When the Church Prays

On New Year’s Eve 1975, Pope Paul VI in Rome took a silver trowel in his hand and ceremonially and symbolically began closing with brick and mortar a certain door in the vestibule of St. Peter’s Church in Rome. It was the door known as the Porta Sancta, the sacred door. That door is marked by a cross and normally is walled up. It is opened but four times a century for a holy year. For Roman Catholics 1975 was a holy year, and thousands of people made a pilgrimage to Rome. In holy years the pope begins the ceremony on Christmas Eve prior to the first day of the holy year when he begins the demolition of the door by tapping it three times with a silver hammer. Then when the holy year ends, he seals the door and the entrance into the cathedral by which most of those who made up his party will never enter again. Now suppose that we could pray only once every twenty-five years. Suppose that it had been ten years since you had prayed and fifteen years before you could pray again. Wouldn’t you look forward to that day! But now we have neglected the opportunity we have to pray every day.

Probably one of our greatest weaknesses as churches is our weakness in prayer.

It was not so in the early church.

Prayer was much a part of the life of the early church.

When Peter and John were arrested after the healing of the lame man in the temple, the church prayed. And when they prayed, God demonstrated that their prayer had been heard.

One of the marks of the church of the living Christ must be prayer.

Christ’s church must be a praying church.

I. When a church prays, there is a response.

When Peter and John were released from jail, they joined other Christian friends in Jerusalem. While Acts does not say it, those friends may have been praying for Peter and John’s release at that moment.

And what did Peter and John do upon their release? They did not hold a conference or plan retaliation or try to find a way to keep from being arrested again. They prayed. Prayer is the natural response of the Christian to God’s grace. It often is difficult to teach children to write thank-you notes after receiving gifts. They are quick to receive but slow to respond. Christians are much the same— quick to receive the gifts of God but slow to respond to him. Prayer is our most immediate response.

The God to whom we respond is described in these verses:

A. He is the sovereign Lord (, ).

Christian Standard Bible Chapter 4

24 When they heard this, they raised their voices together to God and said, “Master, you are the one who made the heaven, the earth, and the sea, and everything in them.

Christian Standard Bible Chapter 4

28 to do whatever your hand and your will had predestined to take place.

B. He is the self-revealing Lord ().

Christian Standard Bible Chapter 4

25 You said through the Holy Spirit, by the mouth of our father David your servant:

Why do the Gentiles rage

and the peoples plot futile things?

Christian Standard Bible Chapter 4

27 “For, in fact, in this city both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, assembled together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed,

C. He is the seeing Lord ().

B. He is the self-revealing Lord ().

Christian Standard Bible Chapter 4

29 And now, Lord, consider their threats, and grant that your servants may speak your word with all boldness,

C. He is the seeing Lord ().

II. When a church prays, there is a request.

Request or petition is only a part of prayer, but it is the part we practice most often.

Prayer should involve praise, thanksgiving, confession, and intercession as well as petition.

Notice the request in this prayer as expressed in .

Christian Standard Bible Chapter 4

29 And now, Lord, consider their threats, and grant that your servants may speak your word with all boldness,

It was a request that centered on their obedience to God and on their task of witnessing.

The believers did not pray, “Grant that we may be kept safe,” or “Grant that Peter and John may be protected,” or “Lord, don’t let it happen again,” but “Lord, help us to get on with the job of proclaiming the gospel.”

That may be our most needed request.

We pray for all sorts of personal and physical matters, and that is right.

But we also should pray for boldness in proclaiming the gospel of Christ.

The late Harry Emerson Fosdick once observed that we seek for a thing, and God gives us a chance.

Then he illustrated his observation with a statement from Henry Ward Beecher who said, “A woman prays for patience and God sends her a green cook.”

The request is for adequacy for the task. Daniel Poling was editor of the Christian Herald for many years. He had a preacher son who was one of the four chaplains who went down on the Dorchester not far from the British coast early in World War II. The four chaplains gave their life belts to their fellow men and went down with the ship praying at the rail. Clark Poling had written a letter to his family shortly before he left on that voyage. It said, “I know I shall have your prayers; but please don’t pray simply that God will keep me safe. War is a dangerous business. Pray that God will make me adequate” (Paul S. Rees, The Adequate Man (Westwood, NJ: Revell, 1959], 6).

III. When a church prays, there is a resource.

They prayed with expectancy.

They expected God to do something for them.

They knew that there was an adequate and powerful resource in the hand of God, and they claimed it.

Do you really expect God to do something when you pray?

Even this same group of Christians fell short later.

In they again prayed for Peter and John to be released from prison.

They were released.

But when they came to the prayer meeting, they were not recognized.

Sometimes we feel that it is an admission of weakness to admit that we need outside help.

That is what it is, and that is what we need: God’s help.

How ridiculous it is for the greatest resource of all— the power of God— to be present and available and for us not to use it.

resource in the hand of God, and they claimed it. Do you really expect God to do something when you pray? Even this same group of Christians fell short later. In they again prayed for Peter and John to be released from prison. They were. But when they came to the prayer meeting, they were not recognized. Sometimes we feel that it is an admission of weakness to admit that we need outside help. That is what it is, and that is what we need: God’s help. How ridiculous it is for the greatest resource of all— the power of God— to be present and available and for us not to use it. IV. When a church prays, there are results. The presence and the power of the Holy Spirit were with them. What a result of prayer! One result of prayer is that something will happen. It may not always be like you expected it to happen, but something will happen. God may deny the form of your request and grant to you the substance of your prayer. Monica, the mother of St. Augustine, prayed that he would not go to Italy, but he did. And it was there that he became converted. Her prayer was ultimately answered but not in the way she expected. Another result is that we can know the power of God. The place was shaken with the power of God. Yet another result is that there will be boldness for witness and mission. Jerry Golden was a tough guy incarcerated in the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola. While there he was visited by an eighty-year-old Christian businessman and was converted. After his release he founded Christian Prison Ministries. Conclusion When a church prays, something happens. It is for God and it is good.

IV. When a church prays, there are results.

The presence and the power of the Holy Spirit were with them.

What a result of prayer!

One result of prayer is that something will happen.

It may not always be like you expected it to happen, but something will happen.

God may deny the form of your request and grant to you the substance of your prayer.

Monica, the mother of St. Augustine, prayed that he would not go to Italy, but he did.

And it was there that he became converted.

Her prayer was ultimately answered but not in the way she expected.

Another result is that we can know the power of God.

The place was shaken with the power of God.

Yet another result is that there will be boldness for witness and mission.

Jerry Golden was a tough guy incarcerated in the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola.

While there he was visited by an eighty-year-old Christian businessman and was converted.

After his release he founded Christian Prison Ministries. Conclusion When a church prays, something happens. It is for God and it is good.

Crabtree, T. T.. The Zondervan 2018 Pastor's Annual (Zondervan Pastor's Annual) (p. 448). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.

Crabtree, T. T.. The Zondervan 2018 Pastor's Annual (Zondervan Pastor's Annual) (p. 448). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.

Crabtree, T. T.. The Zondervan 2018 Pastor's Annual (Zondervan Pastor's Annual) (p. 448). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.