Prayer – Scriptural samples of corporate prayer and its benefits
Every week at each of our services, we spend regular time in prayer as a church. We also prioritize gathering together at certain times of the year to pray for a more extended and focused time. Prioritizing much of our time to pray corporately is not an idea we came up with ourselves. The Bible has a lot to say about corporate prayer, and the examples it gives provide a foundation for the way we pray even now.
Starting in the Old Testament, before the time of Christ, God was already encouraging His people to pray. In Exodus, as the Israelites were struggling through both oppression and exile, we see instances of them crying out to God, and God hearing them and moving on their behalf (see Exodus 2:23–25 and 15:1–18 as examples). Later in Judges, on more than one occasion, when the people cried out to God, he responded and provided a leader to help them through their rebellion and to give them strength to face their enemies (see Judges 3:8–15 for examples). Esther and Ezra both show examples of the entire nation combining fasting with their prayer, asking God to show them mercy (Esther 4:15–16, Ezra 8:21–23), and in Nehemiah, we see the people offer a prayer of repentance (Nehemiah 9:1–38).
In the New Testament, prayer remained an integral part of the lives of those in the early church. The book of Acts records these earliest Christians praying together regularly and with fervor. In Acts 2:42, we see that “they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer.” After Peter and John faced the interrogation of Jewish leaders and were released, the people praised God and asked God to “grant that your servants may speak your word with all boldness” (Acts 4:29). Later, the people also joined together to petition the Lord for the release of Peter from prison (Acts 12:6–17) and prayed a special commission for Paul and Barnabus as they sent them out to minister in new places (Acts 13:1–3). All times were appropriate times for prayer.
The same remains true for us now. When we gather, we should ask God for His grace. We should ask Him to keep us humble before Him and show us favor for the opposition we encounter every day, both from ourselves and from others around us. If we only pray alone, we are missing out on so much of the fullness God has for us as His people.
Be sure to join us for our upcoming church-wide Prayer Night on October 18th at 6:30 pm. You can find more information about this event below.