331 – Prayer in the Church

SEMESTER 2

331 – Prayer in the Church

BIBLE INSTITUTE OF CORRESPONDENCE

COURSE:  ECCLESIOLOGY II LESSON # 31
PRAYER IN THE CHURCH

INTRODUCTION:

1. Public prayer in (groups called) churches, ranges from meaningless forms read from prayer books to meaningless jabber by dozens of people at once.
2. In response to one of these or other errors, other errors are adopted.
3. Some even question the propriety of public prayer.
4. Let us try to set in order a biblical guide for prayer in the Lord’s church.

I. PUBLIC PRAYER IN THE CHURCH IS PROPER

1. It has been suggested by some that Mat. 6:5 and 6 would really preclude public prayer, including prayer in church.
2. That this is erroneous interpretation of these Scriptures is clear from Acts 1:14, Acts 1:24, Acts 3:1, Acts 4:31, Acts 6:4, Acts 12:5, etc.
3. The Lord’s exhortation is that men ought always to pray. (Lk. 18:1)
4. Paul urges prayer in all his church epistles and clearly implies that he speaks of a corporate effort among them.

II. IT IS TO BE DECENTLY AND IN ORDER (I COR. 14:15)

1. I have seen cases where everyone prayed aloud at once, none hearing the other.
2. This clearly violates the pattern of speaking to be understood and agreed to. (I Cor. 14:14-17)

III. IT IS TO BE WITH UNDERSTANDING (I COR. 14:15)

1. The necessity of understanding goes beyond the mere “order” insisted upon by the previous point.
2. The issues taken up in public prayer should be issues commonly understood and of collective interest.
3. The language of the one “leading in prayer” should accommodate the vocabulary of the flock.
4. The audibility of the “leader” should be sufficient to be heard by all.

IV. IT IS NOT TO BE VAIN REPETITION (MAT. 6:5)

1. The Lord was speaking here of the Pharisees’; practice of uttering religious phrases repeatedly.
2. We are prone today, in public prayer, to coin phrases for ourselves that sound high, but are not in reality the present desire or thought of our heart.
3. It is proper for our public prayer to be slow and deliberate enough to be stated in meaningful praises and requests.

V. IT IS TO BE PRAYER, NOT PREACHING

1. Often “prayers” are filled with doctrinal and exhortative information.
2. We frequently perceive that the leader is speaking to the congregation, not to God.
3. Remember that when “leading in prayer” we are to speak to God, and lead those in our hearing to do the same.
4. The instant our prayer becomes deliberately informative to our hearers, it has ceased to be true prayer.

VI. IT IS TO HAVE A BIBLICAL FORMAT (MAT. 6:9)

1. While any deliberate design is rejected by some, Mat. 6:9 clearly tells us we are to pray after a given manner.
2. This does not mean we say these words, that would become vain repetition.
3. It rather refers to an order or format.

i. Address, stating relationship – our Father.
ii. Praise, Hallowed be thy name.
iii. Prayer for our subjection to God, “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done…”
iv. Prayer for provision and guardianship.
v. Acknowledgment of sovereign and eternal power and glory as the basis of all the above.

4. All prayer can and should fall into this basic principle of construc­tion.

VII. IT IS TO BE VERBALIZED BY MEN NOT WOMEN (I COR. 14:34)

1. This is not to say women should not pray but that they should not pray in public.
2. All public prayer carries some impartation of personal exhor­tation and thus when verbalized by a woman in public, violates I Cor. 14:34.