- We need to learn to pray as a team, being coordinated like the members of a basketball team.
- Each of us should come to the prayer meeting as an active participant with a living and exercised spirit, rather than as a spectator.
- As members of a team, we should be prepared to function one after the other, following each other in prayer.
- We need to learn to pray in a corporate way, caring for the atmosphere and flow of the meeting, and taking the Spirit as our center, flow, line, and goal.
LEARNING HOW TO FUNCTION IN THE PRAYER MEETING
The meetings of the church are where all the members of Christ’s Body assemble to function (1 Cor. 14:23-32). When we come to the meetings, we should not come as spectators; rather, we should come as participants. If a basketball team wishes to play well, the team members cannot stand around and watch the game. Rather, they must participate actively and play as a team. Likewise, whenever we meet together as believers, we must realize that we are a team. Immediately upon coming together, we need to begin to “play.” We should not wait, nor should we watch. Rather, we should exercise to function. If my spirit is living and exercised, when I come to a meeting, I may have a sense in my spirit to speak a word for the Lord. While I am speaking, you must exercise to follow. When you finish functioning, another saint should be ready to follow you. Like the members of a basketball team, each of the saints should be prepared to function one after the other so that the meeting can continue in a good way.
The prayer meeting is very different from all the other meetings of the church. It is a meeting for the saints to come together to pray in coordination. In the prayer meeting there are a number of ways in which we can pray. Hence, we need to learn to discern the appropriate way to pray on different occasions. On certain occasions we need to claim something for the Lord and His interests. To begin the prayer that claims something for the Lord, a brother or sister may pray, “Lord, we praise You. You have redeemed us, and You have won the victory over Your enemy. You have given us the ground, and You have given us Your name and Your word. In Your name and according to Your word we have the ground to claim something tonight.” Another saint may continue and pray a particular prayer according to the Lord’s leading to claim a certain matter, such as the healing of a saint who is ill or the Lord’s blessing on the church’s preaching of the gospel. The entire prayer meeting should be a coordination of many prayers to claim something for the Lord’s interest.
Suppose midway through such a prayer meeting a brother or a sister who does not know how to pray in a coordinated way prays, “O Lord, we are so weak and poor. O Lord, be merciful to us.” This kind of prayer will damage the meeting. Although prayer for the Lord’s mercy may be appropriate in a different prayer meeting, it is not fitting for the prayer in which we are claiming something for the Lord. If all the members of a basketball team play according to a certain strategy, and one player begins to play independently according to a different strategy, they will have no way to continue their playing.
In another prayer meeting we may sense the need to repent to the Lord and confess to Him. Among us there may be some sinful things that hinder our prayer and the Lord’s marvelous doings in our midst. Since sin is a hindrance to the Lord, the sinful things must be dealt with. At the beginning of the prayer meeting one of the responsible brothers may call an appropriate hymn on the subject of repentance. After singing this hymn, we may offer some prayers of repentance and confession to the Lord. During such prayer we should not pray, “Lord, we are here claiming. Hallelujah! You are victorious. We claim such and such in Your name.” Such a prayer does not fit that kind of prayer meeting. Our praying in this way indicates that we are not in the flow. In the prayer meetings we need to learn how to pray in the flow of the Spirit.
We must learn to come to a prayer meeting to pray as a body, a corporate body. To pray in the spiritual realm must be something corporate. Even in the worldly realm, to play football with eleven members on your team or basketball with five members on your team is not done individualistically but in a corporate way.
A long prayer always kills the prayer meeting. A long prayer indicates that you care only for yourself and that you do not care for others. You care only for your feeling; you do not care for the atmosphere and the flow in the meeting. When we come together to pray, you should not be the flow, but the Spirit should be the flow. You should not be the line, but the Spirit should be the line. You should not be the goal, but the Spirit should be the goal. We all must hold such an attitude with such a spirit that we are not the center, the flow, the line, the goal, but the Lord, the Spirit, is. Therefore, we are open—open to the Lord and open to the Spirit. If He would use us to start a prayer, maybe we would pray for just two seconds. We would not pray a long prayer to express our opinion, our feeling. Perhaps we have the inner feeling that this meeting of prayer should begin with the Lord’s mercy. Then maybe we would pray, “Lord, have mercy upon us. Thank You, Lord. Thank You that Your mercy can reach much further than Your grace.” This is good enough. The Lord just uses us this much to open the prayer meeting with His mercy.
If we were not following the way from our traditional background and if we were following the living Spirit instantly, no one would pray a long prayer full of doctrinal points. The prayer meetings do not need that. The prayer meetings need a lot of instant, fresh inspiration with fresh points. This fresh inspiration is news, even the heavenly news. We all would pray one after another just like a team in a ball game. The members of one team play with one ball.
We must learn to forget all the things that we have, all the things that we know, and even all the things that we have heard recently. Let us come together to pray with an open spirit with nothing occupying us; just come to the prayer meeting in an empty way. We should come to the prayer meeting with our whole being on the altar so that the Lord can operate within us and even expose us. We should come to the prayer meeting with the attitude that we do not know anything but that we only know the Lord Himself.
In the Lord’s recovery we practice one thing—to live in spirit. We should not live in the old way of prayer, nor should we follow the old way of prayer. We must live in spirit and walk according to spirit. Your long prayer is altogether according to your knowledge, to your hearing, and to your kind of realization. There is no Spirit there. There are a lot of sentences full of wasted words. I say again that a prayer meeting should be like a team. All the members of the team are on the alert to play with one ball. You should pray in a way that the next one who prays can continue your prayer. If you played ball in such a way that no one could continue playing, you would be off the team.
POINTS RELATED TO THE PRAYER MEETING
Being in One Accord
The first point is to be in one accord. The Chinese Union Version of the Bible translates one accord as “the same heart and the same will.” This word in Greek refers to the harmony in a musical composition. In order to be in harmony, the heart of a people must be one, and their will must be in agreement.
Meeting together to pray always exceeds personal prayer in weight, value, authority, and power. There is a principle in the Bible that one chases a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight (Deut. 32:30). This also applies to prayer. Individual prayer is powerful, but corporate prayer is much more powerful.
This is the reason the Bible, especially in Acts, shows the church meeting together to pray whenever important matters were encountered. This can be compared to moving an object. Although one person may be able to move a fifty-pound object by himself, no one can move an object that weighs one thousand pounds. Even if one thousand people were to take turns pushing the object, no one would be able to move it. But if a concerted effort was made to move it together, we would need only ten or more people to move the object. This is the power of corporate prayer.
Regardless of how many of us pray together, we must pray as one person. A prayer meeting in which we are not in harmony, in one accord, is not effective. If we pray as many people, instead of as one person, there is no harmony, no one accord, in the prayer meeting. If there is no harmony, it would almost be better not to pray corporately because prayer in discord, without harmony, divides and kills. Such prayers are even inferior to personal prayers, because they annul prayer. Therefore, the first crucial point for the prayer meeting is to be in one accord.
Being Genuine
The second point is to be genuine. This means that our prayers should not be feigned. We should neither feign nor make up a prayer, both of which are false and not genuine. Although we should consider others when we pray, we should not pray for others to hear; rather, we pray for the Lord to hear. If we pray for others to hear, there will definitely be the element of pretense and embellishment in our prayer. Embellishment brings in falsehood. In the prayer meeting we need to consider others’ response and feeling, and we need to learn to pray before God, as if no one else were with us. Only such prayers are without pretense and embellishment. The more genuine our prayers in the prayer meeting are, the better.
Being Short
The third point is to be short. We should not be a person with a mouth that does not open or a mouth that does not shut once we begin to pray. Some people seem to have problems with their mouth in the prayer meeting. Either they cannot open their mouth to pray, or when they do open their mouth, they cannot conclude their prayer and close their mouth. Long prayers kill the spirit of the meeting, causing the spirit of the meeting to sink. Therefore, prayers must be short in the prayer meeting.
Not Having Too Many Subjects
The fourth point is not to have too many subjects for prayer. In order to have a good prayer meeting, there should not be too many prayer items. The prayer meetings in our localities often commit the mistake of having a long list of prayer items.
The Bible does not record examples of prayer meetings with many subjects. In Acts 4:24-31, when the believers gathered together, they specifically prayed for the church in Jerusalem under persecution. In chapter 12, verses 5 and 12, the church gathered together to pray fervently concerning Peter, who had been arrested by Herod, put into prison, and was about to be harmed.
If there are too many items in a prayer meeting, nothing will be accomplished. If there are too many items to pray for in every meeting, eventually everyone will be worn out, feeling as if every item is of equal importance and, consequently, does not have much meaning. There will be no burden, not to mention impact. This kind of prayer meeting is merely a meeting, without genuine prayer, and it completely misses the significance of the prayer meeting. May the prayer meetings in every locality be adjusted according to these points.
Fellowship Questions
- How can praying corporately be likened to playing basketball on a team? Considering your experience of praying with others, what can you apply from this picture?
- How do you think we can sense the atmosphere and flow of the Spirit when we come together to pray?
- What are some hindrances to praying corporately in the flow of the Spirit? What do you think is the fundamental problem?
Excerpts taken from Exercising Our Spirit to Practice the Body Life, ch. 10; Elders’ Training, Book 2: The Vision of the Lord’s Recovery, ch. 10; Lessons for New Believers, ch. 12