Korea is home to many of the largest Christian churches in the world. They have one of the largest Baptist churches, largest Methodist churches, largest Presbyterian churches, largest Pentecostal churches. In fact the largest congregation in the world, the Yoido Full Gospel Church in Seoul has over 1 million members. Sunday morning is like rush hour in that city! This from a country that was for the most part unchurched only a century ago. Part of the reason for such dramatic growth is prayer. Koreans put a very high priority on prayer.
Early morning prayer is a normal part of Korean life just like we think of hearing sermons or taking an offering. No church in South Korea is without early morning prayer meetings. It doesn’t matter if they are large or small, city or rural – they all organize prayer meetings before the sunrise 365 days a year.
One American pastor tells of his visit to a large Methodist Church toward the end of a 40 day emphasis on prayer. The pastor of this church had urged everyone to come and pray every morning at 5 am. So this American wanted to see this for himself. The morning of his visit, Korea had seen a terrible storm pass through and even as the cab picked him up, the rain and wind was furious. He was thinking there would be a small group at 5 am. But he was shocked to see the sanctuary packed with 4,000 people! And this is not unusual for other churches.
Many of these churches organize meetings at 4 am, 5 am, and 6 am. And the head pastor attends all of them. One pastor was asked why he felt he had to attend all these prayer meetings? “He looked at the American with a puzzled expression as if to say, ‘Why ask such a stupid question?’ Then, realizing that he was just another one of those American Christians, he said, ‘Because that’s where the power is!’ He had a full day of ministry ahead and did not want to tackle it without God’s power.
Now we believe in prayer here too. But not many of us could even imagine such things as what I just described in South Korea. Maybe you might think they’ve gone a bit overboard, that it’s a little bit crazy. Maybe you think that that is just a different culture. Americans are not Koreans. Whatever the case, this is really happening in our time. And Korea has not always been like this.
How important is prayer? How important is corporate prayer? And by corporate prayer I mean prayer in a group setting. Jesus in our text this morning said this: Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them."
Take note of the qualifications for corporate prayer that Jesus gives us here:
First is that we are in agreement.
We must be on the same page – praying for the same thing and agreeing that this is what we need to pray for. In other words, unity is crucial in prayer. If we’re not unified, then prayer fails.
The second qualification of group prayer is that we pray in Jesus’ name. (“gathered in my name”)
A crucial aspect of prayer is that we are here to glorify the name of Jesus and that we are totally dependent upon Jesus alone for our salvation. We are not gathered in the name of Luther or of the AFLC or of some other god like Budda or Mohammed. We’re not gathered in the name of some saint or some man or women whether it be Mary, Peter, James or John. We’re gathered in the name of Jesus to seek his will and his glory. If we’re not praying with that in mind, our prayer is useless.
Finally, the third qualification for corporate prayer is that it be a group of people.
Jesus said “Where two or three are gathered.” There is no such thing as a prayer meeting of one. But Jesus insists on at least two believers gathering in his name, gathering in unity. And when you have two or more, he says “There I am in the midst of them.”
Now this doesn’t mean that your morning prayer when you are alone is worthless, that it doesn’t accomplish anything. It doesn’t mean that God isn’t present during your time with him. Just look at the many times when Jesus prayed alone. He got alone to pray constantly and so should every one of us.
But according to the teaching of Jesus here, there is a greater power in the prayer of a group. When we pray together in agreement, God pours out an extra blessing of his presence, of his glory. The power of God is released in greater ways.
Andrew Murray said this: “Christians cannot reach the full blessing God is ready to bestow through His Spirit, but as they seek and receive it in fellowship with each other. It is in the union and fellowship of believers that the Spirit can manifest His full power. It was to the hundred and twenty continuing in one place together, and praying with one accord, that the Spirit came from the throne of the glorified Lord.” (Murray, 83)
Paul was absolutely dependent on corporate prayer. Over and over again he asked congregations to gather in prayer for his ministry:
Romans 15:30 I appeal to you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God on my behalf,
2 Corinthians 1:11 You also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many.
Philippians 1:19 for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance,
2 Thessalonians 3:1 Finally, brothers, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored, as happened among you,
Martin Luther said this: “Combined prayer is precious, and the most effective, for which reason we also come together, and from which also the church is called the house of prayer. Oh, if God would that any gathering might pray in this manner, so that a common cry of the heart on the part of all the people might rise to God, what immeasurable virtue and help would follow such prayer! …This the evil spirit well knows, wherefore also he does all that he can to prevent this prayer.”
How does this work? Jesus explains in our text this morning: Matthew 18:18 “Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
Do you hear what he is saying here? As we gather in corporate prayer, we are able to bind the work of the enemy. Binding on earth is when we pray against the work of Satan. And God promises that he will bind in heaven – in other words, the spiritual realm. Through our united prayer the enemy is thwarted of his purposes!
And the reverse is with the Holy Spirit. We loose the work of the Holy Spirit through our prayers. People become saved, healed, blessed, released of bondage. When we gather in corporate prayer we release on earth the power of heaven! Do you see the potential? This is real power and it doesn’t take 4,000 on a morning in Korea. But Jesus said where two or three.
In his book “Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire,” a pastor by the name of Jim Cymbala tells the story of how he began to serve his congregation in Brooklyn NY. “The church consisted of a shabby two-story building in the middle of a downtown block on Atlantic Avenue. The sanctuary could hold fewer than two hundred people – not that we required anywhere near that much capacity. The ceiling was low, the walls needed paint, the windows were dingy, and the bare wood floor hadn’t been sealed in years. But there was no money for such improvements, let alone a luxury such as air conditioning. Carol, my faithful wife, was doing her best at the organ to create a worshipful atmosphere as I moved into my invitation, calling the fifteen or so people before me to maybe, just possibly, respond to the point of my message. Someone shifted on a pew to my left…crack! The pew split and collapsed, dumping five people onto the floor. Gasps and a few groans filled the air…”
It was a desperate situation for this young pastor serving this tiny inner-city congregation. Yes, desperate is the right word for it. Eventually Pastor Jim took a couple weeks away from the congregation. He sought the Lord’s will – his direction. At one point he went out on the ocean on a party fishing boat to think and pray. Let me read what he wrote:
“Lord I have no idea how to be a successful pastor,” I prayed softly out there on the water. “I haven’t been trained. All I know is that Carol and I are working in the middle of New York City, with people dying on every side, overdosing from heroin, consumed by materialism, and all the rest. If the gospel is so powerful…” I couldn’t finish the sentence. Tear choked me. Fortunately, the others on the boat were too far way to notice as they studied their lines in the blue-green water.
Then quietly but forcefully, in words heard not with my ear but deep within my spirit, I sensed God speaking: If you and your wife will lead my people to pray and call upon my name, you will never lack for something fresh to preach. I will supply all the money that’s needed, both for the church and for your family, and you will never have a building large enough to contain the crowds I will send in response.”
Pastor Jim returned to his congregation and on his first service he made this announcement: “Brothers and sisters, I really feel that I’ve heard from God about the future of our church. While I was away, I was calling out to God to help us – to help me – understand what he wants most from us. And I believe I’ve heard an answer. It’s not fancy or profound or spectacular. But I want to say to you today with all the seriousness I can muster: From this day on, the prayer meeting will be the barometer of our church. What happens on Tuesday night will be the gauge by which we will judge success or failure because that will be the measure by which God blesses us. If we call upon the Lord, he has promised in his Word to answer, to bring the unsaved to himself, to pour out his Spirit among us. If we don’t call upon the Lord, he has promised nothing – nothing at all. It’s as simple as that. No matter what I preach or what we claim to believe in our heads, the future will depend upon our times of prayer.”
What happened? In those early days as people drew near to the Lord, received the Spirit’s fullness, and rekindled their first love for God, they naturally began to talk about it on their jobs, in their apartment buildings, at family gatherings. Soon they were bringing new people. From that day to the present, more than two decades later, there has never been a season of decline in the church. By God’s grace they have never had a faction rise up and decide to split away. God has continued to send people who need help. That was the rebirth of the Brooklyn Tabernacle!
Is corporate prayer a priority in our congregation? We might nod and agree. Theoretically it is but in reality it is one of the lowest priorities of our congregation. How do I know that? Because hardly anyone wants to pray. And I include myself in that category. But I want to encourage every one of you this morning to reconsider corporate prayer – not just prayer on Sunday mornings, or at the beginning and ending of meetings.
Let’s consider our commitment to pray together at the prayer meeting as a life and death issue of our congregation. Are we desperate enough to pray? Scottish devotional writer Andrew Bonar wrote over 150 years ago: “God likes to see his people shut up to this, that there is no hope but in prayer. Herein lies the Church’s power against the world.”
Friends, are we desperate enough to pray? Until we are, we’re not going to grow - neither as individuals or as a congregation. Prayer is the key!
