Yesterday, Pastor Steve did a great job completing our apologetics series, “The God Questions,” with the question: “Is Prayer Relevant for Today?” It was an excellent, biblical, and passionate answer that I could tell in my conversations after the service inspired many people to get praying more!
[Watch this sermon here – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yJe4IfU4Dw]
Today, I am going to answer two questions that are not often asked together: How important is praying together as a whole church (“corporate prayer”), and how important is small group prayer?
First Question: How Important is Corporate Prayer for a Church?
Bi-weekly, our church holds a “Prayer Hour” on Wednesday nights, 6:45-7:45pm.
Four times per year (quarterly) we hold weeks of prayer and fasting, with a very big annual weekend event – the Annual Day of Prayer and Fasting.
At least twice a year, in prayer-preparation for Christmas and Easter, we ask our people, ministries, and small groups to gather to pray corporately in our “Concerts of Prayer” where we lift up all the names for which our people are praying, out loud in prayer.
WHY do we do these things? Just how important is ALL-church, corporate prayer?
When I lived in the Pacific Northwest, I attended an excellent Prayer Conference led by Pastor Dee Duke in Jefferson, Oregon, three times. This conference covers expansive ground on many aspects of prayer including the many biblical benefits of corporate prayer. Scanning his conference notebook, I am reminded once again the importance of gathering corporately for prayer. It is plainly and powerfully seen throughout his points. Here are some of my favorite of those points.
Read these slowly, considering them carefully, and see if you would like to step out and join any of our corporate prayer times and be of these blessings and have them as part of your life.
The more corporate praying that a church does…
- The more people in the church will Know God, and the greater the sense of His presence will be in their lives. (Acts 4:31; Matthew 18:20)
- The more Joy, Confidence, Security, Faith and Peace they will experience. (Psalm 16:11; Ephesians 1:18-23; Philippians 4:6-7)
- The more people will Grow Spiritually. (Acts 4:31; Ephesians 3:14-16)
- The more Boldness, Courage and Passion the people will have to Reach their lost friends, neighbors, and relatives for Christ. (Acts 4:31; Ephesians 6:19)
- The more Desire there will be in the hearts of people in the church do the work of the Ministry. (Ephesians 4:16; Matthew 9:37-38)
- The Less Influence Satan will have on the people in church and for those being prayed for outside the church. (2 Corinthians 11:3, 4:4; John 17:15; Ephesians 6:12, 18; Exodus 17:9-13; Luke 22:31-32)
- The more Opportunities there will be to Serve King Jesus, and to be used by Him to advance His Kingdom. The opportunities will come because God is opening doors, and because of the increased vision in the life of both leadership and lay people. (Colossians 4:2-3; 1 Corinthians 16:9; Acts 14:27; 2 Corinthians 2:12; Revelation 3:7-8). “We serve God when he opens a door. He opens doors when we’re close to him. He brings vision.”
- The Stronger the Marriages and Families in the church will become. (Ephesians 3:14-16)
Our Immediate Opportunity for Corporate Prayer
Have you experienced everything on this list? Once you do, it is hard to stay away from every opportunity for corporate prayer!
The Christmas corporate prayer schedule is as follows. Bring your family. Bring your small group. Invite people in the hallways to stay for the lunch and prayer to Almighty Father God!
2023 Christmas Concert of Prayer Details
On the weeks leading up to Sunday, December 3, 2023, we will encourage everyone to submit an “Invest and Invite” card, with the names of those whose salvation they are praying for written down. Everyone will pray for every name shared, out loud, in a “concert of prayer” – that this Christmastime may be the time they come or return to Christ and LIVE!
On Sunday, December 3, immediately after the second worship service (around 12:30pm), we will journey into the Fellowship Hall to eat a light lunch and then pray, in groups, for this Christmas season and every name on every submitted card out loud.
As we saw in the Scriptures listed above, praying together in such a way is exciting, non-threatening, bonding, enjoyable, and powerful — for ourselves and for those whom God placed in our lives.
Second Question: “How Important is Prayer to Your Small Group?”
You know, or at least suspect, that prayer is important to your small group. But, HOW, exactly?
Hmmm. What light would well-researched, doctoral-level, empirical, provable, hard data shed on this topic? I have that answer!
Just read this excerpt about the findings of a substantial Ph.D. research project which set out to determine: What is THE most important factor in leading an effective small group? (Not to give the answer away or anything, haha.)
[The full article found here, for those who like data and details.] The summary of the research project was…
A religious expert wanting to cut through the confusion of 613 Old Testament statutes came to Jesus and asked, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?” Jesus gave his famous reply, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’” (Mark 12:28-32).
Like the scribe who came to Jesus, I was a confused small-groups expert just a few years back. I kept hearing advice from a plethora of small-group authors and speakers, each promoting different methods and models. All of them were confident and persuasive, but their contradictory theories couldn’t all be right. Someone needed to do cut through the confusion by doing serious, scientific research on what really creates healthy, growing small groups. We needed to look past the models to discover the key underlying principles.
I wanted to get to the bottom of things. I wanted an answer to the question, “What’s the most important part of leading a small group?” I completed a Ph.D. degree and did extensive statistical research involving over 3,000 small-group leaders in more than 200 churches to probe that question, and the answer I found was surprisingly simple.
The most important dimension of leading a group is your prayer life—your connection to God as a leader.… Out of the hundreds of questions we asked, the leaders’ answers to the following questions yielded the most pivotal results:
- How consistently do you take time for prayer and Bible reading?
- Are you praying daily for your non-Christian friends to come to know Jesus?
- How many days in the past week did you pray for your small-group members?
- Do you pray for your group meetings in the days leading up to it?
- How much time on average do you spend in daily prayer and Bible reading?
Why Is Prayer So Important?
Why does the prayer life of the leader make such a difference in the health and growth of a small group? The research doesn’t tell us why, it only tells us that a very strong correlation exists. But I don’t think it’s hard to figure out.
Jesus said in John 15:5: “I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing”….
Basically, our research statistically proved John 15:5! If you want to see Jesus’ life flowing in your small group, stay connected to him!
What are your thoughts on these findings?
How would YOU answer on the researchers five questions?
What steps could you personally, your family, your small group, our church all take to reap the rewards of more prayer?
Brothers and sisters, you are a leader if you have influence in a household, friend group, work place, church, small group, or a ministry. Therefore, prayer is important for you and for the people whom you influence.
Will you pray for them? Will you pray with them? Will you teach them to pray? Will you invite them to come with you to a corporate prayer event like the Concert of Prayer? Will you enjoy the mutual blessings that God has for us every time we come together to Him?
I am praying for you right now as you answer those questions in a new way, and I hope eat, fellowship, and pray with YOU at CG’s Christmas 2023 Concert of Prayer, right after the worship services that day!
Pastor Reg
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