May I Pray With You Right Now?

Last week Nancy taught us on the topic of “May I Pray For You Right Now?” I’ve changed one word in this to give us this week’s topic – “May I Pray With You Right Now?”

As Nancy pointed out last week, it’s easy to talk about prayer, read about prayer, think about prayer, make promises about prayer, but what the Lord wants for us is to actually pray, because to quote Al Vander Griend, “Prayer is the conversational part of a love relationship with God.” Spending time in prayer, having conversations with God, is one of the main ways in which we grow in our love for God and in receiving His love for us.

Why pray with one another? Jesus said in Matthew 18:19-20 (NIV) – “I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.”

David Yonggi Cho, pastor of the largest church in the world, in Seoul, South Korea, said, “As we pray together, the power of God is manifested in our midst. Many have been healed, delivered, and filled with the Holy Spirit as we have united in prayer. If one can put a thousand to flight and two can handle ten thousand, can you imagine hundreds of thousands united prayer – the power is beyond comprehension!”

Psalm 34:3 (NLT) – “Glorify the Lord with me; let us exalt his name together.”

So, how often are we to pray with others? Another way to ask this could be, “how often do we want to have the presence of Jesus with us?” While it is true that Romans 8:10-11 (NLT) says, “Christ lives within you, so even though your body will die because of sin, the Spirit gives you life because you have been made right with God. The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you.” It is also true that Jesus said that where two or three of us come together in His name, there He is with us. The simplest way I know of to understand this mystery is that the presence of Christ is magnified when we come together with other believers. God is infinite; we are finite – we cannot contain His presence; in fact, the entire universe cannot contain His presence. He is transcendent, above and beyond all of creation.

I think it’s a worthy goal to aim for to pray with at least one other believer each day. Whether we live alone or with a large number of people, whether we work out of our home or travel, regardless of our circumstances, each of us can find opportunities to pray with other believers. If we aren’t motivated to do that, then we may need to repent of unbelief or receive some healing in our hearts, because God wants to lavish more of His presence and power on us.

“WITH” is a preposition meaning:

• “accompanied by”
• “in some particular relation to (especially implying interaction, company, association, conjunction, or connection)”
• “characterized by or having”

W – Waiting

Dr. John DeVries, in his book, “Does It Pay to Pray? The Work of Missions is Prayer,” points out that after Jesus ascended to the Father, the apostles waited in obedience to Jesus’ instructions. “While waiting, they had a ten-day prayer meeting in an upper room. The most important thing is that while they waited, they prayed. They were turning the keys in the gates of heaven and in the gates of hell . . . To start our ministry at any other point means we limit ourselves to human efforts.” Natural strength is not enough to carry on the job before God’s people. What is needed is strength that goes beyond youth and natural ability. Isaiah 40:28-31 (NASB) – “Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth does not become weary or tired. His understanding is inscrutable. He gives strength to the weary, and to him who lacks might He increases power. Though youths grow weary and tired, and vigorous young men stumble badly, yet those who wait for the LORD will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary.”

When we look at the early Church, we see that the believers continued in prayer:

Acts 1:14 (NASB) – “These all with one mind were continually devoting themselves to prayer”

Acts 2:42 (KJV) – “they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers”

Colossians 4:2 (KJV) – “Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving”

In each of these verses, we see the word “continue,” which comes from a Greek word meaning, “to be in constant readiness” or “to wait continually.” Is that how we would describe our prayer lives? The first work of the Kingdom is prayer. But God does not want us to view prayer as drudgery. Prayer is to be a refuge from the chaos of the world. In prayer, in His presence, we can enter into the rest that God has promised in Hebrews 4:9-11. To pray with other believers is to wait upon the Lord together.

On August 13^th, 1727, a group of European believers called Moravians were visited by the Holy Spirit in their regular early morning prayer meeting. From that day, the Moravian movement was birthed and continued to grow through the power of continuing prayer. This prayer meeting continued for over 100 years. Several hundred people who prayed saw more fruit in world missions in 20 years than the entire evangelical Church had seen in the previous 200 years. We can work and get human results, or we can together wait on the Lord and pray and be strengthened and amazed at what God does.

I – Interdependence

God has declared us to be various parts of one body, the body of Christ. 1 Corinthians 12:12-14 (The Message) – “Your body has many parts—limbs, organs, cells—but no matter how many parts you can name, you’re still one body. It’s exactly the same with Christ. By means of his one Spirit, we all said good-bye to our partial and piecemeal lives. We each used to independently call our own shots, but then we entered into a large and integrated life in which he has the final say in everything . . . Each of us is now a part of his resurrection body, refreshed and sustained at one fountain—his Spirit—where we all come to drink. The old labels we once used to identify ourselves—labels like Jew or Greek, slave or free—are no longer useful. We need something larger, more comprehensive. I want you to think about how all this makes you more significant, not less.” When we agree in prayer with one another as interdependent parts of the body of Christ, there are numerous benefits of praying with other believers (as suggested by Wesley Duewel):

• We have an increased awareness of God’s presence
• The will of God is clarified
• The depth of desire in our hearts is deepened
• Our praying is purified
• Our faith and confidence before God is increased
• We are strengthened in prayer persistence
• Each one receives spiritual blessing

Disunity can be a major hindrance to prayer, but the good news is that the history of revival in the church proves that deep, pervading unity in the Spirit can lead to spiritual refreshing and blessing. Watchman Nee wrote that “no amount of prayer is going to give sight to the ear, but the whole body can see through the eye . . . We cannot get along without one another . . . Prayer together brings in the help of the Body . . . Trusting the Lord by myself may not be enough. I must trust Him with others . . . Alone I cannot serve the Lord effectively, and He will spare no pains to teach me this. He will bring things to an end, allowing doors to close and leaving me ineffectively knocking my head against a blank wall until I realize that I need the help of the Body as well as of the Lord. For the life of Christ is the life of the Body, and His gifts are given to us for work that builds up the Body . . . In Christ I have died to that old life of independence which I inherited from Adam . . . in resurrection I have become not just an individual believer in Christ but a member of His Body. There is a vast difference between the two. When I see this, I shall at once have done with independence and shall seek fellowship. The life of Christ in me will gravitate to the life of Christ in others. I can no longer take an individual line. Jealousy will go. Competition will go. Private work will go. My interests, my ambitions, my preferences, all will go. It will no longer matter which of us does the work. All that will matter will be that the Body grows.”

T – Team

I love to say that prayer is a team sport! Many of us have enjoyed watching the 2012 Olympic Games in London, and I’m sure we’ve seen many examples of teams, some inspiring, others more disappointing. The Olympic Charter states that “the Olympic spirit . . . requires mutual understanding with a spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play.” God never intended for any of us to travel this journey alone. He’s placed us in a team of companions for our journey, brothers and sisters and fathers and mothers and children in Christ. We are to cheer one another on, as we live, serve, and pray with one another. Just as in a sports team, the strength of the team depends on the individual players, the strength of praying with one another depends on the levels of faith and the levels of unbelief in each one. Just as faith builds power in prayer, unbelief can destroy that power. Jesus did not allow everyone and anyone to be a part of His healing team. When He entered Jairus’s home to pray for his daughter, He was very careful whom He allowed to accompany Him into the house. He did not want anyone with unbelief to be with Him as He raised the dead girl back to life. When unbelief arises, we need to address it directly. One proactive way of doing this is to learn the Truth of God’s Word – this is the primary reason that we intentionally positioned the Sunday morning classes immediately before our group prayer times. God’s Word, Truth, casts out unbelief. A team is defined as “a number of persons associated in some joint action.” “Team” can also refer to animals harnessed together in order to do something beyond the scope of an individual. In order to discover your team or teams, ask yourselves these kinds of questions. What lights you up? What makes you pound your fist on the table in frustration? What are your spheres of influence? Which of these arenas are you most drawn to – family, education, government, business, media, arts & entertainment, religion. Find a like-minded team, or if you can’t find one, start one, and find ways to pray with others in your team. Be creative and think outside the box! Don’t wait for someone else to start something – be proactive because the days are short! Rick Renner, in his “Sparkling Gems from the Greek” devotional, interprets Ephesians 6:18 this way – “Pray anytime there’s an opportunity – no matter where you are or what you’re doing. Use every occasion, every season, every possible moment to pray . . .”

H – Harmony

The Lord knew that we would tend towards independence and isolation, sinfulness and selfishness, as has been mankind’s tendency since the Garden of Eden. He instructed us to come together in His name and pray. There’s something mysterious, amazing, and powerful that happens when we pray with one another in unity and harmony. Leviticus 26:8 (NLT) says that, “Five of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand! All your enemies will fall beneath your sword.” Psalm 133:1, 3 (KJV) – “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! . . . there the LORD commanded the blessing, even life for evermore.”

I believe God wants us to be in harmony with one another in having a fervent desire that comes from what God has placed in our hearts. Our primary and only motive should be the glory of God, not personal ambition, selfishness, or even human concern. We must seek to pray according to the will of God, from a place of total surrender. When we attain this kind of harmony, the Holy Spirit can freely move in, among, and through us.

Gordon Lindsay, in his book, “Prayer that Moves Mountains,” relates the following story:

In May 1940 the Nazi Panzers advanced openly, and Britain appeared to be facing her worst defeat in history. The German High Command stated, ‘The British Army is encircled, and our troops are proceeding to its annihilation.’ In the natural, there was no hope. It seemed that hundreds of thousands of English boys would soon either be dead or suffering in Nazi prison camps.

A day of prayer was called by His Majesty the King on May 26^th, and God came to the defense of His people! A storm descended in the area of Dunkirk, saving the armies from Nazi planes. Then God calmed the sea, allowing coastal yachts to transport troops from the beaches. The most optimistic hoped that twenty to thirty units could be saved; actually ten times that number were rescued.

The Daily Sketch declared, ‘Nothing like it ever happened before.’ Everywhere, the word ‘miracle’ was spoken, as soldiers and civilians alike made mention of the day of prayer. Perhaps no one individual had faith for this miracle, but Christians united in prayer, as a king had faith to call the nation to prayer in their hour of distress. God answered and the nation was saved.

There’s an important principle here. If you find yourself having difficulty reaching a place of victory in a situation, find one or more believers to pray together with you. Many times this is when a breakthrough will come. Don’t try to fight adversity alone. The enemy’s plan is to isolate and discourage. God’s plan is to come together in unity and harmony and help one another to fight!

Let’s look at some examples of Scriptures that speak of believers praying with one another:

2 Corinthians 13:7-9 (NIV) – “Now we pray to God that you will not do anything wrong. Not that people will see that we have stood the test but that you will do what is right even though we may seem to have failed. For we cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth. We are glad whenever we are weak but you are strong; and our prayer is for your perfection”

2 Thessalonians 1:11 (NLT) – “We keep on praying for you, asking our God to enable you to live a life worthy of his call.”

1 Thessalonians 3:9-10 (NLT) – “How we thank God for you! Because of you we have great joy as we enter God’s presence. Night and day we pray earnestly for you, asking God to let us see you again to fill the gaps in your faith.”

Colossians 1:3, 9, 10 (NIV) – “We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you . . . since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God”

Hebrews 10:19-25 (NIV) – “Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”

Isaiah 56:6-7 (NIV) – “[those] who bind themselves to the Lord to serve him, to love the name of the Lord, and to worship him, all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it and who hold fast to my covenant—these I will bring to my holy mountain and give them joy in my house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations.”

Acts 16:16 (NLT) – “One day as we were going down to the place of prayer . . .”

Matthew 6:9-11 (NIV) – “This, then, is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’”

Isaiah 64:8-9 (NLT) – “O Lord, you are our Father. We are the clay, and you are the potter. We all are formed by your hand. Don’t be so angry with us, Lord. Please don’t remember our sins forever. Look at us, we pray, and see that we are all your people.”

Acts 15:28 (NLT) – “. . . it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us . . .”

Occurrences of “you” in Biblical prayers are most often “you plural,” but in our individualistic mindset we tend to think they are “you singular.” To highlight this point, let’s look at what those last 3 well-known Scriptures do NOT say:

• “My Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Your name . . . Give me today my daily bread. Forgive me my sins as I forgive those who sin against me. Lead me not into temptation but deliver me from evil . . .”

• “You are the potter; I am the clay.”

• “It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to me . . .”

Sometimes we need to remind ourselves of what the Scripture actually says. We know what we believe by the way we live our lives – if the way we live is out of alignment with what the Word of God says, guess who needs to change!

C. Peter Wagner offers seven primary reasons why believers do not pray with one another. I mention them here for us to ponder and consider . . . what does God say about this in His Word? What can I do to counteract this situation? Reasons why believers do not pray with one another:

• Praying with others is boring
• I have no contribution to make
• My personal needs are not met
• I don’t know how to pray in public
• The Holy Spirit doesn’t show up
• We pray, but nothing happens
• Our prayer meeting is a gossip club

Dr. Sue Curran, pastor and teacher at Shekinah Church in Tennessee, offers ten of the most common fleshly hindrances to avoid when we pray with one another:

• Teaching prayers (rather, we are to simply pour our hearts out to God)
• Controlling prayers
• Doctrinal prayers
• Overly emotional prayers that draw attention to the pray-er
• Morbid, unbelieving prayers
• Striving prayers
• Intellectual prayers
• Dead prayers (habitually prayed)
• Personal, ambitious prayers
• Uncooperative prayers

Wagner goes on to offer some principles for praying with others:

• Sing prayers
• Pray out loud
• Support one another (e.g. “Amen”, “Yes, Lord”)
• Report answers to prayer
• Pray specifically
• Pray personally
• Give instruction on prayer

Stormie Omartian notes that the Bible says that praying with others means that we can:

• Mourn with one another (Ezekiel 24:23)
• Have peace with one another (Mark 9:50)
• Be affectionate to one another (Romans 12:10)
• Be like-minded toward one another (Romans 15:5)
• Receive one another (Romans 15:7)
• Care for one another (1 Corinthians 12:25)
• Serve one another (Galatians 5:13)
• Bear with one another (Ephesians 4:2)
• Be kind and forgive one another (Ephesians 4:32)
• Submit to one another (Ephesians 5:21)
• Comfort and edify one another (1 Thessalonians 5:11)
• Consider one another (Hebrews 10:24)
• Love one another (1 Peter 1:22)
• Have compassion for one another (1 Peter 3:8)
• Minister our gifts to one another (1 Peter 4:10)

I am thankful that God has created a culture of prayer here at the Atlanta Vineyard over a period of many years. I want to honor our prayer ministry director, Nancy Penton, and all who serve faithfully in the ministry of prayer here. We have been blessed with scores of classes on prayer over the last decade, and hundreds of opportunities to pray with others. Ask God how He would like you to pray with others on a regular basis, and expect Him to bring spontaneous encounters your way, too.

Opportunities to pray with other believers on a regular basis:

• At meal times
• Praying with spouse / children before going to sleep
• Family prayer
• Weekly prayer group
• Walking partner
• Prayer at Bible studies / small groups
• Book of Common Prayer / Divine Hours – praying in unity with countless thousands upon thousands of believers worldwide
• Praying with others via technology – Facebook, email, texting, phone calls, skype, twitter, and an endless number of apps
• 30 days of Prayer for the Muslim World, Seek God for the City, and other united prayer mobilization resources
• National Day of Prayer
• Global Day of Prayer
• Prayer classes
• Prayer after classes, before our church service
• Pray the news
• Prayer with co-workers
• Mobile prayer ministry
• Prayer retreats
• Prayer ministry team
• Outreaches / Mission trips
• Nights of prayer
• Prayer conferences / prayer training
• Prayer walking in a neighborhood
• IHOP – established as a house of prayer where believers from churches all over the city can pray together with one another
• College of Prayer

We can also pray spontaneously with others in the grocery store, at the library, in the office, at a restaurant, in a hallway conversation, at school, on an airplane . . . the possibilities are endless.

In closing, here are a couple of recent examples of praying with other believers. I had three personal prayer encounters at the Vineyard SE regional conference this past week in which God demonstrated His love and affirmation while praying with others.

• In observing Mark Manuel leading the children at this same conference where many of our youth served alongside, I noticed that he invited a child to close each session in prayer, thus modeling praying with one another. Maybe we grew up unchurched, or maybe we grew up in an environment in which the leader or pastor or Sunday School teacher did most if not all of the praying in church. How wonderful to observe children being mentored in prayer so they can pray with others with confidence!

• A couple of weeks ago, a friend of mine was riding in the car with someone who received a phone call mid-journey. The call was put on speaker phone because the person on the other end discerned that God wanted him to pray some very specific and detailed prayers for my friend. The unknown caller prayed for what my friend described as “all the lingering issues from my past.” The caller continued and described in intimate detail things known only to the Lord and my friend. This went on for some time, and eventually the caller asked, “Is anything I’ve said hitting the target?” My friend stated that yes, indeed, all of it had been spot on. The unknown friend then stated that this was the first time he’d ever done this! He’d always wanted to, but was never inclined to do so. So, he simply asked the Lord to enable him to do it, and then he just stepped out in faith . . . and, BOOM! I believe this is a key to praying with others – we can ask God to help us, step out in faith, and then watch God astound us!

• I had a similar experience when we lived in Russia. Several times we hosted all-night prayer meetings in our apartment for believers from various parts of the body of Christ. On one of these occasions, a young lady, Lena, received a very accurate prophetic picture for each of the other 7 of us who were present. The most astounding thing was that in the early hours of the morning as we wrapped up our time together, we discovered that this was the FIRST time she had ever prayed with others and prophesied in this way. God does amazing things when in obedience to His Word, we choose to pray with other believers, for His glory.

There is tremendous prayer power when we pray in unity with other believers. Jesus wasn’t kidding when He said that where two or three come together in His name, there He is with us. We are each carriers of Christ’s presence, but there is an exponential impact on the kingdom of darkness and an exponential advancement of the Kingdom of God when we pray with one another in unity in the name of Jesus Christ. So I challenge you to ask God each day – who do you want me to pray with today? Then offer a simple invitation, “May I pray with you right now?”

Ephesians 3:20-21 (NIV) – “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”