Herb Miller (who was a pastor and now ministry consultant) tells the story of a nightclub opening on Main Street in a small town. Upon hearing the news, the only church in that town organized an all-night prayer meeting. The members of the church asked God to burn down the club. Within a few minutes, lightning struck the club, and it burned to the ground. Being a small town it didn�t take long before the club owner heard about what the church had done and he decided to sue the church, which in turn denied responsibility for the destruction of the club. They went to court and after hearing both sides, the judge said, �It seems that wherever the guilt may lie, the nightclub owner apparently believes in prayer, while the church does not.�
Do we really believe in prayer? Does prayer change anything? This is an interesting question which has received much attention over the years, particularly in the medical field. Scientific studies have been conducted to see if prayer works. In a recent study on prayer patients were divided into three groups, the first group did not receive prayer at all, the second group received prayer and was made aware they were being prayed for, and the last group received prayer and was not made aware they were being prayed for. What do you think the results of the test were? Which group did best? [Take a poll]. Surprisingly the group which wasn�t prayed for at all did the best, leading researchers to conclude prayer doesn�t make a difference, and might even be harmful.
This is interesting because when we read the Bible, it is resoundingly clear that prayer does make a difference. Jesus said,
"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you (Mt. 7:7).�
�If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you (Jn 15:7).�
That�s the issue isn�t it? We read one thing in the Bible but perhaps our experience isn�t always like the book of Acts, or the scientific community seems to �prove� the opposite.
Praying in Community/Praying with Others
I think most of us here believe prayer makes a difference not only because we believe the Bible to be true, but because we have seen the results ourselves. God does respond to his children�s requests. In fact Jesus was clear that we should have a personal prayer time, and he modeled it for us too. Jesus encouraged us to pray in seclusion as a way of focusing on our relationship with God. We need time to pray alone because it allows us to concentrate on God, to avoid distractions, and to wait upon the Lord.
Let me push the bubble a little more. Does it make a difference if we pray with others versus just praying by ourselves?
Now let�s look in the book of Acts and see what happened when the Christian prayed together.
� Let�s begin with Acts 1:14. After Jesus� resurrection, his disciples, �they [disciples] all joined constantly in prayer, along with the women including Jesus� mother Mary and his brothers.� Result: It was shortly afterward the Holy Spirit came powerfully on the disciples.
� After the disciples received God�s Spirit, as the first Christ followers began gathering it says this (Acts 2:42), �They devoted themselves to the apostles� teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.� Prayer here was one of several things but the result of all of these working together was, (vs. 47) �the Lord added daily those who were being saved.�
� A couple of chapters later in Acts 4:24 the Apostles Peter and John were released from prison and we read, �When they [the disciples] heard this [the release of Peter and John], they raised their voices together in prayer to God.� And for the next several verses it records the prayer they prayed together. What were the results of this prayer meeting? Skip down to verse 31. It says the place they were meeting shook, they were filled once again with the Holy Spirit and spoke the Word of God boldly.
� In our passage today from Acts 12:5 So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him. The result? Peter was released miraculously from jail before his imminent death.
� In 13:2 �While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them." 3 So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off.� The next chapters are the result of their first mission trip to the modern nation of Cyprus and Turkey, which was very successful.
� Later when Paul was on his second missionary journey, in the city of Philippi (the letter of Philippians in the Bible was written to these people), 16:25-26 �About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everybody�s chains came loose.� The result was not only the earthquake, but even more importantly the jailor asked Paul what he needed to do to be saved and he and his whole family came to faith in Christ.
Why am I sending you through so many Scripture passages? Because I want to show you that the pattern we see over and over in the book of Acts is that God not only answers prayer but he particularly relishes in answering the prayers of his people gathered together. And after reading these passages, I wonder if we experience power shortages/outages, because we don�t pray with others.
Why the difference when praying together? I can only partially answer that. Many of us are familiar with Jesus� words, �for where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them (Mt. 18:20).� But how many are familiar with the previous verse when Jesus said, �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 (Mt. 18:19). For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.� The context of two or three believers gathering together, who are listening to God, and are in agreement with each other in prayer, God promises to answer their request. Or consider Jesus� brother James when he says, Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord (James 5:14). Why elders or leadership of the church in plural? Why not just pray at home or call up the prayer chain? It makes me wonder if we might be missing something, a blessing form God when we are not praying together.
How often do we pray together? To seek the Lord together? As a couple, as a family, as a small group of Christians, as a church, as a Christian community, or as a nation? The power of praying together is one of the most overlooked . Yet it is one of the primary power sources of God�s blessing on a nation, a community, a church, a family, a couple. One of the reasons we spend time in prayer on Sunday morning is because the church is gathered together. So we pray, hopefully we are praying in agreement together. Jesus said, �My house shall be called a house of prayer.� The reason we have a Sunday night prayer meeting which prays for specific concerns in our church and in our community is because we are convinced that God answer the prayers of his people gathered together. The reason we likewise begin Bible Studies, Sunday school classes, and ministry meetings with prayer is because we believe God answers the prayers of his people collected together.
[New Hope] Shortly after our Sunday night prayer team began, I began noticing more first time visitors attending our church. Someone might say it was a coincidence. Personally, I don�t think it was a coincidence. I commented to those on the team, �whatever you are doing keep it up because God is answering your prayer.� We have two new members this morning. Whether you knew it or not, you are an answer to their prayer. Our prayer is not only for healing, but for every person in our community to come to know the Lord, and grow in their relationship with him, and be in relationship with other Christian believers. We know spiritual growth is impossible apart from other Christians to nurture us, supports us, and spur us on toward love and good deeds (Heb. 10:24).
[Epsilon] In conversations I�ve had with pastors of fast growing UM churches, the first thing they talk about isn�t the growth or outreach strategy they used, the change in worship music, or the slick marketing campaign, . The first thing they talk about is a prayer meeting. Ken Nash, who was at Carson City grew from around 140 to over 350 in the 4-5 years he was there, and the first thing he would talk about was the prayer meeting of a few people in the church who had met for years before he arrived and the church grew.
Who are you praying with regularly? It begins with our own personal prayer time, but then we branch out and pray with others. Are you praying with your spouse or family including your kids, a small group of Christian friends, or a church prayer meeting? I�ve heard the comment many times, �I don�t like praying out loud,� or �I don�t feel comfortable praying around others.� First of all nobody said you had to pray out loud when you are together, perhaps other people are more gifted or comfortable in that area. However having said that I think it is helpful praying out loud, especially when we are together with other Christians because it allows us to be in agreement together. It helps to start praying out loud with people you trust, your spouse, your kids, a small group of people. So if you still struggle I�ve got a suggestion for you, get over it (I know very compassionate). It doesn�t have to be fancy. It doesn�t even have to be long, it just needs to be from the heart.
Principles of Praying Together
1. Praying in Faith, Praying with Expectation
There are a couple of principles of prayer coming out of this story. Number one, when we pray are we praying in faith or praying with expectation? Are we believing God will answer? Jesus said, �If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer (Mt. 21:22)." There is an element of trust in prayer. We don�t just pray thinking, �I hope God will answer,� or �it can�t hurt.� That�s not a prayer of faith, it is a prayer of desperation.
I love this morning�s story because it reminds me that even the early Christians weren�t perfect with this. Some Christians had gathered at John Mark mom�s house there in Jerusalem to pray for Peter. Yet what happened when Peter came to the door? The servant girl answered the door, but in her excitement forgot to open it, and when she told the rest of the people in the house they doubted it was him, �You�re out of your mind� they said, �it must be his angel.� It�s stories like these where I�m reminded God has a sense of humor. He had to be doing one of these [hitting forehead]. It�s like saying, �oh, yeah sure it�s Peter, you�re sure it�s not the Easter bunny.� Even though they were praying for Peter, probably for his release, that he wouldn�t die like James did, they wouldn�t believe it was him when God answered. In other words, they weren�t exactly praying in faith.
When we pray do we expect God to answer, and are we looking for that answer? Or do we pray and quickly forget about it?
2. The Answer to Prayer May not Come the Way we Expect (Limitations of Prayer)
While we pray in faith expecting God to answer, looking for the answer, we also need to realize that the answer to prayer may not necessarily come the way we expect. We read about the miraculous answer to prayer with Peter�s release, and forget how our passage begins�with the death of the disciple James. Although the text doesn�t specifically say it, I imagine the Christians in Jerusalem were praying for the disciple James when Herod took him into custody. Yet, what happened to James, Herod had him killed, put to death by the sword. God did not intercede in a miraculous way for James, even though he too, like Peter, was one of Jesus� closest disciples. God�s answer to their prayer was, �No.� For some reason God had a different plan. We don�t know why God chose one of them to be saved, and allowed the other to die.
[New Hope] Why do we pray for one person who had an accidental head injury [Zak] and he healed quickly, yet we pray for another who is still in a coma [Dwayne] after several weeks? We pray for one person with cancer and they live and we pray for another person with cancer and they get worse or perhaps even die. We pray for two people to get a job and one get the opportunity while the other is still job hunting without success.
It�s easy for us to wonder why? Did we pray the wrong prayer? Didn�t we pray for healing? Did we not pray with enough faith? Is there some unconfessed sin in our lives so God didn�t hear? Thoughts like these can run through our mind, and these may all be a possibility, but we can have all our ducks in a row, and God�s answer won�t necessarily come the way we expect. That�s what makes God, God. He is not our servant, we are his. He is able to look at the big picture, and he is able to answer according to his perfect will. Sometimes his answer may not be very satisfying to us because God doesn�t do what we thought he should do. I imagine the disciples were disappointed God didn�t save James. Think of all the good ministry this disciple of Jesus could have done over his lifetime. God knew that, yet his plan was not to answer in the way they expected. God�s plan was to bring James into his glorious home in heaven. That�s why Jesus taught us to pray in the Lord �s Prayer, �your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.�
We live in the tension between praying in faith, believing God will answer and letting God answer his way and in his timing. But it does not mean we give up praying. We keep praising, we keep thanking, we keep interceding for others, and we keep doing it together.
[Epsilon]� unified effort to pray for every person in our community. Sending our postcards with prayer request, placing a prayer box at the Party Store, and outside the church for people to drop them off. Working together in cooperation with the Country Bible Baptist Church.
[New Hope] People calling our church a praying church, we are getting a reputation as a church of prayer. Sunday evening prayer service, Barb placing prayer boxes in community businesses to pray for community needs.
