” (Matthew 6:8). Prayers offered in submission to the Divine will, therefore, are always answered positively. This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. (1 John 5:14)

Praying as a community is important because it helps to create unity (John 17:22-23) and is a key avenue for believers to encourage one another (1 Thessalonians 5:11) and to spur one another on to love and good deeds (Hebrews 10:24).

May we not lose heart but continue to encourage one another when we gather for worship, communion or fellowship, and seek to gather as a community in the power of the Holy Spirit to “pray without ceasing” and to “devote yourselves to prayer”. With the confidence in God’s unchangeable character and eternal purposes, may we saint, who live in a world that is continually changing, be exhorted to come together and pray. As we pray in the Spirit, we will begin to see people and things from the heavenly perspective.