How often do you engage in corporate prayer? By “corporate prayer”, I’m referring to the practice of several believers coming together to pray to God. It could be a scheduled, ongoing, practice or it could be a special gathering appealing to God concerning an urgent matter. These prayers are usually prayed allowed so that others can hear them and agree with them during the prayer. As one person ends their prayer, others can offer theirs allowed as well. If you are not participating in some form of corporate prayer, I would encourage you to give it a try. Because I believe that corporate prayer is one of the more effective ways to get God’s attention, and I’m sure the early church would agree. In Acts, chapter 12, King Herod set forth a campaign to kill and persecute Christians. In the opening verses of the chapter, we learn that he killed James and imprisoned Peter. Then in verse 5 it says:
“So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him.”
It goes on to say that the night before Herod was going to bring Peter to trial, God sent an angel to rescue him in a miraculously way. In a recent sermon, my pastor said that God chooses to handcuff himself to the church. In other words, there are some things that God may want to happen on earth, but he may not move unless we, his vessels, work in concert with his plans through prayer and action. God miraculously rescued Peter from prison. But would he have done so without the earnest prayers of the church? I’m inclined to believe that he wouldn’t have. I believe that Peter would’ve been put on trial and may have been executed much the same as James was. But it was the prayers of the church that motivated God to set his angel to flight and answer the prayers of his people. How many negative events, calamities and situations might have been avoided in your church, community or country if the body of Christ would’ve come together in corporate prayer? I believe that we’ve forgotten the power of prayer. I attend a large church, but our weekly prayer group only draws about three to five people. I believe that the worldwide body of Christ needs to take corporate prayer seriously, and loosen the hands of God so that he will move miraculously on behalf of his people. You and I can be a part of that effort. So I encourage you to consider participating in the corporate prayers of your church, small group, or prayer teams and see if God will not move in a mighty way.
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When it comes to affecting change in our world, there is power in numbers. This is true for protests, fundraising, voting, wars, and the list goes on. I would suggest the same is true when we want to affect change in the spiritual realm. The Bible reminds us that where two or three are gathered together in his name, he is right there in their midst. Why do you think it says that? I believe it serves as a reminder of this truth. We need to come together and pray, much like the early church in Acts, and we need to do it often. I believe that on a whole, our individual and corporate prayer practices are anemic. We need to model the early church, and corporate prayer is one such way.