Principle 16

The Church Was Birthed in Prayer

PRAYER IS not just one of the functions added to an Assembly meeting, it needs to be the life and atmosphere of a New Covenant gathering under the Headship of Christ. The Church was birthed in prayer. It was sustained in prayer. When they were persecuted they called a prayer meeting.²⁸⁵ Prayer was the beginning of the great commission. The disciples prayed for a successor after Judas died.²⁸⁶ Peter prayed for the lame man at the temple gate.²⁸⁷ Stephen prayed for his persecutors when he was being martyred.²⁸⁸ Prayer was the main activity of the Church. Ananias was praying when God directed him to anoint one of the early key leaders of the Church.²⁸⁹ Peter the Apostle was praying when God directed him to preach the Gospel to the Gentiles.²⁹⁰ Paul prayed for direction many times in his missionary journeys. The Apostle Peter prayed for the resurrection of Tabitha from the dead.²⁹¹ Prayer was the engine of the early Church that helped it grow and reach the world with the Good News. “The Lord Jesus Christ did not begin his ministry without prayer. We see this in Luke 3:21. This is the first thing we must learn as Gospel vessels.”²⁹²

There are thousands of references to prayer in the Bible. One of the greatest privileges of the child of God is to speak to His Holy Father in heaven by prayer. Prayer is the litmus test of the health of the Church and the child of God. Prayer is our reliance on God and the lack of prayer shows our independence from God. “If weak in prayer, we are weak everywhere. A sinning man stops praying, a praying man stops sinning.”²⁹³

Corporate prayer is needful for any Assembly. When spending time together in prayer it is always a good use of time, even if waiting on God and with very little said. Yet believers all across the world—in the busyness of modern society—have decided not to spend time in prayer meetings, for the work of the local Church. This sad choice has kept many Church meetings prayerless and ineffective. Many pastors spend less than 5 minutes a day in prayer: “And it will be: Like people, like priests.”²⁹⁴ So the private prayer walks of many is lacking. Few are praying. Few are spending time in intimacy with the Lord Jesus. Few are prevailing with God.

Prayer meetings are a tremendous place where God births life in a local area. To gather with 2-3 other believers and spend time seeking the Lord in prayer allows for a testimony to be established for the Lord’s Name. A simple practical encouragement is for believers to spend a few minutes quieting themselves before praying.²⁹⁵ They should then enter into a time of thanksgiving towards the Lord²⁹⁶ for His character, goodness and for the mighty works done in His Name. Then they should lead into a time of intercession—with thanksgiving²⁹⁷ —guided by a servant leader who will highlight various prayer requests to the body. He should present such requests individually allowing brothers and sisters to pray into one request until there is a sense of breakthrough and fulfillment of the burden from the Lord for that topic. This prevailing prayer is necessary and what a blessing it is to sense the prayer already answered from the Lord. There can be a sense of cry and burden²⁹⁸ that can be expressed in prayer with fervency.²⁹⁹ At other times prayers might be more intimate and soft spoken before the Lord. This is all according to the leading of the Spirit of God and there is no system or pattern for praying except as given by way of examples in the Holy Scriptures.

In the underground house Church in China when new converts come to the Lord they literally are locked away with others—out of their own free will—for 2-3 days to learn the basics of Christian life and to learn how to pray. Such praying is done on their knees for many hours before the Lord and God listens! “When desperate prayer outweighs stale religious observance, God listens.”³⁰⁰

“Samuel Chadwick, one of God’s great men of past years, taught that Satan’s greatest aim is to destroy our prayer lives. Satan is not afraid of prayerless study, prayerless work or prayerless religion—but he will tremble when we pray. Remember we are in a spiritual warfare. Prayer is one of our main weapons and faith is closely linked with it. We must not expect it to be easy. Satan will counterattack any efforts made towards effective prayer. We must refuse any form of discouragement and press forward whatever the cost.”³⁰¹

Through the history of the Church there have been many true saints who have been great examples to the body of Christ through their prayer lives. One such brother was George Mueller of Germany. He prayed up to 6 times per day. He only asked God to supply the needs—not people—as he endeavored to take care of orphan children. He proved that it is sufficient to only ask God without relying on people. When he died, there were 2100 orphans and staff solely provided for by faith. Money just came in. All was done by faith and God supplied all needs solely based on prayer for over 64 years. Mr. Mueller taught on five conditions for prevailing prayer:

1.) Our entire dependence must be on the Lord Jesus Christ, as the only ground to claim any blessings.

“Whatever you ask in My Name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My Name, I will do it.”³⁰²

2.) We must separate from any known sin.

“If I regard iniquity in my heart, The Lord will not hear.”³⁰³

3.) We must have faith in God’s Word of promise as confirmed by God’s oath. Not to believe Him is to make Him a liar.

“But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”³⁰⁴

4.) We need to ask according to God’s will. Our motives must be godly. We must not ask to fulfill our lusts.

“Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.”³⁰⁵

5.) There must be waiting upon God and waiting for God. (Persistence with patience).

“Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains.”³⁰⁶

May God stir us again as the body of Christ to fervent,³⁰⁷ prevailing, private and corporate prayer. May we share the burden of the Lord Jesus Christ as He continues to intercede for us³⁰⁸ according to God’s will.