The power of two or three

The Bible speaks about the power of two or three - or more - in prayer.

In fact, Jesus' model prayer - known generally as the Lord's Prayer - assumes more than one is praying the words.  Many of his references - and the apostle Paul's as well - use the plural to indicate that group prayer was common at the time.

So, why do so many Christians avoid praying together?  And what can we do about it?

There are probably many reasons why North Americans reject - and even fear - praying together.  Some believe that prayer simply doesn't work; others don't want to appear foolish when praying aloud; and still others are simply bored by what passes as group prayer today.

Yet, Jesus gave special prominence to praying in groups.  He said that where two or three agree on something on earth, he will act in response.

The book of Acts shows what praying together can do.  The apostles spent days in prayer before Pentecost when the Holy Spirit descended on them and thousands joined the church.  Members of the young church continued to pray in groups and more people became believers and miracles happened.

Andrew Wheeler, author of Together in Prayer,  suggests there are several keys to good prayer meetings - ideas to encourage everyone to participate.

He says Jesus made clear the humility and simplicity are vital to prayer that pleases God.  He spoke against praying boastfully and at length the way the religious elite prayed.  Instead, short and honest prayers, acknowledging our need, is the way to go.

The Pharisees, Jesus suggested, were seeking "honour from men, not blessing from God".

"One of the great temptations in community prayer is praying for others to hear, and not for God to hear."

In other words, a short, simple prayer, focused on God's kingdom and his will, is the best route to take.

Another key to effective group prayer, says Wheeler, is to have clear and orderly groundrules.

He notes that Paul urged the Corinthians to follow an orderly procedure in church - not all talking at the same time and giving others a chance to speak.

Prayer gatherings suffer when a couple of people dominate and others don't have a chance to pray.

"Not all will participate in exactly the same way, but the time is not to be dominated by one person or a few people."

Finally, Wheeler says: "As prayer is an expression of a relationship with God, so community prayer is an expression of a community's relationship with God and with each other."

Love should be the hallmark of group prayer.  Rather than trying to get personal prestige and praise from praying, we should think of others and love them.

Wheeler says Paul "exhorted the believers to act out of love for one another and to honour each other above themselves".

Groups that pray that way can expect to please God and see him respond to their prayers.

And we can look forward to seeing God act among North American Christians the way he did in Jesus' time.

Pray - there's no other way!

Strange, isn't it?  We try to do everything ourselves and when we're at a dead end, we pray.

And yet, God calls on us to pray because he is "able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine" (Ephesians 3:20).  In several instances, Jesus almost pleaded with people to pray because God is just waiting to give us good things.

I'm as guilty as anyone of this wrong way of thinking.  I plan, I work, I worry - and then I pray.

I was reading again this week the wonderful promise in Jeremiah 33:3:

"Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know."

This truth comes at a good moment for me.  I have been puzzling about some prayer plans I am working on for our church and I am feeling unsatisfied.  There is no "life" in my planning.

I have done what I usually do - I read and talk with people and discuss.  But I have not gone to God.

How ironic!  A prayer leader putting prayer last!

That's not how George Muller did things.  I talk about him a lot on this blog because he is a model of someone who prays before he acts.

Muller spent a lot of time in prayer in his very busy life managing homes for orphans in England in the 19th century.  He was a poor man himself and never issued a plea for money.  Sometimes, he would get up in the morning and not know whether he could feed the orphans at lunch - and, miraculously, a cheque would arrive in the mail to cover the expenses.

On key issues, Muller would spend time in prayer and reading the scriptures and listening to God before acting.  It was only when he was convinced God had provided the answer that he would move.

I realize I'm gripped with the modern disease of instant answers - I must know this minute what to do.  But waiting for God is vital.  As has often been said, his timing is perfect.

So, I'm determined this time to bring my prayer needs to God and ask him for his guidance in developing my plans.

I expect to be surprised - and delighted.

Invading Satan's turf

The apostle Paul tells us we are in a spiritual war with Satan and his forces.

In the Western world, this seems like an exaggeration.  But it isn't.

Every believer is automatically in a spiritual battle.  Whenever we pray for someone to believe in Jesus, we are threatening Satan's kingdom.

In many parts of the world, people are in a constant struggle with witch doctors and demons.  Satan and his schemes are very real to them.

And, we don't have to go far in our own comfortable societies to see the effects of Satan's work. Many people are caught up in a downward spiral of drugs, sexual abuse, and violence.

Of course, the good news is that believers are on the winning side.

As Pete Greig points out in a great video series on prayer, Jesus won the victory when he died on the cross for our sins and rose again, conquering death and sin.  But Satan and his works have not yet been completely destroyed.

As someone once said, it's like "D Day" in the Second World War when the allies landed in Normandy.  The victory over Nazi Germany was virtually assured after D Day, but there were months of war ahead before the Nazis surrendered.

The world will finally be freed of Satan and his works when Jesus returns.

In the meantime, Pete Greig notes in his video series "The Prayer Course" that we believers can engage in defending ourselves against Satan's attacks and even fight Satan by shedding Jesus' light on the world around us.  We defend ourselves by following Paul's guidance in Ephesians 6:10-18 and we advance the kingdom of God by sharing the good news of Jesus and praying.

He says we can pray the promises of God when confronted by evil; we can practice living a godly life in the world around us; and we can talk about the love of Jesus Christ with others.

Greig advocates taking a positive approach by focusing on Jesus rather than spending too much time concentrating on Satan.  It's generally better to "plant seeds than to pull up weeds".  Since Christ is victorious, we should find our strength and hope in him and use the authority he has given us to deal with Satan's efforts.

Greig suggests, for example, that we can pray good into people - and bless them - rather than "praying bad things out of them".  We can use the word of God to combat evil.

Others have noted the power of praising God in fighting the evil one.  There have been amazing stories of healing as a result of praising God - freeing those who are afflicted.  Satan cannot stand words of praise for Jesus.

He acknowledges that there are confrontations that require direct action against Satan.

You can find Greig's video series at the web site of 24-7 Prayer International, the organization he founded some years ago which now has more than 11,000 prayer centres around the world.  The link is http://www.prayercourse.org/

Prayer: A guided missile

Ronald Dunn says prayer is like a guided missile - it can travel around the world and hit a target thousands of miles away.

Prayer is powerful and it can do things we can't do any other way.

Dunn, author of Don't Just Stand There: Pray Something, says prayer gets a bad rap.  He tells the story of a pastor who heard him speak at a conference and came up to him afterwards worried that people would stop working if they started praying more.

"Prayer is not a substitute for work, or merely preparation for work," writes Dunn.  "It is work."

A fine Christian I know once told me that he was busy doing evangelism and didn't have time for prayer.  Another strong believer said to me he did not feel that prayer is effective.

As Dunn says, this is strange considering the strong emphasis on prayer in Jesus' own ministry and throughout the Bible.

As I see it, prayer is how we join our all-powerful God in implementing his plan for the world - and our own circumstances.

In fact, Dunn says, our prayers can have an impact on our descendants long after we have died.  In John 17:20, Jesus says he prays for those who will believe through the word of his followers.

Indeed, a good example of prayer being answered after a long time is the Israelite slaves pleading with God for generations for freedom.  God answered in his time - and his time is always right.

I like Dunn's comment that Satan has no defence against prayer.  An unbeliever can reject our words and refuse to believe what we say.

"But he cannot prevent the Lord Jesus from knocking at the door of his heart in response to our intercession."

Dunn gives a delightful example of an answer to prayer under great stress.  A woman was just placing a pie in the oven when the school nurse called to say her son had a high fever and could she come and take him home?

She wound up rushing him to the clinic where the doctor gave her a prescription.  She drove her son home and headed to the pharmacy to fill the prescription.  When she left the pharmacy, she realized she'd locked her keys in the car.

She called her son and he told her to find a coat hanger.  After finding one in the mall, she started towards the car and realized she didn't know what to do.  And she suddenly remembered the pie in the oven.

Crying with frustration, she prayed that God would send her someone who knew what to do with the coat hanger.  A young man with a scraggly beard came along who knew exactly what to do.

She hugged him and said: "The Lord sent you! You're such a good boy.  You must be a Christian."

The young man said he wasn't a Christian and had just got out of prison the day before.

She hugged him again and said: "Bless God!  He sent me a professional!"

He loves it when we come to him in prayer.  And often he responds in ways we cannot predict.

Like the woman in Dunn's story, we need to launch our prayer missiles and look for God to guide them home.

Holy Spirit, teach me to pray!

You may feel you have only touched the surface of prayer.

If so, that's good.  Join the crowd.

The Holy Spirit is in us to help us pray.  He will only help if we turn to him in dependence.

Andrew Murray, a great man of prayer, wrote in one of his many books on prayer The Master's Indwelling: "Now if we are to have the praying of the Holy Ghost in us one thing is needed - we must begin by feeling, 'I cannot pray.'"

Murray points to the apostle Paul's words in Romans 8:26:

"And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness.  For example, we don't know what God wants us to pray for.  But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words."

Paul goes on to say the Father hears what the Spirit is saying because the Spirit is praying in harmony with God's will.

If the Spirit prays for us, does that mean we don't have to pray ourselves?

In my view, the answer is "No.  God wants a relationship with you and me and he wants us to pray in tune with his will.  He wants the best for us and his way is the best for us."

Clearly, we can do things that God does not want us to do, even though the Spirit is praying according to his will.  In fact, it could well be that the Spirit is praying for ways to bring us back to God's path.

So, as other writers on prayer have said, we need to admit our ignorance - our inability to understand what God wants in our lives.

We need to turn to the Spirit and ask him to teach us to pray.

Yet, we cannot expect the Spirit to teach us if we are unwilling to be taught.  We must begin by saying as Jesus did in the Garden of Gethsemane: "Not my will but yours be done."

Being willing to do what God wants is a major step.  It is a question I wrestle with often.

Once we have taken that step, we can look forward to the Spirit teaching us how to pray.

The Spirit is a great teacher - he just needs willing hearts.