What is Church Anyways? - Part 4
Ξ March 16th, 2006 | → 3 Comments | ∇ Theology |
What about prayer? Well we have some similar kinds of issues with prayer in our churches as we do with worship. We ofter assume that prayer is just the talking to God. Can a song written to God, be a prayer? Of course it can. Can we communicate with God in ways other than time spent on our knees with our hands together? Yes, of course we can. He’s always here. He hears every word I say out loud or in the silence of my heart. The Bible says we should use all kinds of prayer. (Ephesians 6:18)
So in essence prayer is much like worship in that it should be happening in all kinds of ways at virtually all times. So once again if Sunday is our primary prayer time, there’s something wrong. Prayer should be ongoing throughout the week. Sunday should simple be a time to share some community wide prayers. Prayer should happen on Sunday because it should happen, well, all the time.
For larger churches it would be devistating for someone to assume that they will get all the prayer they need in a Sunday service. This is where small groups can be particularly good. A small group or small church can realistically address the prayer needs of every individual. The leader could put out a request for prayer requests and people could repsond and recieve the prayer they need. I was at a church in Whitehorse that did just that on a Sunday morning and it worked beautifully. It was a small congregation though. In a large church this could never work unless everyone was prepared to spend all morning and afternoon in church on Sunday.
So for both prayer and worship church probably shouldn’t be our only source for it. God knows that, so if church isn’t about providing us with our main times of worship and prayer, then what is it for? If you don’t need to go to church to worship, why go at all? If you don’t need to be at church to have your prayers heard, then why go? When we have gatherings, why have these times at all if they are only representing a tiny part of what we are meant to be doing? It would seem that much of what we find in 1 Corinthians tells us that our time with fellow believers is about encouraging one another. Have you ever felt alone in your faith? Well, so have I and I have a hunch that God knew that we would need encouragement in our faith. That’s why he wants us to meet together and not try and go it alone.
All of a sudden there are parts of this description in Corinthians that stick out in that they are not things that we can do by ourselves all the rest of the days in our lives. It’s funny how most people will connect Sunday services to times of worship and prayer, when those things are supposed to be being met with the rest of our lives. What we can’t do in the rest of lives while we are alone are to exercise many of the other spiritual gifts that require there to be a community present. Prophesy requires an ear to hear. Though you could receive a vision or a word when you are alone, these words are not always meant for us and at some point we need to get into a community to share what the Lord might be saying. Tounges require an interpretation (Not always, I know there are personal prayer languages that don’t typically require immediate interpretation) Healing requires sick people to heal and people to pray. The point here is that we are called to be in community - and not just any community but one that gathers and practices things like what are described in 1 Corinthians 14. We gather to worship together because God is worthy to be worshipped. So we do it, not because we’re together, but because we acknowledge that we should do it in all that we do. Same goes for prayer. We pray on Sunday not because we just happen to be together so we should pray, but rather because we know that we should pray at all times and Sunday morning is a time.
The reality here is that the spiritual gifts like those in 1 Corinthians are community gifts intented to encourage the believers. Some of the gifts just simply don’t work well in large groups. They can happen from time to time, but I don’t believe it is God’s first choice of a setting in which to encourage us using those gifts. In order to fulfill this part of the Word, we need to be in smaller groups that have the time to attend to each of it’s members in a personal way. We need people around us asking us what we need prayer for. We need people who will prophesy over us to help us remain edified and encouraged in our faith.
Likewise, we need to be seeking to provide the same forms of edification to the other people in our community through the work of the Holy Spirit. Otherwise church is all about what I can get from it. It should be about much more than that. I think that personal prayer ministry works better in smaller groups and therefore prayer on Sunday should have more of a community-wide or church-wide focus. At the same time we should be open to the leading of the spirit in this regard.
I’m not suggesting that God can’t or doesn’t want to answer prayer through our typical Sunday morning setup. I’m suggesting that we are working within a model that could be far closer to the ideal mark. In many chruches prayer is always available for those who want it. What about when someone is too broken to bring themselve to the prayer chapel at the designated time? Their hurt has made them so self concious and damaged that they can no longer easily find the strength to get the help they want and need.
Here again is where small groups shine. As a member of a small group, there would be fewer people to look out for. The result would be that you would know that member of your group much better. Because of this, you would most likely notice someone’s need more readily if it weren’t only up to the afflicted person to get their own help. A fellow group member notices the hurt and initiates prayer time with the rest of the group for the person who needs it. This is far more the model of a community that encourages and supports one another, than one where people have to always step out and seek their own help before they can get it.
In the case of prayer, I think the issue is mainly about how well it works for a large group. Can we realistically have all kinds of prayer on a Sunday as Ephesians says? Probably not, so what types are not that practical in a large group and when do we have time for those kinds of prayer? What kinds of prayer works well when we are on our own? What kind of prayer doesn’t really make sense when we are alone and also doesn’t make sense in large groups? Could it be that these types of prayer have been intended for the small group? (Healing prayer and specific prayer for one another.)
Revised (edited for grammar and content) March 21, 2006