Worship Is A Verb Part 9
Scriptures: Acts 12:1-19; Isaiah 55:6; Matthew 7:7; Philippians 4:6
Introduction:
This will part nine in my series “Worship Is a Verb” and will conclude the series. Last week in part 8, I focused on giving. Hopefully each of you left here understanding that when you give to the Lord you are actually worshipping Him. As with all things pertaining to worship, what you choose to give God in worship of Him starts in the heart. So what you do as far as your worship in giving is between you and God as He is the only one that can see, know and understand your heart. This morning I will conclude this series with a focus on the dynamics of prayer in worship. The question was asked once during bible study why there are so many prayers in our church service and this morning I hope you will leave here understanding why prayer in a worship service is powerful need.
I. Prayer Freed Peter
Turn to Acts 12:1-19 and let’s read this story of Peter. Imagine a group of first century Christians, Jewish Christians at that, gathering in a home for corporate prayer. This is not just any house and this is not just any prayer meeting. This is the home of Mary, the mother of John Mark, one of Jesus’ disciples. The meeting is called to pray for Peter. Herod the King has already killed James, the brother of John, and because he saw that it pleased the ungodly religious leaders, he has now taken Peter prisoner to await execution. Four squads of soldiers guarded Peter. Peter was bound with two chains between two soldiers and other guards watched the door. The group prayed together in one accord. Their friend, mentor, and companion in ministry was in need. Things were critical. Outside of a miracle from God, Peter would be executed the next morning. Constant prayer was offered up to God by the church on Peter’s behalf. As they were praying, because their lives were at risk by getting together to pray, a young girl by the name of Rhoda kept a lookout at the door. They continued praying.
While they were praying, even before they were done, God heard their prayer and acted. God sent an angel to loose Peter chains. The angel strikes Peter and the chains fall off. The angel commands Peter to get up, put on his clothes and sandals, and follow him. Peter was led out of the prison; past the two guards he was chained to; and past the other group of guards through the main gate of the city and to the street. Peter thinks he is dreaming. When he comes to his senses, he immediately goes to the home of Mary, the mother of John Mark. At that very moment, they are having an extended time of prayer on his behalf, asking God for his release. Peter knocks on the door and Rhoda answers. She recognizes Peter’s voice but because of her gladness, she forgets to open the door. Running back to her friends, she announces Peter’s release. Those praying do not believe her, thinking it is an angel at the door – yet no one gets up to let the angel in. They apparently returned to their prayer. When they finally let Peter in, they were astonished. They had been praying for Peter but even they were astonished at the response they received from God. God had granted their request even before the prayer meeting had ended.
II. The Principles of Corporate Prayer
I believe that God responded in Acts 12 because a group of people were committed to corporate prayer. How many testimonies have we all witness and heard as we have come together as a church body to pray around the altar. We have witnessed jobs being saved, people being healed and those who were hurting comforted. Prayer is a great part of our overall worship of God because it brings us into direct communication with Him. We must believe that when we speak, God is listening and when we are committed and come together as one, He responds. A worshiping church is always a praying church – you cannot separate the two. When we come together to pray for others, God’s power will come upon us because we are seeking to minister to someone else versus making constant requests for ourselves. There are a few principles of corporate prayer that I want to share with you based on Acts 12.
A. The Priority of Prayer
The first principle rests with the priority of prayer. Does prayer have a priority with our church service? Do we make it a priority? The fact that we were asked why we say so many prayers would lead me to believe that we do make prayer a priority. The first century Christians in Acts 12 exhibited the priority of prayer in their corporate worship. The bible does not give any indication as to the service structure, the number of people attending the meeting, or the wording of their prayers. As you read the story I think you would agree with me that the desperate need of the hour rather than an intense desire to worship and adore God is what drove these brethren to their knees. Even so, prayer and expressing our dependence on God is at the heart of our worship. Prayer is God’s chosen path for us to reach the throne of grace. In this case, they were absolutely desperate because Peter’s life was on the line. They needed God to intervene and to intervene in a hurry. God responds when people cry out in a spirit of need and dependence.
This congregation understood the place of prayer and as the Bible commands it, they were just being obedient. The prophet Isaiah urged the nation of Israel to “seek the Lord while He may be found; call on Him while He is near.” (Isa. 55:6). Jesus continued the same idea when He said in Matthew 7:7 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” The Apostle Paul instructed the Philippian brethren, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” (Phil. 4:6)
Worship and prayer involves people. God calls people to prayer, not to buildings, well-organized programs, how-to books, or any number of other things we see as important to ministry. We are given the promises of answered prayer that can only be found in God. Most of our worship ministries and services do not incorporate sustained time for prayer by God’s people. Don’t you think God must be a little weary of the way we come and offer a little ditty called the invocation or the pastoral prayer and walk away thinking we have had communion with God? We do not get to the important issues of our corporate services because we pray in generalities or minimize the importance of time with God as a group. We are called, commanded and commissioned to be people of prayer. We should make prayer a priority in our services and within our lives. When we increase prayer’s priority within our service, we must also add in the expectancy. We must expect God to move on our behalf when we cry out to Him. I find it interesting in the story from Acts 12 that they were astonished when Peter showed up at the house. Were they not praying for his safe release? I guess they expected God to save his life, but not to deliver him to their front doorstep that very night while they were in prayer. This is the power of prayer and why prayer should have a greater priority within our services.
B. The Purpose of Prayer
The second principle we note in Acts 12 was that these believers understood the purpose of prayer in corporate worship. When we come together to seek God corporately, as well as individually, we need to have a purpose. As you intercede for someone else, for yourself or just taking some time to talk with God, you should understand the purpose for the prayer time. What is the purpose for the prayer – what is the goal. Think about it. How often in our corporate prayer time do we ask God to “heal all those who are sick” or “God you’re heard all of the petitions that have been put before you” in an effort to save time while at the same time recognizing that it will be hard for the one doing the prayer to remember all of the requests. This is something that we will change in our Church as we begin to make prayer a priority. E.M Bounds was a Methodist preacher born in 1835. In his book, the Purpose of Prayer he makes the following observation: “The more praying there is in the world the better the world will be; the mightier the forces against evil everywhere. Prayer, in one phase of its operation, is a disinfectant and preventive. It purifies the air; destroys the contagion of evil. Prayer is not fitful, short-lived thing. It is no voice crying unheard and unheeded in the silence. It is a voice which goes into God’s ear, and it lives as long as God’s ear is open to holy pleas, as long as God’s heart is alive to holy things.” Prayer has a purpose and we need to quit thinking we have “entered” in just because we say a quick prayer to open and close our services.
C. The Promise and Power of Prayer
The third thing we notice from the believers in Acts 12 is that there is direct evidence of the promise and power of prayer in corporate worship. If we came together to pray and we immediately saw the results, I would not have to ask someone to pray during altar call – people would be volunteering. Sometimes, because there is a delay between our request and the answer, by the time we receive the answer we have moved on and have forgotten that this was a petition put before God and was answered. 2 Chronicles 7:14 says “And My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sins and will heal their land.” In Matthew 18:19 Jesus promises answers to corporate prayer. It says “Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven.” We have a direct promise that when we come together for corporate prayer that our prayers will be answered. This will not happen by us just giving God 2-5 minutes of prayer time in a 90-minute service. It will require all of us doing our part.
D. Seven Step Patter for Public Prayer
There are many people who fear praying in public because they view prayer as a private thing. Others are afraid that they will not do it right or that the words they use will not come out right. Still others believe that what they need to pray for should reside between them and God only so as not to give someone in the audience something to talk about. As you have heard in this message, public prayer is a part of the worship service and when we come together as one to pray, God moves. This is one reason why Satan does everything he can to minimize the time we have for prayer. In Church we must get out by a certain time; we must not pray too long because the choir needs to sing; the game comes on at noon, and the list goes on and on. When we display this attitude before God, it tells me that this may be symbolic of our prayer life at home. If you only pray when there is a problem, then truly there is a problem. For those of you who are concerned about how to pray in public, I want to offer up this seven step pattern that I read in Vernon M. Whaley’s book “The Dynamics of Corporate Worship”.
1. Exultation of God first. Exalt and brag about God for His works and marvelous acts. This is the time to bless God for His mighty works – just look around you, I am sure you can see what He has done. Consider the stars, the sun, your life.
2. Praise Him (Psm. 66:17). This is a time of giving God glory for His provisions, redemption, salvation, work in the Church, etc.
3. Express thanks and appreciation to God for everything (Phil. 4:6). Give thanks for obvious things such as health, food, normal provisions which we often take for granted. This is followed by a more personal word of thanks for such things as family, job, church and friends.
4. Confession and repentance of sins. Pray about things that seem to capture your attention and hinder fellowship with God. These could include, pride, ego, wrong motives, etc. The more personal things should be prayed about during your personal prayer time.
5. Public praise. Praise God for answered prayer, provision of needs, or public responses to God for His goodness.
6. Prayer of intercession. Pray for others and their needs to include church members, society, our nation, etc.
7. Offer petitions. Ask God to provide and simply bring each desire of the heart to the Lord.
Corporate prayer is a vital part of our worship service and to be honest with you, we are not giving it justice. There are several prayers that take place during our services on each Sunday and Wednesday evening, but they are more of a formality versus what we have read about in Acts chapter 12. In Acts chapter 12, they came together for a purpose, they had a need and they knew if they came on one accord to God, He would answer. They needed a miracle and they got one. When we begin to make prayer a priority as part of our worship experience, then we will begin to see greater movements from God. When prayer is not just something that is supposed to be done at a certain point in the service, we will start moving towards the freedom to pray and expect God to move. If we are only praying and “hoping” that God will move, our prayers become ineffective. We must know that He will move and this knowledge comes with our spending more time coming into agreement in prayer.
Conclusion
This concludes this series. During the past nine weeks we have discussed the major areas of worship and identified how we as a church can do a better job during our time together. As a church, based on our learning during this series, we will be making some changes to how we worship God. The changes will be implemented over time so as not to totally shock your systems. My goal with these changes is to help us to enter into a time of worship that meaningful and life changing. I hope you will join me with your support as we move forward.
May God bless and keep you is my prayer.
Note: This sermon series was based on the book The Dynamics of Corporate Worship” by Vernon M. Whaley.
