What is the church? The Power of Corporate Prayer
Continuing in our series on “What is the church?” coming from fellowship, we move onto corporate prayer. This is a good follow up from fellowship, because prayer together is a significant part of what it means to be a part of local body of believers. It’s an area clearly laid out in Scripture, but one that our western evangelical churches have plenty of room for growth in on the whole.
One area for growth I’ve had is just my thinking of what prayer is as a Christ follower. Unlike other religions we aren’t forced to ascend to some lofty goal, but are adopted regardless of our background into the family of God upon our faith in Christ. That is because we are unified with Him and given the new identity of heirs, as adopted sons and daughters.
Galatians 3:28–29 (ESV)
28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.
We aren’t reaching out to an unreachable God, but one who Himself made a way for us to reach Him. This is the beauty of the Gospel narrative, that God did not leave us condemned in our failure, but came down into our mess, understands our struggle, succeeded where we failed, and took on our condemnation. He opened the door to the Father as our savior and mediator, opening the path to the throne of Grace.
Hebrews 4:14-16 (ESV)
14 Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
And when it comes to the topic of prayer, both corporate and individual, knowing our place in the kingdom is a significant encouragement and point of celebration for all who are found in Christ. We do not need a mediator, apart from Jesus, to talk to our Father.
1 Peter 2:9-10 (ESV)
9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
This is gloriously encouraging, because we can see this new reality as fulfillments from OT prophecies that God would graciously include Gentiles, those outside of Abraham’s offspring, into His plans of redemption and reconciliation. This “chosen race” and “holy nation” specifically call out that consecrating sinners into new creations, and adopting outsiders as new and true insiders, as God’s people, has been His plan.
So with understanding that we are called and empowered to boldly come before the throne of Grace as sons and daughters of the King, what is our role in prayer? What does it look like? I mentioned in the sermon on Sunday that Eugene Peterson points out that “Prayer takes place in the middle voice.” In Greek there’s the grammatical concept of the middle voice, which is different from the active or passive. Peterson says, “We neither manipulate God (active voice) or are manipulated by God (passive voice). We are involved in the action and participate in its results but do not control or define it (middle voice).” [GTB] This builds on the communal fellowship reality of the church that we were looking at last week. Change through prayer happens when we come together in communion and cooperation, as individuals within the church family, with God.
Remember one of the main purposes of prayer is not what we get out of it, but to be humble and honest as we open our hearts to God, so that He can align our desires to His. The Lord’s Prayer says “Your Kingdom come, Your will be done” (Mattthew 6:10) and even Jesus, when agonizing over His impending crucifixion, said to the Father, “Not as I will, but as you will” (Matthew 26:39). So take some time to not only pray, but to grow in your understanding and ability to pray. One Sunday, I mentioned a doctrinal prayer structure guide I came across in my study for this last week. I’ll share it here and link to the article from Tim Keller summarizing it as well. The structure is this:
1. The address - a name of God
2. The doctrine - a truth about God’s nature that is the basis for the prayer
3. The petition - what is being asked for
4. The aspiration - what good result will come if the request is granted
5. In Jesus’ name - this remembers the mediatorial role of Jesus