In recents posts I have considered God’s expectation that we would pray together, as well as our excuses for not praying together.  As God expects his people to pray together, so we see God’s people praying together throughout the Bible and church history.

Israel

In II Chronicles 6, Solomon gathers the people together and leads them in a prayer of dedication for the new temple.  In II Chronicles 20, Jehoshaphat gathers the people together to fast and pray for God’s help against a massive invading army.  And God sends a powerful answer as the invading army made up of several nations destroys itself.  In Ezra 8, as the people are planning to return to Israel after the Exile, Ezra calls the people to fast and pray for protection on their journey.  And God sends a powerful answer as they all arrive safely.  In Nehemiah 8-9, the people gather to hear the Word, and then pray – confessing their sins and dedicating themselves to the Lord.  Or consider Psalms 44, 60, 80, and others which are called corporate laments – cries for help that the people would pray together for their country.

And then consider the story of Zechariah and Elizabeth in Luke 1.  While Zechariah is in the temple offering incense, verse 10 tells us that “the whole multitude of the people were praying outside.”  This offering of incense and corporate prayer was a daily event.  Indeed in Acts 3:1, we read that Peter and John went to the temple “at the hour of prayer.”  God’s people Israel knew what it meant to pray together.

The Early Church

If Israel knew what it meant to pray together, how much more did the early church.  Indeed the entire book of Acts seems to take place in an atmosphere of prayer – individuals praying, apostles committing themselves to prayer (6:4), and the church gathering together for prayer.

After the Ascension, the 120 followers of Jesus gather together for eight days and “all these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer” (1:14).  In this context of prayer, Peter realizes the need to replace Judas, so they put two men forward, and then pray together for guidance (1:24).  As they continue to pray together, the Holy Spirit comes upon them at Pentecost.  After eight days of praying together and filled with the Holy Spirit, they are now ready to go out and preach the good news of Jesus Christ.  As a result 3000 people are saved, baptized, and added to the church.  And they all devote themselves to the apostles’ teaching, the fellowship, the breaking of bread, and the prayers (2:42).  In the context, the prayers is a clear reference to praying together.  The church that was born in prayer together continued in prayer together, and gospel spread.

After Peter and John are arrested for preaching and then released, they meet with the church.  And they “lifted their voices together to God” in prayer (4:23-31).  And God gives them a powerful answer as they are filled with the Spirit and boldness to continue to spread the gospel.  And so they continue to devote themselves to prayer as the gospel spreads, persecution comes, and the church spreads to the Samaritans and Gentiles.

James is killed, and Peter is imprisoned.  What does the church do?  They make earnest prayer together to God (12:5).  And God sends a powerful answer as Peter’s chains fall off and all the doors open for him to escape.  He goes to a house where “many were gathered together and were praying” (12:12), to tell them what happened before he leaves the area.

Meanwhile in Antioch, Paul, Barnabas, and others are gathered in worship, which probably included prayer.  As they are worshipping, the Spirit calls Paul and Barnabas to go on a missions trip.  And so they fasted and prayed dedicating these men to God for the work God had called them to do.  Notice they fasted.  That implies they skipped at least one meal.  This was not a five minute prayer.  They spent hours together praying for these two men.  As Paul and Barnabas finish their missions trip they go back through the towns they had visited appointing elders for each church they had planted.  And with prayer and fasting they dedicated these newly appointed elders to the Lord.  Notice again, these were not five minute prayers.  Fasting implies several hours at each town praying together over these men.

At Philippi, Paul and Silas go to a riverside where they are looking for a place of prayer.  They find a group of God-worshippers praying together (16:13).  Paul shares the gospel with them and at least some of them were saved.  They continue to use the riverside as a place to pray together (16:16).  Then after Paul casts out an evil spirit and is arrested and beaten, we find Paul and Silas in jail.  And what are they doing?  They are praying and praising God!  They are holding a prayer meeting right there in jail.  And again God powerfully answers as an earthquake comes and every door is opened.  As a result, the jailer is saved.

Paul continues his missionary journeys.  On his way to Jerusalem he meets the elders of the Ephesian church, and there on the beach they pray together (20:36).  At Tyre, he meets with the church and before they leave they all pray together (21:5).

The early church devoted itself to praying together when they met together, when they were in trouble, and when God called people to new ministries.

Recent Church History

Undoubtedly we could trace the example of praying together throughout church history, but let’s fast forward to the last few hundred years.  The Great Awakening in the 1740’s was tied to people praying together.  In the 1850’s the Great Prayer Revival started with six men praying together and exploded across the United States with thousands gathering to pray together.  In the 1860’s Charles Spurgeon’s church had prayer meetings every morning and every evening – no wonder that church became such a powerful church and Spurgeon was such a powerful preacher!  The Welsh Revival in 1904-05 and the revival in Korea later in that same century were also tied to praying together.

Three Conclusions

As we consider all these examples of God’s people praying together, let me suggest three conclusions.

1. We should have special times set aside to pray together.  We see people gathering for special times of prayer to dedicate the temple, themselves, new missionaries, and new elders.  We see people gathering together for special times of prayer to seek God’s help – in the face of an invading army, for protection in a long journey, and for deliverance from prison.  The church has a clear example to call God’s people together for special times of prayer for dedication and help.

2. We should be devoted to regularly pray together.  The early church devoted themselves to praying together.  It was a regular part of what it meant to be a Christian.  There were groups that met for prayer.  Whether they met by a river, on the beach, or in a prison, they prayed together.  The church has a clear example that we should gather regularly for prayer, and that praying together should be a natural part of meeting together.

3. We should expect powerful answers when we pray together.  We see God defeat armies, provide safe travels, free people from prisons, and bring great revivals through united efforts of prayer.  Now God is sovereign, and we cannot force his hand.  But we see a clear pattern – when God’s people pray together, God answers.  And if we don’t pray together, he can’t answer.  “You do not have, because you do not ask” (James 4:2).  The church has clear encouragement to pray together expecting God to do great things as we do.