Pray Together

When you think of prayer, what comes to your mind first – a quiet time alone with God – your own personal ‘prayer closet’? Or a prayer meeting? We often judge our prayer life based on how many minutes a day we spend in private prayer. But did you know that the overwhelming number of references to prayer in the Bible speak of gathering together with others for prayer? Theologian Timothy Chester brings us a helpful adjustment from his book "The Message of Prayer".

“It is sometimes said that good private prayer is the foundation of good corporate prayer, but it may be more biblical to say that that corporate prayer is the foundation of private prayer. Our experience of God in Christ is corporate. Western individualism has made the individual alone with God the centre of spirituality. For the people of the Bible it is the relationship between God and his people that is central. Personal prayer revolves around this common experience-not the other way around." (p.153)

As you go into your Community Group prayer time this week, don’t go thinking that you haven’t done enough private prayer to prepare you for praying in your group. Rather, see your Community Group prayer (or any prayer with God’s people) as a sound biblical starting point for renewed pursuit of personal prayer. As Jude encourages the gathered church in his letter,

But you, beloved, build yourselves up in your most holy faith; pray in the Holy Spirit; keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. (Jude 20-21)