Donald Whitney writes:
"Most people pray. In fact, most people pray often, or at least they say they do. In the United States, nine out of ten people say they pray to God. Four out of five adults who pray say that prayer is a regular part of their lives. And of those adults who ever pray to God, almost six out of ten (58%) claim they pray every day and most of those say they pray more than once a day. Even two-thirds of those who never go to church say that they pray. And yet with all this individual prayer, there seems to be much less group prayer. In the western half of the world, and particularly in America, the independent spirit prevails over the interdependent spirit. The spirit of the discoverer, the pioneer, the cowboy, the space explorer, the entrepreneur--this is a major influence on our view of the Christian life. As Gene Getz observes in Praying for One Another, “The hallmark of Western civilization has been rugged individualism. . . . The emphasis in the scriptural record is clearly on corporate prayer.” Let’s look at the Scriptural record and see why it is important and beneficial to pray with the church.
1. You should pray with the church because of the power of united prayer.
2. You should pray with the church because it shows your love for Christ.
3. You should pray with the church because united prayer is linked with the effectiveness of the gospel.
4. You should pray with the church because it helps to protect you from Satan’s power.
5. You should pray with the church because you love your church family.
6. You should pray with the church because you need others to pray for you .
7. You should pray with the church because it keeps you from becoming too spiritually independent.
Is corporate prayer important to you? If not, in light of the above, why not? If so, then . . .
Will you become an active part of the prayer life of your church?"
Donald expounds from Scripture on each of these points here.
"Most people pray. In fact, most people pray often, or at least they say they do. In the United States, nine out of ten people say they pray to God. Four out of five adults who pray say that prayer is a regular part of their lives. And of those adults who ever pray to God, almost six out of ten (58%) claim they pray every day and most of those say they pray more than once a day. Even two-thirds of those who never go to church say that they pray. And yet with all this individual prayer, there seems to be much less group prayer. In the western half of the world, and particularly in America, the independent spirit prevails over the interdependent spirit. The spirit of the discoverer, the pioneer, the cowboy, the space explorer, the entrepreneur--this is a major influence on our view of the Christian life. As Gene Getz observes in Praying for One Another, “The hallmark of Western civilization has been rugged individualism. . . . The emphasis in the scriptural record is clearly on corporate prayer.” Let’s look at the Scriptural record and see why it is important and beneficial to pray with the church.
1. You should pray with the church because of the power of united prayer.
2. You should pray with the church because it shows your love for Christ.
3. You should pray with the church because united prayer is linked with the effectiveness of the gospel.
4. You should pray with the church because it helps to protect you from Satan’s power.
5. You should pray with the church because you love your church family.
6. You should pray with the church because you need others to pray for you .
7. You should pray with the church because it keeps you from becoming too spiritually independent.
Is corporate prayer important to you? If not, in light of the above, why not? If so, then . . .
Will you become an active part of the prayer life of your church?"
Donald expounds from Scripture on each of these points here.
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