We know that prayer is a crucial discipline for the individual believer, but how often do we consider that it is also a crucial discipline for the assembled church? The Bible prescribes only a few elements for local church worship, but among them is prayer.
While giving instructions to Pastor Timothy, Paul says, “I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling” (1 Timothy 2:8). Yet despite that insistence, perhaps no element of New Testament worship has fallen on harder times than congregational prayer. Though corporate prayer is commonly commanded and modeled in the pages of Scripture, it is often ignored.
We neglect it at our peril, for God means to accomplish something through our corporate prayers. God means to bring unity to his people, for as prayer unites us in a common cause, it reminds us of our common Savior. It reminds us, as Megan Hill says, that “the church is not merely a roster of individuals who pray privately; it is a congregation that ought to pray together.” It reminds us that we are members of one body, and that as such, we must pray to the one who is the head of the body, his church.
