On Praying Together

Texts, KJV: Acts 2.41-42; Matthew 18.18-20; Acts 4.31 (Matt 6.9-13; Luke 11.2-4; John 17)

Featuring the sketches of Cruz

Last week I explored Lent and Fasting in Dialogue with a local Associate Pastor, Christopher Jarvis.  This week, I would like to continue with another key ingredient to Christian seasons like this, Prayer Practices.  I will address only one key question.  Do we maintain a private devotional life versus corporate prayers when we gather with others?

When I speak on corporate prayer, I generally get pushback in 3 areas:

1) First, there are Scriptures that speak of praying alone

I agree, but I have to point out that these Scriptures are usually in reaction against the outlandish public prayers of the religious leaders in the days of Christ.  Also, we should bear in mind that there are more passages related to corporate prayer in the NT than to individual prayer, or personal prayer.

2) Another point of contention is that when we gather to pray, shouldn’t we be doing something more, like taking action?

I must admit, I have struggled with this at times.  For four years, I have been part of a group of pastors who meet weekly for prayer.  In those first few months, I thought, “This is great, let’s storm the city!”  Over time, I began to realize that the end is not something that our combined prayers produce.  The end is our combined prayers.  That’s all.  As the Body of Christ, we must learn to pray together.

3) A third area of pushback is generally a very valid one

Some of my parishioners over the years have had genuine fears of group settings for various reasons.  As ministers, we should be sensitive to these real issues, and accommodating in any way possible.

Call to Action: Consider ways to pray together with other believers in this season.  Attend special services in your congregation, make family prayer commitments, visit community prayer events, attend a Good Friday Service, etc.

Acts 2.41-42: Doctrine, Fellowship, Breaking Bread, and Prayers (see note 1).  What is the Church known for?  Luke seems to be showing us things that the Early Church (EC) is known for. Do we keep on continuing steadfastly in the mission that God has called us to? How do we share our time and our lives?

i. The EC made the church a place of prayer

The word prayers means prayer, but it can also mean a place for prayers.  We want to have a private devotional life, but the EC also has ways of praying together in community.

ii. There is power in praying together

Matthew 18.18-20: You don’t need more than 2-3 to have church.  You don’t need more than 2-3 to have a prayer meeting.  You don’t need more than 2-3 to agree together to get your prayers to be answered.  You can pray together and God will show up.

Acts 4.31:This beautiful prayer is recorded in verses 24-30.  In Matthew, Jesus says 2 people are a quorum to get something done in the Spirit-realm.  In Acts 4 a number of people come together to pray, and it is so powerful that God literally sends an earthquake to shake the building where they’re assembling.  The power of God is manifested in a miraculous way.

iii. Do we miss something by not praying together?

The verb prayer indicates an on-going prayer, in verse 31.  They are filled and the house is shaken while they are still praying.  “It would seem from these passages that, in addition to the initial experience of being filled, there may be subsequent fresh fillings from the Holy Spirit” (J. Rodman Williams, see note 2).  We need to be consistently praying in the Holy Spirit.  We also need to be consistently praying together.  Are we missing a blessing by not sharing time together in prayer?

iv. When we pray together we learn how to pray

Jesus teaches his Disciple how to pray the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6.9-13; Luke 11.2-4).  Jesus prays for His Disciples in John 17, one the most magnificent prayers of His that is recorded.  It’s all about the unity Christ has with the Father being shared among the Disciples.  So there’s something powerful about us joining together in prayer.

. . . Are we being challenged to grow in our prayer life?

note 1: Adapted from Rev. Jared V. Ingle, Marks of the Spirit-Filled Community: Prayers (sermon presented during Worship Service MT. ZION F.W.C., Traverse City, MI, June 12, 2016).

note 2: J. Rodman Williams, Renewal Theology: Salvation, the Holy Spirit, and Christian Living (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1990), 202.

Ftr. Jarvis: On Lent and Fasting

What are spiritual practices?  How do we recognize and participate in the ways that God is transforming us?  Many Christians set aside time to fast at the beginning of each year, and during the season of Lent.  I have found that it is helpful to study, and also dialogue with others who have a committed faith and an in-depth knowledge of these time-honored practices.

Father Christopher Jarvis is a committed Christian, a scholar, and one of the pastors in his local parish.  He holds a BA in Business Studies from Spring Arbor University (an Evangelical, Free Methodist school).  He eventually discerned a calling and went back to school.  His studies led to the Franciscan University and to the Pontifical North American College in Rome, Italy.  He was ordained as a Deacon in St. Peter’s Basilica.  He returned to Traverse City, was ordained as a Priest, and named as Associate Pastor of Immaculate Conception.

This is a portion of a recent dialogue with Ftr. Jarvis: On Lent and Fasting.

How would you explain the Season of Lent to us?

Lent entails fasting and penance.  It’s essentially the 40 days in the desert like our Lord.  He went for 40 days in the desert.  He was tempted.  He didn’t eat [Matthew 4.1-11; Mark 1.12-13; Luke 4.1-13, NRSV].  It’s not exactly something that you say, “Woohoo, can’t wait for that!”

Fasting reorders us into what we are made to be

Fasting enables us, disposes us, to grace so that God can transform us into Christ, into that truly Christian disciple.  We were created good in a right order.  We could commune with God in the Garden.  We fell.  We sinned.  With that sin, Adam and Eve put us into this disorder [Genesis 1-3].  What Lent is about, what fasting is about, is reordering.

God creates order.  We talk about the beauty of order and the disgustingness of chaos.  Chaos brings us anxiety and agitation.  Order is a beauty which calls us forth.

When we’re in Lent, we’re reordering, by fasting from food, by increasing our prayer, by giving alms.  Giving alms is a way in which we detach ourselves from our possessions.  We’re reordering our passions so they are properly subjected under our intellect and will. We become more like we were created to be, like Adam and Eve in the Garden with this great gift of being in line, being in order.

With Lent, we can’t say, “I’m gonna’ pull myself up by my own bootstraps.”  Just because I fast doesn’t mean I’m getting to Heaven.  The Olympics are going on.  You see these great athletes.  Some of them could be atheists or secularists, but they’re well-ordered.

We need grace. What was the Grace in Person?  Jesus Christ took on our flesh, perfectly ordered.  He was able to open the way and show that excellent path, the Way, the Truth, and the Life [John 14.6].  Therefore in Him, with Him, and through Him, we are able to become reordered.  He is the Gate [John 10.1-10].

How would you speak to our expectations for Lent?

Of course we’re pointed toward the end, but what is the change in us?  It is that beautiful finish of Lent.  It is Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and then His resurrection.  It’s Easter.

What do we have happening at Easter?  It’s the pouring out of love into our hearts.  The whole idea of Lent and reordering is to receive, to be transformed.

What are we created to do?  To be receivers of God’s love.  He created us so that He could love us.  And then He created us free, so that we could love Him back.  He gave us the freedom to love Him, to receive the grace to love Him.

In Lent when we reorder, we dispose ourselves to be able to receive grace.

Would you give us some practical suggestions for fasting?

Make it hurt a little bit.

1) Give up something you like, even 1/2 the day

2) Pray more, more intentionally, and more relationally

3) Giving, make a stretch

4) Give the first minute of our time to Him at the end of our day, the First-Fruits

 

* images from The Gospel According to Matthew (1993, Bruce Marchiano)