The five of us gathered for prayer. Pastor Perkins began. I followed. Each person who
followed the other prayed with a little bit more sincerety until Gary, the fifth to pray, broke down and began weeping under
the weight of the truth of God's undeserved love. Then we all joined with him in that same Heart. The presence of God fell.
We prayed with power. This is why corporate prayer is so important. Jesus exhorted us not to be like hypocrites (meaning actors
in the Greek) who wish to be seen by men (Matthew 6:5) and want others to believe them in the know like the John 9 Pharasees.
Corporate prayer runs that haughty religious attitude away as there is enough love for all.
"Each
person who followed the other prayed with a little bit more sincerety until Gary, the fifth to pray, broke down and began
weeping under the weight of the truth of God's undeserved love. Then we all joined with him in that same Heart."
The
model for public prayer can be found when Jesus said in John 11:41 "Father, I thank you that you have heard me."
but then said "but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here..." Jesus, weeping for all those gripped
by death, was already communing with the Father; But audibly and publicly repeated what was already expressed privately for
the purpose of pulling others into what was really happening. Corporate and public prayer works this way. Unlike Jesus, who
was in constant communion, we each go through cycles where we have to re-enter into His presence. And it is easier to do so
together. Sunday church services centered on preaching was not what the writer to the Hebrew church had in mind when he spoke
of not forsaking the assembly of coming together, (Hebrews 10:25) but rather the whole letter is about corporate prayer and
our need to go into a Throneroom - together. And 1st Corinthians 13:9 says we each "know in part and speak in part".
Nobody has a corner on God and Ephesians 2:21 and 4:16 says "we all are jointly fitted together" as a building or
body.
"And all of a sudden - we are all truly praying.
But it took each part to get us to Him."
This concept of a Body is key to getting into His presence, which is key to praying effectively. In Matthew
18 Jesus talks about getting rid of unforgiveness, dethroning anger and clearing the spiritual air over us. This was essential
for an effective prayer gathering. Binding and loosing have more to with taming attitudes in our hearts and the air over us
than angrily beating up the devil. (Jude 1:9) Besides, it is impossible to beat up Satan with our religious vanity.
(James 4:6) Can't beat him being like him. Ephesians spends chapters 1-5 focused on humble unity in every arena; Then
and only then does Paul get to the subject of prayerful warfare. First Heaven comes to us and then through us. Which is why
Jesus then says that where two or three are gathered together, He manifests among us. God is in each of us who know Him. We
need each other in corporate prayer. We start off praying focused on the Humble Heart on the Cross. Someone is mildly sincere.
Then someone else is more sincere. Then someone begins to weep. And all of a sudden - we are all truly praying. But it took
each part to get us to Him.
The three
stage cycle of human experience involves seeking, encountering (finding) where we worship and the petitioning (releasing).
We must seek God together. Consider that the Holy Spirit travels the path of our reborn spirit into our souls where our minds
see Him, our wills choose Him and our emotions feel Him, then He flows through us into this foreign world through tears, spoken
words, utterances, bended knees, lifted hands and even reverential silence. He inspires prayers within and rides them into
the lives of others. "My words are spirit and they are life" (John 6:63) And consider the greater impact when this
happens in numbers. "One can put a thousand to flight, two 10,000" (Deut 32:30) We must encounter Him together.
And for the exponential results, we must pray together out of that Heart we've just been bathed in during worship.
"The written Word of God is our point
of reference for sound doctrine and structure, but the corporate prayer meeting is the real point of reference for the actual
spiritual condition of any fellowship."
This is why one says that
the written Word of God is our point of reference for sound doctrine and structure, but the corporate prayer meeting is the
real point of reference for the actual spiritual condition of any fellowship. Leaders who fail to facilitate this in
their lives and those under them eventually succumb to the tyranny of their own hearts and minds. It makes one wonder what
is actually happening in a majority of churches today. It is more of a form of godliness than anything else. And this is why
the Holy Spirit is limited to His prayerless people's disobedience and/or ignorance. This is why people are not coming to
Christ en masse. It's time to unclog those holes and come together. It's time for God to rain through us - those holes. He
deserves the right to flow through us into the lives of others via the corporate prayer meeting. He needs nothing else. The
time to seek Him together has come.
