Last Sunday I preached part one of a two-part sermon entitled Why Bother to Pray as a Church? Acts 1:12-26 gives us three good reasons:
- Prayer unites the people of God.
- Prayer sheds light on the Word of God.
- Prayer invites direction from God.
While exploring the first point, we saw that corporate prayer throughout Scripture is God's people seeking God's face as one body in one voice about one thing. Prayer unites the people of God! Prayer rallies the church around the will of God. Such was the experience of the early church, and the same can be our experience today.
Here are some practical suggestions for participating in corporate prayer:
- Come prepared to pray by stirring up your faith. "No one calls on your name or strives to lay hold of you..." (Isa. 64:7). This verse describes those who are spiritually dead. Christians, on the other hand, should be marked by an attitude that says, "As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?" (Ps. 42:1-2). Nothing primes the pump of prayer like Scripture. So stir up your faith by feasting on the Word of God (cf. Rom. 10:17).
- Sit together. It's hard to be united in prayer when we're sitting far apart.
- Speak up! Others cannot agree with or affirm what they cannot hear.
- Pray simply and conversationally. Avoid "preachy" praying and ministerial, unnatural tones. You're talking to God. Therefore your goal should be to express your heart, not to impress others.
- Keep prayers concise, clear, and to the point. Long-winded, rambling prayers make prayer meetings boring, dull, and downright frustrating.
- Don't read long passages of Scripture. As a general rule, limit your reading to a few verses that express praise, iterate a promise, or emphasize a certain truth highlighted in your prayer.
- Don't pray through your personal prayer list. You can do that during your daily quiet time. Corporate prayer unites God's people as they seek God's face together as one body in one voice about one thing.
- Ask God; don't explain things to him. Don't waste time telling God what he already knows. Prayer is not supposed to be a commentary but an expression of our dependence on God. "And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you" (Luke 11:9).
- Avoid addressing others in the room under pretense of prayer. Corporate prayer is no substitute for personal conversation or confrontation, so don't make it one.
- Once you have prayed, wait for other people to pray before praying again. Allow the Spirit of God to prompt others to pray. This adds beauty and balance to corporate praying.
- When in doubt about what to pray, ask for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit on your church and city. No doubt this is what occurred when the fledgling church "went to the upper room ... [and] with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer" (Acts 1:13-14).
- Try not to pray too big or too small. Don't pray for anything outlandish and out of line with God's purposes. At the same time, avoid puny prayers that require no real dependence on God. Pray for things the group can "get its faith around."
- Don't be afraid of silence. It's sometimes golden. There is "a time to keep silence, and a time to speak" (Eccl. 3:7). The wise person appreciates the benefits of both, knowing the Spirit of God may be speaking even when we aren't.
- Listen to, agree with, and affirm each pray-er. That's assuming, of course, that the prayer is scripturally based. Verbal expressions such as "amen," or "yes, Lord," encourage the person praying, keeps the group engaged, and expresses our solidarity before the throne of grace.
- Submit to pastoral guidelines. For various functional or logistical reasons, the spiritual leaders of your church may ask the church to follow certain guidelines during corporate prayer. Don't buck your leaders; obey them. The church will be built up, and you will be blessed.