Selected Scriptures
Ps Paul Cheng
“…God has given the church the prerogative to pray…”
~4 min read
Dear Bethelites,
It has been a common practice for most churches to hold prayer meetings for corporate prayer because the church has been entrusted with the huge responsibility to strengthen her members through prayer. Sadly, most of the corporate prayers of the believers have turned so routinely monotonous. Many believers do not know that God has given the church the prerogative to pray, and that prayer is the power by which Satan is conquered, and the church on earth has at her disposal the powers of the heavenly world, and Christ has promised to consecrate every assembly in His name, whereby His presence is to be felt and His power to be experienced.
- Coming together in the name of Jesus
- Coming together to strengthen the afflicted
- Coming together to experience the blessing of God
The name of Jesus must be the centre of union to which believers gather, the bond of union that makes them one, just as a home contains and unites the entire family. The love and unity of His disciples have infinite attraction for Jesus, For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them (Matthew 18:20). The name of the Lord is a strong tower where the righteous can run to and are safe. It is the living presence of Jesus, in the fellowship of His loving disciples that gives united prayer its power. Andrew Murray says, “The bond that unites a man to his fellow men is no less real and close than that which unites him to God; He is one with them. Grace not only renews our relation to God but also to man. We not only learn to say ‘My Father,’ but ‘Our Father.’ Nothing would be more unnatural than that the children of a family should always meet their father separately, but even of one body. Just as each member of the body depends on the other, and the full action of the Spirit dwelling in the body depends on the union and cooperation of all, so Christians cannot reach the full blessing God is ready to bestow through His Spirit unless they seek and receive it in fellowship with each other. It is in the union and fellowship of believers that the Spirit can manifest His full power.”
During the time of the apostles, the first meeting for prayer, after the ascension of Christ is found in Acts 1:14. It is the united prayer of the church for the afflicted; the people were left without a leader, a flock without a shepherd, a family without a head. Exposed to innumerable trials and in the deep desolation of their spirits, they resorted to prayer. Spurgeon says, “They were like a flock of sheep that will huddle together in a storm, or come closer to each other when they hear the sound of the wolf……They felt that nothing made them so happy, nothing so encouraged them, nothing so strengthened them to bear their daily difficulties, as to draw near to God in common prayer.”
Believers, who have sinned and are spiritually afflicted and deeply troubled in their lives, must come and unite with their fellow brethren in the church, pouring out their prayers and supplications unto the Shepherd Himself. When there is a spiritual famine, and when the Holy Spirit appears to have withdrawn Himself, then there is but one remedy for these troubled souls, and that one remedy is contained in this short sentence, “Let us pray.” Let God’s people plead for the afflicted brethren, let them come together and unite in exacting personal supplications. Like Peter who was released from the prison in answer to the united prayers of the church (cf. Acts 12:4-5), by the grace of God, many a lost soul would also have been spared in answer to united prayer, and many a burdened spirit may obtain liberty through the prayers of the church. These fallen believers, though they are presently discouraged, would soon turn defeat into success, and their spirits would be revived simply by drawing near to God.
Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my father which is in heaven (Matthew 18:19). A prayer meeting for maintaining religious fellowship, or seeking one’s own edification, may have its use, but what is more vital is when prayer becomes a means of securing special blessings from God. When anyone in the church feels he is too weak to exercise the needful faith, then let him seek strength with the help of others. The mark of a true united prayer is the fruit, the receiving of the thing asked for, “it shall be done for them which is in heaven.”
It is simply joy unspeakable when one thinks of the privilege and blessing of the united prayer of the church. If every saint believes in coming together in the name of Jesus, in the faith of His presence, in the expectation of an answer, and if the effectual prayer of the church is regarded as one of the chief purposes for which the believers are banded together, then he together with other saints will have the highest exercise of their power as a church. The prayers of the church were to the Apostle Paul as real a factor in the work of the kingdom as the power of God, so he asked of them to strive together with him in prayer (Romans 15:30); in helping together by prayer (2 Cor 1:10-11); to pray in the Spirit (Ephesians 6:18); to pray that he may preach boldly (Ephesians 6:19 ); to pray for the progress for the gospel (Phil 1:19); to pray for open doors for the gospel (Col 4:3); and to pray for that the Word of the Lord may have free course ( 2 Thess 3:1-2).
May Bethel BP Church develop and exercise herself and understand the responsibility to strengthen the believers that she may give herself to the work of prayer day and night for God’s power on His people, and for the glorifying of God in the salvation of souls.
In Christ,
Pastor Paul Cheng
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