“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him."If you didn't recognize these words, they are what Jesus taught about prayer in his sermon from the mountain. And these are the words many of us remember when invited to a prayer meeting. It makes us wonder if Jesus really wanted us to get together and pray out loud. We wonder what others will think about us when we don't pray as well as others do. And then we wonder how a prayer meeting can be a good thing if all eveyone is worrying about is how they sound to everyone else.
You might be interested to find that the majority of the prayers recorded in the New Testament after Jesus' resurrection are corporate prayers. Jesus himself prayed out loud in the company of the disciples. So what was Jesus teaching us? He was definitely teaching us to pray to our heavenly Father in secret. But he was also teaching us how to pray in the presence of our faith family. God is a community - Father, Son and Holy Spirit - and whether we come to him alone or with our brothers and sisters it is always a group prayer. Because God is a community He desires to see us come together with Him. Jesus taught that when two or more believers agreed on something together in prayer He would hear them and answer.
Jesus did teach that we shouldn't worry about how we sound and we shouldn't pray to try and impress each other. We definitely shouldn't be preaching to each other while we pray. So what should we be doing when we pray together?
Our thanks, our praises, our requests, our feelings and our anxieties should always be directed to God. We have been invited by God into His community to pour our hearts out to Him and to care about one another by praying for each other and the concerns of our faith family and for those who need us to stand in prayer for them. If you're new to a relationship with God and aren't comfortable praying out loud then don't. Listen and learn and enjoy hearing God's people talk to him. There is no better way to learn how to pray than to listen to more experienced believers talk to God.
Let others know what you would like them to be praying with you about and let them voice your concerns for you. There is much comfort in hearing a brother or sister pray for you to our heavenly Father. And if you're feeling brave, join in on the conversation. Jesus said it is ok to be brief. No extra points for babbling.
Whatever you do, don't pass up an opportunity to join God's people when they pray together. They are going to do that this Saturday evening at 5:30 pm in the yellow building behind Loveland Community Church. Come join us for a conversation with God.
