Over the next nine weeks Glenys and I have planned to present five sermons on Gene Getz’ “One Another” subjects. Those five sermons are based on his writings of “Praying for, Building, Loving, Encouraging and Serving – One Another.”
• Last Week – Glenys on “Planning an Escape” – the “when”, “how” and “why” of praying.
• Continue the theme of prayer.
I found a series of “Dear God” prayers on the internet, a few of which I’d like to share with you.
7-year old Debbie prayed, “Dear God: Please send a new baby for Mommy. The new baby you sent last week cries too much.”
“Dear Lord: Thank you for the nice day today. You even fooled the TV weather man. Hank, 7”
“Dear God: Please help me in school. I need help in spelling, adding, history, geography and writing. I don’t need help in anything else. Lois, 9”
“Dear God: I need a raise in my allowance. Could you have one of your angels tell my father. Thank you. David, 7”
“Dear God; I am saying my prayers for me and my brother, Billy, because Billy is six months old and he can’t do anything but sleep and wet his diapers. Diane, 8”
Prayer is a fascinating subject and experience. It is simple yet difficult; a child can understand it and a scholar can be stumped by it. It works yet is a mystery in the logical sense.
Evidence of personal praying in Scripture – Elijah, David, and Jesus Christ
There is a place for personal praying. Throughout Acts and the Epistles however, the great emphasis is on corporate prayer. Getz suggests this to be the area we have neglected.
Reason: Culture – Rugged Individualism – “I”-“My”-Me” (not all bad – e.g. personal responsibility) What has happened however is that through the influence of western culture, the “I”-“my”-“me” approach to things has led to personal emphasis in adopting Scriptural practices of corporate prayer to become a matter of personal focus so that we are more inclined to PERSONAL study, PERSONAL growth, PERSONAL prayer and PERSONAL witness (it’s about me).
Getz says (and it certainly bears true) that the Bible emphasizes corporate responsibility – “Us”-“Our”-“We”. The Scripture emphasizes corporate study, corporate growth, corporate witness and (today’s theme) CORPORATE PRAYER so that (to quote Getz) “we can influence any culture permeated with “I”-“my”-“me”.
“The dimensions of personal Christianity cannot develop as they should until they are in proper context of corporate Christianity.” (Getz) In other words, before I experience the fullness of personal faith, I must be committed to corporate Christian community.
Because of these realities we’ll focus on the subject of praying for one another which I’ve called “Corporate Prayer-Care” – a message of looking out for each other through the activity of prayer.
Since CORPORATE CARE (through corporate prayer) is the primary focus of the Bible, we need to assess how we will respond to that truth. Now, aside from the fact that instruction by God alone should be enough to gain our obedience to give ourselves to corporate prayer, there are a few other reasons to consider why we ought to heed this instruction.
• Benefits of corporate prayer:
1. Corporate Prayer-Care Strengthens the Recipient
Ephesians 3:16 – “I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will give you mighty inner strength through his Holy Spirit.”
Praying for other people is a means of asking God to give people what they need to get through where they are and what they are facing. How this works is a mystery not easily understood and certainly not easily explained. We invite God to do things for people and within people that only God is capable of doing because we cannot even understand it fully.
A story will help us understand the lesson. It is told by a man called JIMBO – as found on a website link – http://www.heinvites.org
• Jimbo thanked the West for praying for Christians in Baghdad, Iraq while they were there delivering supplies to Assyrian Christians. They were setting up a network to distribute relief once the situation calmed. Jimbo said, “We were the only foreigners in the city of Baghdad without a Government agent. All foreigners in Baghdad are required to have a government agent with them at all times. We had none and had complete freedom to travel and stayed with family members as I am Assyrian”.
“Our hearts were broken with the suffering of the people but also touched by the strength of the Church (bold text mine). We didn’t want to leave but met with the head of our tribe who asked us to go and let people know the situation of the Assyrian Christian…All because you prayed!!”
How could Jimbo and his team face such odds, putting themselves in front of people who might assassinate them in a moment if military forces interpreted their presence as a threat? How does one find that kind of courage when you know you might not come out alive? It is that mystery of prayer which strengthens the recipient who may not even realise that the source of their strength is the prayers of the saints.
Some of you know the experience of what I’m talking about. I have heard some of you say, “I felt the prayers of the people. I couldn’t face ‘this’ without it.”
Old song: “When you pray will you pray for me? / Will you whisper my name in your prayers?” followed with, “When I pray, I will pray for you / I will whisper your name in my prayers.”
Corporate Prayer-Care Strengthens the Recipient
2. Corporate Prayer-Care Provides a Way Out of Trouble
Trouble can be something we create and bring on ourselves but just as often it is not the result of wrong behaviour or bad choices on our parts. It is good to know that, whichever reality there is a way out of that trouble.
Paul wrote to the Philippian Christians from jail, “For I know that as you pray for me and as the Spirit of Jesus Christ helps me, this will all turn out for my deliverance.” (Philippians 1:19)
As he thought of his deliverance it was likely from several fronts. 1) Hoping for release from his physical prison; 2) Deliverance into God’s favor whether released or not; 3) His thoughts could have been geared toward the many people who would yet be delivered because of his ministry and faithfulness, along with the church; 4) Maybe moments of doubt and questioning.
• Story of a Salvation Army pastor’s salvation story. She spent 30 years in India providing missionary service when her father became deathly ill back home. She asked God to let her get home to have a final visit, only to find that he had died before she got there. She said to God, “I will serve you as long as I live but I will never love you again.” She came to me after living this way for 30 years, now retired and aged and said, “I need to give my heart to Jesus.” As I prayed with her she was delivered from her bondage of hatred for God. It wasn’t my praying – I was her pastor doing the best I could with her request for support – it was through prayer however that God chose to change her current reality and relationship with Him!
• Our telephone prayer tree! When you pray for other people you partner in providing a way out of their trouble, you are aiding in their deliverance from situations beyond their control.
Corporate Prayer-Care provides a way out of trouble
3. Corporate Prayer-Care moves us Beyond our own Problems
Matthew 16:25 – “If you try to keep your life for yourself, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for me, you will find true life.
When the founder of The Salvation Army, William Booth, was dying, a manager from one of the telegraph systems of London came to see him. He offered to transmit any message Booth wanted to say, long or short, around the world. Booth smiled and said one word: "Others." It was sent around the world.
Do you remember the quote from Gene Getz I used at the beginning of this sermon? “The dimensions of personal Christianity cannot develop as they should until they are in proper context of corporate Christianity.” I believe Booth knew that. He realised that the church was not to be what it was – “I”-“my”-me” thinking and priorities so he moved out on his own to give attention to “us”-“our”-“we” approach to community.
When we focus attention on others and their needs our own situations and challenges are brought more into focus and perspective. The time we spend for others actually enhances our own sense of self-worth and contribution to God’s Kingdom plans. This suggestion is supported with a recent survey on volunteerism. It looked for answers as to why people are willing to give so much time volunteering when what is often gained from it is personal cost of investment (time and money), disruption of one’s normal demands (work, family) and so on. The survey discovered five common reasons for volunteerism – values, concern for community, personal esteem, seeking to understand the world around them and personal development. In each case, the volunteer stood to receive something of personal benefit and value by giving their time.
When we pray for other people and focus on their needs and concerns we are involved in a significant form of volunteerism – we are investing our time in the lives of other people and when we do that, personal benefits are returned to us. We begin to feel a sense of value and purpose when we are invested for the good of another. Surely this is, in part, what Jesus meant in Matthew 16:25 when he talked about “giving up” and “finding”.
Corporate Prayer-Care moves us Beyond our own Problems
4. Corporate Prayer-Care Creates Unity
1 Timothy 2:8 – “So wherever you assemble…pray with holy hands lifted up to God, free from anger and controversy.”
Why do you suppose Jesus instructed us to “pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:44)? A: It’s very hard to hate someone when you’re talking to God about them.
Praying for each other creates caring community. In one region of Africa, the first converts to Christianity were very diligent about praying. In fact, the believers each had their own special place outside the village where they went to pray in solitude. The villagers reached these “prayer rooms” by using their own private footpaths through the brush. When grass began to grow over one of these trails, it was evident that the person to whom it belonged was not praying very much. Because these new Christians were concerned for each other’s spiritual welfare, a unique custom sprang up. Whenever anyone noticed an overgrown “prayer path,” he or she would go to the person and lovingly warn, “Friend, there’s grass on your path!”
People engaged in prayerful concern for other people are quite sensitive to the realities of another person slipping in their faith walk. They are not only aware of it but concerned about it – concerned enough to encourage them to hold fast and to keep the most important thing the most important thing (in relationship with God).
Corporate Prayer-Care Creates Unity
5. Corporate Prayer-Care will be Judged
1 Peter 1:17 – “And remember that the heavenly Father to whom you pray has no favorites when he judges. He will judge or reward you according to what you do.”
• Often perceive judgement as a negative thing. Tell that to the accused who stands for the jury-reading of their sentence when they say, “We find the defendant NOT GUILTY!”
• There is a place in God’s judgment for the activity of corporate prayer.
The final book of the Bible – Revelation – is a book of end-time prophecies and things yet to come. It holds rich symbolism and depth. Mixed into that symbolism is the fascinating verse of Revelation 5:8 – “And as {Jesus} took the scroll, the four living beings and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp, and they held gold bowls filled with incense – the prayers of God’s people!
Our prayers hold a very important place in God’s plan for redemption and will be played out in the Judgements of his coming Kingdom!
Corporate Prayer-Care will be Judged
WRAP
• Praying for one another is a corporate call of the Scriptures – the instructed Word of God to us
• Praying for one another reaps benefits to us thought that must never be the focus of our praying
• While personal praying has a place in our lives, it must not be our primary focus – Jesus’ life and example speak to that truth
• The “prayers of God’s people” have an important role to play in the final days when Jesus returns for the second and final time!
