Corporate Prayer

Weekly Update – February 3rd, 2022

Last week I explained why it is we pray the way we do in our morning services.  I said that we pray together as a church with intentionality, as we come before the Lord unified as one, following the pattern given to us in the scriptures.  As we pray, we have four prayers during our service.  These prayers are meant to give us the full breadth of what prayer is, as we come before the Lord. In addition, they are also meant to model to us as individuals how it is we are called to come before the Lord in our personal times of prayer.  The first three prayers follow the acrostic ACTS, with the last one being a prayer of response. 

First, we approach the Lord with a prayer of praise.  Here we cover the themes of adoration and thanksgiving to God.  This would be the A and the T of our acrostic.  To aid us in these themes, we typically read a Psalm to direct this opening prayer.  As Pat Quinn says, “wholehearted admiration, honor, and love for God are foundational to our relationship with Him.”  Therefore, we want the tone of our service to be set from the beginning with what Quinn calls “affectionate wonder.”

Second, we approach the Lord with a prayer of confession.  This would be the C of our acrostic.  It is easy to forget how blasphemous sin is against a holy God.  Therefore confession should not only be a part of our personal lives, but also a part of our corporate life when we gather together as a church.  Though we have been redeemed by Christ, we still have the need to confess our sins on a regular basis.  Doing so together reminds us of the great need that we have for forgiveness, and when combined with the reminder of the truth of the gospel, we are assured that our sins are pardoned and we are fully accepted by God.  This is also a great time for examination of our own hearts as we prepare to hear from the Lord.

Third, we approach the Lord with a prayer of petition or supplication.  This would be the S of our acrostic.  We are needy people, but the Lord graciously invites us to bring our needs to him (Matt. 7:7-11).  Together we gather, united in one common prayer, as we ask the Lord to work on our behalf, on behalf of our community and on behalf of our world.  Therefore, we pray for those we are covenanted with who are sick, we bring before the Lord the families of those who have passed away or who are celebrating new marriages or the birth of their children.  In addition, we pray for our local schools and government, as well as our country, and issues around the world. 

Lastly, we approach the Lord with a prayer of response.  Here we come before the Lord to ask that He apply the message from His word to our hearts and allow us to not merely be hearers of what was preached, but doers (Jas. 1:22).  In addition, we pray that the Lord would awaken the hearts of any unbelievers present, so that they may come to Christ and join with the rest of us in following Him. 

Our goal as a church is to include the full range of prayer included in the scriptures.  We come before the Lord as one, led by the one who is praying, as we unite together in praise, confession and petition.  Through these prayers, we believe that not only does the Lord hear us and respond, but that we as a church, are further instructed in how to pray on our own.  At the same time, when we pray, we are challenged to truly believe, encouraged to hope and together we trust that our Lord will respond to us when we seek after Him. 

Serving Him with You,
Pastor Michael Nelson