by Oliver Price
Do you pray together?” a member of a church missions committee asked a couple who were being examined for possible support. After an awkward pause the husband replied. “We both pray but we do not pray together.” They are not alone. Many pastors and veteran missionaries do not pray together. Nine out of ten Americans say they pray, but only about 14% pray together with their family, close friends, or their church.
Many do not understand why they need to pray together. An elder who faithfully attended prayer meeting asked his pastor, “Why don’t you just give us a list of prayer requests so we could pray for them at home instead of coming to prayer meeting?” His question pointed to the weakness of our prayer meeting and our church. There is far more to praying together in one accord than we had realized.
The main reason we must pray together is to serve the Lord Jesus Christ as the active almighty Head of the church.
All authority and power in heaven and earth has been given to the Lord Jesus Christ as the Head over all things to His church. The church began in one accord in one place in prayer (Acts 1:14-15). The Lord Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to fill the church and take charge of it as His representative (Acts 2:1-4). The church was so strong in the power of their Head that they turned the ancient world upside down for Christ and His kingdom (Acts 17:6).
Our churches have forgotten the Lord’s purpose for united prayer and lost His power.
A. W. Tozer was right when he wrote an article titled, “The Waning Authority of Christ in the Churches”.
He declared, “All authority is His in heaven and in earth. In His own proper time He will exert it to the full, but during this period in history He allows this authority to be challenged or ignored. And just now it is being challenged by the world and ignored by the church.”
“Among the gospel churches Christ is now in fact little more than a beloved symbol,” he added. We sing “All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name” but we treat the Lord Jesus like a constitutional monarch who leaves governing his kingdom to others.
He explained, “Those in actual authority decide the moral standards of the church, as well as all objectives and all methods employed to achieve them. Because of long and meticulous organization it is now possible for the youngest pastor just out of seminary to have more actual authority in a church than Jesus Christ has.
“Not only does Christ have little or no authority; His influence is less and less. I would not say that He has none, only that it is small and diminishing.”
One sign of His diminishing authority is that many churches have for years baptized professing Christians in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit without even asking them to commit themselves to learn to obey all that Christ commanded (Matthew 28:18-20). Consequently Christ’s supreme authority is ignored at the entrance into the membership and fellowship of His church. A disciple is a person who is committed to learn to obey all that Christ commanded, but the majority of Christians spend a lifetime in church and never even know that they should become a disciple.
Communion is observed without a thoughtful reflection on whether any sins have crept into our lives that must be confessed and forsaken (I Corinthians 11:26-32). For many this remembrance of the supreme sacrifice of Christ who was obedient unto death is an empty ritual with no power of meaning.
Further, proof of the diminishing authority of Christ in Gospel churches is evident in the widespread failure to invoke His presence, authority and power when sin and conflict arise. When churches are splitting apart or marriages are headed for divorce why is it so rare for the leaders to unite couples and congregations in claiming the promise of the presence and power of Christ to restore straying brothers to faith, love, obedience and unity (Matthew 18:15-20)?
As we have noted, the church began in one accord in one place in prayer. They experienced the fullness of the Spirit and an amazing unity of love so that they spontaneously shared all they had with one another (Acts 2:4, 44-47; 4:23-35). Multitudes were converted and baptized because they were convinced that Christ really did rise from the dead and now occupies the seat of supreme power in heaven and earth (Acts 2:36-37). They risked persecution and even death when they were baptized.
The authority and power, love and unity Christ gave His praying church has not impacted North America in our time. We are experiencing “a form of godliness but denying its power” (2 Timothy 3:5).
Should we be surprised then that America is following Russia’s path to atheism and self-destruction, according to Aleksandr Solzhynitsyn. He recalled former days when faith was the shaping and unifying force of Russia. That changed. The church became weak and lost its healthy influence on the morals and character of the nation. Out of this moral wilderness came hatred of God and persecution of the true believers. Why did this happen? His answer was, “Men have forgotten God.” His warning was on target.
The Washington Post reported that “in the past decade or so, many have stopped believing so strongly in church. Seven in 10 Americans say they can be religious without going to one, and every year fewer and fewer do. Since 1992, church attendance is down 12 percent, according to the Barna Group, which tracks religious trends.
“Spirituality and religious faith are increasingly viewed as individual private matters with few ties to congregation and community.” (Quoted in The Dallas Morning News, 1/29/00, p. 1 G).
Barna also warned that we are in the midst of spiritual chaos. He said that for millions of Americans “faith activity is no longer affected by church loyalty, respect for clergy, acceptance of absolutes, tolerance of Christianity, reverence for God, a desire to strive for personal holiness, sensitivity to theological heresy, and appreciation of tradition.” (Barna Research Online, April 16, 2001).
THE STARTING POINT OF CHANGE
What must we do to escape this deadly self-centered form of Christianity? What will it take to become a powerful church, one that is full of Christ and His love? What does God require for us to become more like the church in the book of Acts?
We must wake up and face the truth! We have forsaken our first love for Christ (Rev. 2:4). We have become halfhearted in our obedience to Him. We are lukewarm. We must repent and become passionately zealous to love, honor, and obey the Lord no matter how great the cost (Rev. 3:19). We must give Him preeminence in all things. We must love the Lord supremely and demonstrate our love by our sacrificial obedience.
We can learn a lesson from Bill McLeod, pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. He saw the great spiritual need in his congregation and devoted himself to prayer. Then he led the congregation to devote themselves to prayer. Before he preached his sermon he urged his people to come to prayer meeting on Wednesday even if they had to miss a service on Sunday. He kept that up until the attendance at prayer meeting increase from 40 to 120. In addition, there were 40 children meeting for prayer.
Next, he invited folks to stay after church for prayer on Sunday evening. He also started cottage prayer meetings. He enlisted people to pray filling up 15 minute time slots around the clock. The deacons stayed on Saturday nights starting at 9:00 p.m. and continuing as long as they felt led to stay.
After two years of intensive prayer the church began a series of meetings with Ralph and Lou Sutera on October 13, 1971. God began to work in a powerful way reconciling members to one another. The meetings were scheduled to last 12 days, but there was such a revival of love and obedience that twenty churches joined in and the meetings lasted for seven weeks. People who could not stand one another embraced and asked for forgiveness.
So many people returned stolen items to stores that the local newspaper reported it on the front page. One man drove 60 miles to confess his sin and pay his debt to an insurance company that he had defrauded.
Out of this experience Canadian Revival Fellowship was born. It continues to this day calling Christians to unite in prayer for spiritual awakening and conducting crusades in Canada and the USA.
For further study of the purpose and power of praying together we recommend …
THE POWER OF PRAYING TOGETHER; EXPERIENCING CHRIST ACTIVELY IN CHARGE is a 187 page book by Oliver W. Price with five keys for effective praying together.
First Key: Claiming the Presence of Christ
Second Key: The Power and Real Meaning of Praying in Jesus’ Name
Third Key: Asking Christ to Take Charge
Fourth Key: Asking Christ to Change Each of Us
Fifth Key: Bringing Us into Harmony with Our Father in Heaven
“If you want to experience the life-changing power of God’s glorious presence through corporate prayer, then this book is for you.” Tony Evans
“This book is written with passion, a burning desire God has given Oliver Price to rekindle the fire of prayer in our homes and churches.” Erwin W. Lutzer
“Price has dealt with the greatest need in the church today … I commend this book to all those desiring to be men or women of prayer.” Sammy Tippit
Available from Bible Prayer Fellowship. You may order a copy from the BPF Online Bookstore or by phoning toll free 1-877-937-7293. Available in Christian book stores.
BIBLE PRAYER FELLOWSHIP was created to challenge and mentor pastors, church leaders, and concerned Christians in a strategically focused prayer ministry for ongoing spiritual awakening in the home, church, and nation.
Bible Prayer Fellowship, P. O. Box 810718, Dallas, TX 75381,
Phone: 972-241-6971 Fax 972-241-1957 (call before faxing) Toll free 1-877-937-7293
Oliver W. Price, General Director and Minister at Large
William E. (Bill) Price, Associate Director and Web Pastor