Why Pray Together?

[From the Sermon Fodder List]
> WHY PRAY TOGETHER?
> By Rev. Oliver W. Price
>
> "Do you pray together?" a member of a church missions committee asked a
> couple who were being examined for possible support. After an awkward
> pause
> the husband replied. "We both pray but we do not pray together." They are
> not alone. Many pastors and veteran missionaries do not pray together.
> Nine
> out of ten Americans say they pray, but only about 14% pray together with
> their family, close friends, or their church. Many do not understand why
> they need to pray together.
>
> An elder who faithfully attended prayer meeting asked his pastor, "Why
> don't
> you just give us a list of prayer requests so we could pray for them at
> home
> instead of coming to prayer meeting?" His question pointed to the weakness
> of our prayer meeting and our church. There is far more to praying
> together
> in one accord than we had realized.
>
> The main reason we must pray together is to serve the Lord Jesus Christ as
> the active almighty Head of the church. All authority and power in heaven
> and earth has been given to the Lord Jesus Christ as the Head over all
> things to His church. The church began in one accord in one place in
> prayer
> (Acts 1:14-15). The Lord Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to fill the church and
> take charge of it as His representative (Acts 2:1-4). The church was so
> strong in the power of their Head that they turned the ancient world
> upside
> down for Christ and His kingdom (Acts 17:6).
>
> Our churches have forgotten the Lord's purpose for united prayer and lost
> His power. A. W. Tozer was right when he wrote an article titled, "The
> Waning Authority of Christ in the Churches". He declared, "All authority
> is
> His in heaven and in earth. In His own proper time He will exert it to the
> full, but during this period in history He allows this authority to be
> challenged or ignored.
>
> And just now it is being challenged by the world and ignored by the
> church."
> "Among the gospel churches Christ is now in fact little more than a
> beloved
> symbol," he added. We sing "All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name" but we
> treat
> the Lord Jesus like a constitutional monarch who leaves governing his
> kingdom to others. He explained, "Those in actual authority decide the
> moral
> standards of the church, as well as all objectives and all methods
> employed
> to achieve them. Because of long and meticulous organization it is now
> possible for the youngest pastor just out of seminary to have more actual
> authority in a church than Jesus Christ has.
>
> "Not only does Christ have little or no authority; His influence is less
> and
> less. I would not say that He has none, only that it is small and
> diminishing." One sign of His diminishing authority is that many churches
> have for years baptized professing Christians in the name of the Father,
> and
> of the Son and of the Holy Spirit without even asking them to commit
> themselves to learn to obey all that Christ commanded (Matthew 28:18-20).
> Consequently Christ's supreme authority is ignored at the entrance into
> the
> membership and fellowship of His church. A disciple is a person who is
> committed to learn to obey all that Christ commanded, but the majority of
> Christians spend a lifetime in church and never even know that they should
> become a disciple.
>
> Communion is observed without a thoughtful reflection on whether any sins
> have crept into our lives that must be confessed and forsaken (I
> Corinthians
> 11:26-32). For many this remembrance of the supreme sacrifice of Christ
> who
> was obedient unto death is an empty ritual with no power of meaning.
> Further, proof of the diminishing authority of Christ in Gospel churches
> is
> evident in the widespread failure to invoke His presence, authority and
> power when sin and conflict arise.
>
> When churches are splitting apart or marriages are headed for divorce why
> is
> it so rare for the leaders to unite couples and congregations in claiming
> the promise of the presence and power of Christ to restore straying
> brothers
> to faith, love, obedience and unity (Matthew 18:15-20)? As we have noted,
> the church began in one accord in one place in prayer. They experienced
> the
> fullness of the Spirit and an amazing unity of love so that they
> spontaneously shared all they had with one another (Acts 2:4, 44-47;
> 4:23-35). Multitudes were converted and baptized because they were
> convinced
> that Christ really did rise from the dead and now occupies the seat of
> supreme power in heaven and earth (Acts 2:36-37). They risked persecution
> and even death when they were baptized.
>
> The authority and power, love and unity Christ gave His praying church has
> not impacted North America in our time. We are experiencing "a form of
> godliness but denying its power" (2 Timothy 3:5). Should we be surprised
> then that America is following Russia's path to atheism and
> self-destruction, according to Aleksandr Solzhynitsyn. He recalled former
> days when faith was the shaping and unifying force of Russia. That
> changed.
> The church became weak and lost its healthy influence on the morals and
> character of the nation. Out of this moral wilderness came hatred of God
> and
> persecution of the true believers. Why did this happen? His answer was,
> "Men
> have forgotten God." His warning was on target.
>
> The Washington Post reported that "in the past decade or so, many have
> stopped believing so strongly in church. Seven in 10 Americans say they
> can
> be religious without going to one, and every year fewer and fewer do.
> Since
> 1992, church attendance is down 12 percent, according to the Barna Group,
> which tracks religious trends. "Spirituality and religious faith are
> increasingly viewed as individual private matters with few ties to
> congregation and community." (Quoted in The Dallas Morning News, 1/29/00,
> p.
> 1 G). Barna also warned that we are in the midst of spiritual chaos. He
> said
> that for millions of Americans "faith activity is no longer affected by
> church loyalty, respect for clergy, acceptance of absolutes, tolerance of
> Christianity, reverence for God, a desire to strive for personal holiness,
> sensitivity to theological heresy, and appreciation of tradition." (Barna
> Research Online, April 16, 2001).
>
> THE STARTING POINT OF CHANGE What must we do to escape this deadly
> self-centered form of Christianity? What will it take to become a powerful
> church, one that is full of Christ and His love? What does God require for
> us to become more like the church in the book of Acts? We must wake up and
> face the truth! We have forsaken our first love for Christ (Rev. 2:4). We
> have become halfhearted in our obedience to Him. We are lukewarm. We must
> repent and become passionately zealous to love, honor, and obey the Lord
> no
> matter how great the cost (Rev. 3:19). We must give Him preeminence in all
> things. We must love the Lord supremely and demonstrate our love by our
> sacrificial obedience.
>
> We can learn a lesson from Bill McLeod, pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church,
> Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. He saw the great spiritual need in his
> congregation and devoted himself to prayer. Then he led the congregation
> to
> devote themselves to prayer. Before he preached his sermon he urged his
> people to come to prayer meeting on Wednesday even if they had to miss a
> service on Sunday. He kept that up until the attendance at prayer meeting
> increase from 40 to 120. In addition, there were 40 children meeting for
> prayer.
>
> Next, he invited folks to stay after church for prayer on Sunday evening.
> He
> also started cottage prayer meetings. He enlisted people to pray filling
> up
> 15 minute time slots around the clock. The deacons stayed on Saturday
> nights
> starting at 9:00 p.m. and continuing as long as they felt led to stay.
> After
> two years of intensive prayer the church began a series of meetings with
> Ralph and Lou Sutera on October 13, 1971. God began to work in a powerful
> way reconciling members to one another. The meetings were scheduled to
> last
> 12 days, but there was such a revival of love and obedience that twenty
> churches joined in and the meetings lasted for seven weeks. People who
> could
> not stand one another embraced and asked for forgiveness. So many people
> returned stolen items to stores that the local newspaper reported it on
> the
> front page.
>
> One man drove 60 miles to confess his sin and pay his debt to an insurance
> company that he had defrauded. Out of this experience Canadian Revival
> Fellowship was born. It continues to this day calling Christians to unite
> in
> prayer for spiritual awakening and conducting crusades in Canada and the
> USA.
>
> For further study of the purpose and power of praying together we
> recommend
> The Power Of Praying Together; Experiencing Christ Actively In Charge.
> This
> is a 187 page book by Oliver W. Price with five keys for effective praying
> together.
>
> First Key: Claiming the Presence of Christ
>
> Second Key: The Power and Real Meaning of Praying in Jesus' Name
>
> Third Key: Asking Christ to Take Charge
>
> Fourth Key: Asking Christ to Change Each of Us
>
> Fifth Key: Bringing Us into Harmony with Our Father in Heaven
>
> "If you want to experience the life-changing power of God's glorious
> presence through corporate prayer, then this book is for you."
> Tony Evans
>
> "This book is written with passion, a burning desire God has given Rev.
> Oliver W. Price to rekindle the fire of prayer in our homes and churches."
> Erwin W. Lutzer
>
> "Price has dealt with the greatest need in the church today. I commend
> this
> book to all those desiring to be men or women of prayer."
> Sammy Tippit
>
> Available from Bible Prayer Fellowship. You may order a copy online from
> www.praywithChrist.org or by phoning toll free 1-877-937-7293.
>
> Available in Christian book stores.
>
> Bible Prayer Fellowship was created to challenge and mentor pastors,
> church
> leaders, and concerned Christians in a strategically focused prayer
> ministry
> for ongoing spiritual awakening in the home, church, and nation
>
>
>
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