The Weapons of our Warfare 2 Prayer – Session 4 Practicalities – Corporate Prayer

Some of the material in this session is based on Lance Lambert’s book on prayer “My House shall be a House of Prayer”. See also “Praying in the Spirit” from Session 1 of this section of Weapons of our warfare.

We started by considering the prayer meetings of the early church recorded in:

  • Acts 1:12-2:4
  • Acts 4:23-31
  • Acts 12:5-17
  • Acts 13:1-3

The discussion can be viewed here It continued with consideration of the following points.

Corporate prayer

  • Christ as the Head of the Body – you can’t have the Head without the Body – unity, living organism, not on organisational structure
  • Flows out of the Gifts of the Spirit being in operation
  • Praying with purpose – to see the will of God done on the earth – discerning the Will of God and then using the keys of the Kingdom to unlock the situation
  • Pursue the Anointing – Psa. 133
  • Look to the Spirit to lead right from the beginning
  • Learn when to pray and when to stop praying – learn to assess when a topic is settled – they only walked round Jericho once a day and then picked it up the next day
  • Not slavishly following a list of things to pray for – know when to move on
  • Involves listening to others and hearing what is being said
  • Not governed by sentiment
  • Getting directions from the Head – corporate = Head + Body

Bad habits in corporate prayer

  • Horizontal prayers – giving information to others as part of the prayer
  • Long prayers – round the World in 20 minutes
  • Sermonettes – good to quote God’s Word back to Him in prayer but not to preach at the other pray-ers
  • Shopping list prayers
  • Use of β€˜me’, β€˜my’, and β€˜I’ – you are praying on behalf of others
  • Artificiality – use normal voice and language
  • Mechanical noises
  • Praying too quietly so that others can’t hear
  • Insensitivity – slavishly following a list, fear of silence
  • Lack of awareness of the presence of God

Remedies

  • Personal preparation before the time of corporate prayer – examine yourselves
  • Don’t rush into the presence of God
  • Start with Scripture reading (not exposition!) relevant to the focus of the Prayer Meeting
  • Have specific topics and pray for them in turn – don’t go off on a tangent, or on unrelated topics because they come into your mind – could be distractions.
  • But if they are felt to be if the Holy Spirit, suggest to the meeting/leader that prayer could move in that direction (if the previous topic has been well-covered)

Praying Strategically

  • Praying with
    • Discernment Eph. 1:17-18; Col. 1:9
    • Direction Eph. 1:9-10; 1 Thess. 5:15-16
  • Knowing the Will of God generally (from the Scriptures) – what are our objectives?
  • Knowing the Will of God in a specific situation – if we don’t know that, then make that the main objective of prayer!
  • Getting quiet with the Lord to seek His will and hear from Him 1 Pet. 5:5-7
  • May involve fasting, Definitely involves controlling the flesh and the mind – especially renewing the mind Rom. 12:2; Col. 1:9-10
  • Being filled with the Spirit continuously (Eph. 5:18)
  • Practical holiness is essential (ask and receive not James 4:3)
  • Then asking according to His will (1 John 5:14-15)

Praying tactically

Questions to ask about specific things to pray for:

  • How does this issue impact the Kingdom of God?
  • How or where is the enemy attacking?
  • How does it affect my walk, of the other person’s walk, with God?
  • What impact does this have on the Ekklesia?
  • What do we know from Scripture to be the will of God in situations like this?
  • Is there a specific word from the Lord in or for this situation?
  • How is the enemy resisting God in this situation?

Not formulaic, but relational!