Pray – Together
Jesus enjoyed the presence of his Father and prayed heaven down to people
Messy Prayer: Pray your feelings, desires, trust
Heaven knows our lonely ways/ Heaven knows our sorrows/ And Heaven knows things that we don’t know/ And the joy of eternal tomorrows – Mark Heard
Pastor Fernandes in Mumbai, India: “The greatest tragedy is not unanswered prayer, but unoffered prayer.”
Pray God’s heart
Romans 10:13 Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
Praying together
God’s people gathered is important to him
1 Peter 2:9-10 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; for you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God
Psalm 34:3 Oh, magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together!
Why community prayer important to God
Praying together is an extension of God
John 17:20-22 My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.
John 13:35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.
Praying together is a picture of heaven
Rev. 7:9-12 After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God
Matt. 18:19-20 Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.
1 Corinthians 5:4When you are assembled in the name of our Lord Jesus and I am with you in spirit, and the power of our Lord Jesus is present
The early church often prayed together
Acts 1:14 They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers
Acts 3:1 One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer–at three in the afternoon.
Acts 2:42, 46 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread AND TO PRAYER … Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts.
Acts 4:24, 29-31 When they heard this, they raised their voices TOGETHER in prayer to God. “Sovereign Lord,” they said, “you made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and everything in them… Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.
Acts 12:13- 17 Peter knocked at the outer entrance, and a servant named Rhoda came to answer the door. When she recognized Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed she ran back without opening it and exclaimed, “Peter is at the door!” “You’re out of your mind,” they told her. When she kept insisting that it was so, they said, “It must be his angel.” But Peter kept on knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished. Peter motioned with his hand for them to be quiet and described how the Lord had brought him out of prison.
Matt. 21:13 “It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be called a house of prayer.”
No one needs to bear their burdens alone
Most powerful witnessing tools
Praying with others moves us past our world
Pray Together