I tasted the joy of praying together last night at our prayer time. There were seven of us there and often after either singing a song, reading a passage of Scripture, or adding our amen, one of us would catch the eye of another and just smile, shake our heads in awe, or just enjoy the presence of our God together. Megan Hill, in chapter four of Praying Together: The Priority and Privilege of Prayer in Our Homes, Communities, and Churches turns her attention to praying together. She titles the chapter simply as Love. Why love?
Love is one of the “three fruits of praying together, [along with] discipleship and revival.”
At prayer last night, we prayed for this aspect of our church covenant — that we would walk in brotherly love toward one another as members of Christ’s body. Check out some of these quotes from Hill as she aims to show “how corporate prayer paves the way for mutual love by humbling us and affording us equal usefulness (58).”
"We have seen that praying together begets love. By humility and hard work, by joining in a common cause, by investing ourselves in the joys and sorrows of others, we grow in love for one another (68).”
“As a pastor’s wife, I sometimes hear people lament their experience in the local church: I don’t think people know me. I don’t feel plugged in. I don’t feel loved. My suggestion to them is simple. Please come to the church prayer meeting, I tell them. Come and pray on Tuesdays with Carol and me, I say. Come over to our house for dinner and family worship, I say. If you come, you will find work to do and people to love (67).”
“Praying together requires selflessness. In corporate prayer, we surrender our personal priorities — holding our own checklist of prayer requests loosely while committing ourselves to pray for the needs of other individuals and of the group as a whole. Also, we surrender our own comfort — showing up to a certain place at a particular time among real people. But this is the way of love (64-65)."
“Brothers and sisters, in prayer together we love one another (66).”
Jubilee, strive to be found at congregational prayer and praying together with those you do life with. It is a great joy to pray together as a means of loving each other well.
Pastor Lew