When God’s Church Prays
Matthew 18:18-20
CHCC – November 20, 2011
INTRODUCTION:
Today we’re going to see what Jesus had to say about the prayer ministry of the church. There are NOT a lot of verses to look at because Jesus only talked about the church 2 times. There’s a good reason for this … the church didn’t exist yet!
Of course, Jesus knew that the church would be established by the preaching of the Apostles after His death, resurrection, and ascension. That’s exactly what happened on the day of Pentecost when 3,000 people were baptized and became the First (…and I really mean First) Christian Church of Jerusalem.
Jesus first mentioned His Church in Matthew 16. Jesus asked his apostles, “Who do men say that I am?” Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the son of the Living God.”
Jesus answered, “I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Matthew 16:18-19
The second time Jesus talked about the Church is found a couple of chapters later in Matthew 18. Jesus was talking about how we should handle it if someone sins against us. He said first to personally go and talk to them. Then, if that doesn’t work, take one of two others along as witnesses.
Jesus said If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector.
Then Jesus repeated what he had previously told Peter about the Church:
“Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Matthew 18:17-18
1. The PURPOSE of prayer in the church
This describes the amazing PURPOSE of prayer in the church. The church has been given authority to bind and loose on earth what God desires to bind and loose in Heaven. In other words, the PURPOSE of prayer in the church is to literally change things.
Jesus has given His Church the power to bind or loose things, both on earth and in Heaven. Now, what kinds of things would need to be "bound" or "loosed"? Well, naturally anything that is against God’s will would need to be bound (prevented from continuing) and anything that is in accord with God's will would need to be loosed (permitted to carry on.)
When we pray as a Church, we are accomplishing God’s PURPOSE for His Church. Our church’s prayers are not JUST to make us sound “churchy” --- our prayers are not just to make us feel good … our prayers are not even JUST to help us draw closer to God.
The prayers of the Church are meant to actually change the course of history. God has given His Church authority to influence what happens in the world around us, and even to influence what happens in Heaven. This is an astounding thought!
Did you ever pray about something and then have the feeling --- “Oh, what does it matter if I pray about this. God is going to do whatever He chooses whether I pray about it or not.” Some people think that God has everything set in stone … and that nothing we say or do can influence His plans. This is not what Jesus taught.
All through the Bible, in the Old Testament and the New, we see that God has chosen to work in partnership with His people. Certainly God can do anything He wants WITHOUT us … but He prefers to work WITH us.
Here’s an Old Testament example from the book of Ezekiel. Ezekiel was a contemporary of Jeremiah. While Jeremiah prophesied from Judah, Ezekiel was already exiled to Babylon when he gave this prophecy: This is what the LORD God says: “Once again I will yield to Israel’s plea and do this for them: I will make their people as numerous as sheep.” (Ezekiel 36:37)
Those who don’t know God’s methods might to say, “Well, if God wants to increase the size of Israel, He’ll just DO it. After all, who could stop Him?” But God said “Once again I will yield to Israel’s plea.” In other words, God chose to act BECAUSE they asked Him to. God has chosen to limit himself … He will wait until we ask - - - then He will act.
This is the PURPOSE of prayer in the church. Our Prayer Ministry means that we join together for the purpose of bringing down to earth the Will of God. Prayer is not a small, insignificant, non-essential part of our church’s life. Prayer is our central PURPOSE. Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Matthew 18:18
Then Jesus went on to explain the POWER of prayer in the church: “Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. Matthew 18:19 Here we see the POWER of agreement in prayer.
2. The POWER of agreement in the church
Our individual prayers have great power. But there is even more power when we come together as a church and pray in agreement. Now, we know that in human terms total agreement is impossible. No two people can be in complete agreement … much less a whole congregation of people.
But there is one area where we can come together in perfect agreement. True agreement in prayer comes when we all sincerely agree to pray for God’s will.
Through the years, I’ve often seen this principle at work in our congregation. As just one example --- many years ago, we started praying about taking on a major building project. We planned to build a classroom / office building that would be attached to the old sanctuary. We had some disagreement about what we should build, how we should raise the money, when we should start the project, and so on.
But the Elders unanimously agreed on one thing. We prayed in perfect agreement that God would direct the project --- we wanted Him to accomplish HIS will.
In the end we did what none of us had originally planned --- we built this new Worship Center --- completely separated from the old building. Little did we know that 2 years later we’d find out the other building was structurally unsound and would have to be demolished. We didn’t know that --- but God did! As a church, we were able to pray in AGREEMENT. We prayed together for God’s Will, and He answered our prayers.
There’s a fascinating example of this principle in Exodus 17:9-11. Israel was fighting a fierce battle with Amalek. Joshua led the fighting, but the outcome of the battle depended entirely on Moses who was standing on a hill near by. When Moses held up his staff, ISRAEL prevailed. When Moses got weary and dropped his arms, AMALAK prevailed.
Verse 12 says, When Moses’ hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up—one on one side, one on the other—so that his hands remained steady till sunset. So Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword. Exodus 17:12-13
As a Church we can take this lesson to heart. The Church has been given the power to prevail in Spiritual warfare --- if we are willing to fight the battle --- and if we are willing to support each other in prayer. What Moses did in holding up the rod was a picture of the church supporting her leaders in prayer.
Notice what happened when Moses got tired. Others came around him and supported him. That’s what we need to do in the church. We have some great prayer warriors here at CHCC and we have some hard-working leaders. When some of us are weak, others need to step in to help. We need to continually hold each other up in prayer so that the Church can prevail.
3. God’s PRESENCE in the prayers of the church
Jesus concluded his statement about the church with this amazing promise: For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” Matthew 18:20
When we gather together in His Name, Jesus Himself is here with us. This is true whether we pray together in a big assembly like this --- or we meet in our Pueblo groups --- or any time two or three of us pray together. This is not just a comforting thought --- it’s the powerful reality. Our God is among us. God has chosen to accomplish His Will through us and among us.
In a way, this is a limit God has placed on Himself. He will do no more than what His people ask Him to do. We cannot increase God’s power, but we can limit the expression of His power --- How? By lack of prayer.
God wants to bless His people, but He has chosen to wait for us to make our request. You see, Prayer is not a side-issue in the Church. Prayer is our greatest responsibility and privilege.
God has determined to work THROUGH us, not apart from us. This is true at CHCC --- and it’s true all over the world. Recently I’ve been listening to an audio book called The Heavenly Man. It’s the biography of a Christian evangelist in China named Brother Yun.
I’ve heard that Christianity has exploded in China in the last 30 years since the church was almost eradicated when the Communists took power. I’ve wondered how the Church could spread in Communist China. This book answers that question --- it’s a lot like reading the book of ACTS.
I want to share one story from the book because I think it illustrates the point that God works through His Church … even in a place where the Church is severely restricted.
Yun became a Christian at age 16 through the testimony of his mother. Yun’s mother had been converted by a missionary who was deported when the Communists took over.
She taught Yun all she remembered about Jesus. It wasn’t much. He knew that Jesus was the son of God --- He died on the cross to take away our sins --- and He left a book that contained His words. Yun desperately wanted a copy of that book.
Twice Yun walked over an hour to the home of an old pastor who was rumored to have a hidden Bible. The pastor had been imprisoned for 20 years for preaching the Gospel. He was afraid to show the Bible to a stranger. Both times he told Yun, “The Bible is a Heavenly Book. If you want it, you must ask Heaven to give it to you.”
For 3 months Yun prayed and fasted. Finally one night Yun had a vision. In his vision he was walking down a road and saw two men carrying a red sack. In the sack was fresh bread. When Yun put the bread in his mouth, it turned into a Bible.
The vision seemed so real that Yun tore through the house in the middle of the night, searching for the Bible. His parents believed he had lost his mind. They knelt on the floor with Yun and prayed, “Jesus, please have mercy on our son and don’t let him lose his mind. Please give him a Bible.”
It was still dark outside when there was a knock at the door. Two men stood there with a red sack. They said, “God wants us to give this to you.” And they handed Yun a Bible.
They explained, “Two months ago, an old evangelist had a vision in which he dug up his hidden Bible that he had buried in his yard 20 years ago. In the vision he saw your village and your house. He was told to give the Bible to a boy in that house. He waited 2 months, because he was afraid. Then, yesterday he gave the Bible to us and we have walked all night to give you this book.”
When I heard that story, I thought about how God could have easily made a Bible appear (after all He’s the CREATOR of the universe!) God could have sent an angel to deliver the Bible. But that’s not the way God answered Yun’s prayer.
God chose to work through the tiny remnant of a church that still survived in China. I’m guessing God wanted the first pastor to give the Bible to the boy. When that didn’t happen, God sent a vision to another evangelist ---but he didn’t obey the vision for 2 months.
Because of this, Yun waited 3 months to receive the Bible he prayed for. That’s how long it took for the Church to cooperate with God. God will not work APART from His Church. God answered Yuns prayer THROUGH the cooperation of His Church.
CONCLUSION:
God will not work independently of His church. In all matters related to His Will, God will wait in Heaven until he obtains cooperation from His people on earth. As His Church, God has given us the power to move Heaven and earth by coming before Him in prayer.
* Our prayers cannot make God do what is against His will.
* But I believe our lack of prayer can stop… or delay… God’s will from being done.
James 4:2 says “You have not because you ask not.” Is it possible that CHCC misses blessings because we don’t ask? Is God waiting for us to pray for our congregation - for our leaders - for expanded ministry - ?
We don’t want that to be the case at CHCC.
(The basic outline for this message came from "The Prayer Ministry of the Church" by Watchman Nee)
