Praying together again

Be there

When we go to a cinema or theatre, we make sure that we are there on time. We are much more concerned if we are going to meet an important person. So let me urge you - be at the prayer meeting and on time.
A Christian group that does not bother to meet for prayer has not grasped either the importance of prayer or the urgency of the situation it confronts. No work for God has ever prospered without determined prayer support.
So be there, but don't condemn in your mind others who happen not to be there. I remember joining a Saturday morning prayer meeting at 7.30 am as I got involved in the church. There was only a handful, while the morning congregation exceeded 500. I began to ask myself: 'Why are they not here? How thankless,' and so on. It didn't take long for the Lord to teach me. Instead of being thankful and praising God for the few that were there, my heart was full of intolerance and that killed the prayer meeting for me. Our strength doesn't depend on numbers but on the Lord.
Now be there for what? Not to give church notices. Never use your prayer meeting as a means of telling your friends the news. Your concern will shift to letting others know the details and you are not praying then. In such a case, stop praying, inform others, and then continue in your prayer.
Then be there not to preach. How wrong I have been when I have thought after my prayer: 'I hope John has taken note of that.' That is not prayer, is it?
Then be there not to pray for yourself. It doesn't look right when you pray for yourself in a group in the first person singular. Stop praying and just announce: 'I have a request . . . will somebody pray for it?'

By faith

Faith is confidence in God and is a gift from God. It depends on his character rather than our ability to have it.
We come to God not with blind faith, but real confidence. Let our confidence grow as we grow in him. Don't stretch your faith. I remember hearing a story of a Christian man praying, for several years, for his neighbour to be converted and nothing happened. then he cried out to God - wanting to know why his prayers had not been answered. And God showed him why: because he couldn't imagine his neighbour going to church with a Bible in his hand. So he began to pray within his faith. He asked God to help him to meet his friend and break the ice. Within a few days, he got the opportunity. Then he prayed that he may be able to help his neighbour. Within three days, his neighbour's lawnmower broke down and he came to borrow from his friend. Now he was delighted, so he asked the Lord to give him a chance to say something about Jesus and share the joy and so on; his neighbour was converted. It taught me a lesson in prayer.
My faith in God depends on God's character to answer my prayer rather than my ability to trust him. Learn his promises - pray within your faith and let your confidence grow in God.

Be real (Luke 18.10-13)

When we pray in public, we should remember the contrast between the prayers of the Pharisee and the tax collector. We must not pray to display our goodness but to share our needs.
The Pharisee prayed to make an impression on other people and gave out a long list of his plus qualities. He didn't actually want anything.
The prayer of the tax collector was completely different. He was in need and he wanted something from God desperately, though he knew that he didn't deserve it.
When we pray in groups, let us be conscious of sharing our needs with the Lord rather than trying to impress those at the prayer meeting with our prayers. Also let us be conscious of telling God the needs of others, rather than worrying about whether we have said it the right way.
When we are conscious of the above, we will realise that we don't need any special skill to pray in the prayer meeting. Be conscious of the promises of God; be familiar with them (1 John 4.14-15).

Vijay Menon (more next month)

© Evangelicals Now - March 1998
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