Pray for One Another
James 5:16
3-22-09
Today we launch a new prayer ministry in this church. You were given a brochure describing it as you came in this morning. It is called Gateway Online Prayer Community.
You’re probably aware of several ministries that are not yet in place as we restart this church. We are working on getting the Youth Ministry re-launched. Today the Children’s Ministry is being strengthened. And next Monday we will begin an outreach ministry.
But our highest priority at this point, is prayer. That’s why we have already re-established the pre-service prayer ministry in the Prayer Cottage. That’s why Wednesday evening is a prayer meeting. And that’s why Gateway Online Prayer Community is being established today.
Quoting Isaiah, Jesus said, “My house shall be a house of prayer.” The only way any church can fulfill it’s calling from God is to be “a house of prayer.” For an organized group of people to function like a New Testament church, God has to be central to everything.
(1) He has to be the focus of our worship. We’re not here to entertain ourselves or each other. We’re not here to simply sing songs during the first half of our service. We’re here to worship God. The music simply facilitates that. Amen?
(2) The word preached must be more than humorous stories and positive motivation. It must be a word from God. “If any man speak, let him speak as an oracle of God.” Richard’s opinions are worthless. We need to hear from God. A Bible study needs to be more than an exchange of opinions. We need to hear from God. We need a prophetic anointing on everything that happens in our services. We need the Holy Spirit to speak to us in tongues & interpretation, word of wisdom, word of knowledge, and prophesy. It all revolves around God and what He’s doing.
(3) Youth Ministry, Children’s Ministry, Nursery, all need to be centered on God and our relationship with Him.
“My house,” God says, “shall be a house of prayer.” Our propensity toward prayer or our reluctance to pray says a lot about where we are spiritually. Too many American churches are little more than a Rotary Club with a little spiritual veneer. Too many churches are only horizontal in their relationships with little vertical relationship with God. It shall not be so with Gateway Foursquare Church. Amen?
My subject this morning is prayer—and specifically the command in James 5:16 to pray for one another. Having talked some about the importance of our vertical relationship with God, let’s talk a little about our horizontal relationship with one another. The New Testament is full of instruction about how we are to treat one another. I’ve already mentioned the command in James to pray for one another. But here are a few other commands along those lines.
Rom 12:16 “Be of the same mind toward one another.”
James 5:9 “Do not grumble against one another....”
James 5:16 “Confess your trespasses to one another....”
Rom 14:13 “...stop passing judgment on one another...” (NIV).
Rom 15:7 “...receive one another....”
Gal 5:13-14 “...serve one another.”
Eph 4:32 “And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another....”
1 Thes 4:18 “...comfort one another....”
James 4:11 “Do not speak evil of one another....”
1 John 3:11 (The most all-encompassing statement of all) “...love one another....”
The command to “pray for one another” addresses both our horizontal relationship with each other and our vertical relationship with God. In Luke 11 Jesus tells the story about a man whose friend was on a journey. That friend arrived at his house late in the evening and needed a place to stay. That was fine; but the host had a problem. His cupboard was bare. He had no food to give his guest. So what did the man do? At midnight he went next door and woke his neighbor up asking to borrow food. Jesus told how the man received from his neighbor because he was bold enough to ask. Immediately after that Jesus told us to “ask and you will receive.”
That story is a picture of our need to pray for one another. We pray because we want to see each other’s need met. Here’s our problem. As far as meeting each others’ needs, our cupboard is bare. We have some things we can give. The man in Jesus’ story had a house and place to sleep that he could share with his guest. But he did not have everything that guest needed. Rather than deny the guest, what did he do? He went to someone who has plenty. That someone is God. God alone can supply what is needed. And God’s invitation to you and me is this: Come to me anytime, ask for bread to give to one another, ask me to supply what is needed. Come boldly to the Throne of Grace and I will give abundantly.
I like what Richard Foster said about this, “...if we genuinely love people, we desire for them far more than it is within our power to give, and that will cause us to pray.” That’s what intercession is all about. Going to the One who has limitless supply and asking bread for one another. That bread in Jesus’ story represents healing, financial supply, wisdom, whatever the person may need. We must realize that our prayers are the link between God’s inexhaustible resources and people’s needs.
Do you remember the ordeal Peter went through right before Jesus’ crucifixion. Just before his arrest, Jesus told all the disciples that they would forsake him. Peter led the group in denying that possibility. He sincerely felt there was no way he would ever do that. Then Jesus spoke these words to Peter.
Luke 22:31 “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. 32 But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers” (NIV).
I want you to notice a couple of things about Jesus’ statement to Peter.
(1) Peter was about to be in need of prayer. We never get so strong that we no longer need others to pray for us. There are occasions in our lives where the enemy launches an all-out attack, and we need other people to stand with us in prayer. You may not feel that need today. You may think, “I don’t have time to join Gateway Online Prayer Community; I don’t have time to pray for those people.” But what about the day when you need those people to pray for you? Whether Peter realized it or not he was in need of prayer.
(2) In response to that need, Jesus prayed for Peter.
That sets an example for you and me. When we perceive need in one another’s lives, that is always a call to prayer. Of course, Jesus is our Great High Priest. He ever lives making intercession for all of us. We are priests unto God. He alone is the Great High Priest. But the Bible commands us to pray for one another. Our Online Prayer Community is one way we can do that. Notice the last sentence in Luke 22:31 “ And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers” (NIV). Don’t just receive prayer. When you get on your feet, you strengthen your brothers. You, Peter, do for others what I have done for you.
(3) Notice how specific Jesus’ prayer was. “...I have prayed for you, Simon, that your –what—faith may not fail. A hunter who shoots at the whole flock of birds will likely hit none of them. We need to learn how to pray with focus. Rom 8:26-27 says, “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. 27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will” (NIV). We learn how to follow the guidance of the Spirit as we pray. We learn to listen to the heart of God for that person and pray according to the will of God. We get beyond the general prayer of “God bless sister so & so” to “...I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail.”
It’s tempting to go off on a tangent and talk about the importance of your faith. That’s primarily what Satan is out to destroy. If he can destroy your faith, he can take you down. “The just shall live by faith.” Faith in God is the key to our victory. Can you trust God with your future? Can you trust God with your kids? Faith moves us to obey God. Faith moves us to conquer our Goliaths and cross our Red Seas. “Without faith it is impossible to please God.” Above all take the shield of faith. No wonder Satan focuses his attack on our faith. But Jesus says, “I have prayed for you (put your name there) that your faith may not fail.
Look with me at Gal 6:1-5
“Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted. 2 Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. 3 For if anyone thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. 4 But let each one examine his own work, and then he will have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another. 5 For each one shall bear his own load.”
On the surface, that passage seems to contradict itself. In verse 5 we’re told “...each one shall bear his own load.” In verse 2 we’re told to “Bear one another’s burdens...” But in the original language there was no confusion. The Greek word translated burdens in verse 2 is barh (Bar-a) a burden that is heavy. The word translated load in verse 5 is fortion (phor-ti-on) a term used in the military to refer to each soldier’s backpack or kit. We don’t need others to pray for us about every little thing. There are multitudes of daily cares that we can take to the Lord in prayer ourselves. But there are times when the burden is too heavy to carry alone. There are times when we need to ask others to hold us up in prayer.
I got a good lesson in this back in 1983. My youngest daughter, Katie, was in the hospital with a blood disorder. She could not fight off infection and the doctors were afraid her air supply would be cut off because of swelling in her throat. Jeanie & I didn’t call anyone to ask for prayer. We simply prayed ourselves. Katie died on the operating table. God told me to call some people and ask them to help us pray. I don’t think Katie would have survived if we had not obeyed. God raised her up and she is alive and well today. But God has taught me there is a time to ask for prayer. My independent streak had to be corrected. My wrong thinking was this: God can answer my prayer just as well as he can answer 20 people’s prayer. There is truth in that; but there is also error. He has not designed this journey for us to go it alone. It has designed it for us to walk it together.
Never be too proud to ask for prayer. Look at Paul’s epistles. He is constantly asking for prayer. He constantly prays for others; but he also asks them to pray for him. That’s a huge part of biblical koinonia. Koinonia is a Greek word often translated in the Bible as fellowship. But it’s referring to something much more precious than a fun party. It could include that; but it includes much more. It includes a partnership in our journey. It includes a recognition that we are members one of another. We are in this together.
“And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it” (1 Cor 12:26). That verse is describing a reality that most people fail to recognize. It doesn’t say “if one member suffers, all the members SHOULD suffer with it.” It’s not imposing an obligation; it’s stating a fact. Your defeat is my defeat. Your victory is my victory. When Acan sinned it didn’t just affect Acan; it affected all of Israel. When David pridefully counted the people, his sin didn’t just affect him; it affected all of Israel. If I can pray you into victory, I am ironically praying myself into victory as well.
During the great revival in Wales, there was a Christian lady living in another place. One day while she and a couple of other sisters were praying, there came an awesome overflow of spiritual power in her. She had never experienced anything like it. It continued for four or five months. She had an open heaven over her head. She could effortlessly get in touch with God. She could not account for the experience until one day she was reading her newspaper. The paper was telling about the great Welsh revival. Suddenly she realized that she was experiencing the overflow of power in that movement.
I don’t just want God to bring revival to Gateway. I want Him to revive His church all over the land. I definitely want to be a part of what God is about to do. But it’s too big for any one church. It’s too big for any one denomination. We are members one of another. When one member is honored with a flow of God’s power and life, we all get to drink of the fountain together. The connection between the members of the Body of Christ is not just organizational. It is organic and spiritual. When one member suffers we all suffer. And the appropriate response is that we pray for one another.
How did Jesus teach us to pray? Was it “Give ME this day, MY daily bread.”? That’s the way Americans tend to think—individualistically. But that was never God’s intent. He sets the solitary in families. He joins us together and teaches us to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread.” The wonderful thing is this. If we can get out of our selfish shell, and truly love our neighbor as ourselves—God will take real good care of us.
Nothing will knit our hearts together like praying for one another. It’s amazing how insignificant people’s faults become once we tap into God’s love and compassion for that person. Eph 4:3 tells us to “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace” (NIV). I want to suggest that praying for one another is a significant part of that effort. Charles Finney said, “Nothing tends more to cement the hearts of Christians than praying together.” If we will invest in one another’s success through prayer, we will enjoy one another’s victories together.
Several years ago, five handicapped finalists gathered at the starting line for the Special Olympics. They had all trained hard for this day. Hearts were pounding. And each one wanted to win. The starter’s gun discharged and the athletes exploded from their crouched positions. The crowd was on their feet shouting and cheering as the contestants ran with all that was in them.
Suddenly one of the runners stumbled and fell flat on his face. He struggled to get up but couldn’t. A hush fell over the stadium. In the next moment, one of the runners stopped and helped the fallen child back up. The two of them finished the race together.
That’s the right way to finish. And that’s what praying for one another is all about.
For FOOTNOTES/SOURCES go to www.GatewayNixa.org
Richard Tow
Gateway Foursquare Church
Nixa, Missouri
