Why Pray Aloud Together?
Why should I pray aloud with someone else? Doesn't Jesus Himself say "Enter into thy closet, and pray to thy Father which is in secret?"
Yes, Jesus did say this. And "Why should I pray aloud with someone else?" could very well be the question you are asking. I am aware that so far we have seemed to emphasize group prayer, but all that has been said may apply to our personal devotions as well. There are many reasons for this emphasis on praying together which I shall continue to share; but I do understand your question about the necessity of praying with others.
Jesus taught us to go into our closets and pray to our Father in secret. Have you read the verses that go with this one? You will find them in Matthew 6:1-14. Jesus is warning us against praying for the approval of others, and telling us that there is only One to whom we should pray.
Since you object to praying with others because of Jesus' words, "Enter into your closet" do you then deeply desire to keep His words? And do you often enter into your closet and pray in secret? And do you find new life and new love through meeting Him there?
I know these are pointed questions, but unless we are honest with ourselves here, we can go on and on, missing the wonder the Lord Jesus has for us.
Almost every real revelation about Himself and His will has come to me after He has broken down some barrier which has been erected. Erected in simple self-defense or
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fear. Erected because of environment or background. It is quite possible that these barriers are among the "mountains" about which the Lord Jesus speaks in Mark 11:23, "Whoever says to this mountain, 'Be taken up and thrown into the sea!' and entertains no inner doubt, but believes that what he says will happen, it shall be so for him" (Berkeley).
We shall talk more about removing "mountains" in the chapter on faith-sized requests. However, we can look at some of them right here, honestly and openly, and we can begin to see them disintegrate and slip away into the "sea." The mountain of fear exists mainly behind closed doors of aloneness. Open the door, share with others, and the chances are you will look in vain for your "mountain."
Jesus did teach us to go into our closets and pray to our Father in secret, because He knows that when we shut out everyone else and concentrate on being with Him, on being conscious of Him, our heart-wounds are healed and we are made whole. There, alone in the quietness, He can speak to us and comfort us and guide us and pour His fresh life and love into us. Praying is like eating; you must eat for yourself, no one else can do it for you.
But Jesus Christ also taught us to pray together and to say, "Our Father which art in heaven." This is the only entire prayer He gave us. Yet He made many references to prayer.
He said: "Keep on asking and it will be given you." "Whatever you ask for in prayer, believe — trust and be confident — that it is granted to you, and you will [get it]." "— I Myself will grant — whatever you may ask in My name." "Ask and keep on asking and you will receive, so that your joy (gladness, delight) may be full and complete" (Matthew 7:7; Mark 11:24; John 14:13; 16:24, Amplified).
More than any other teaching Jesus gave us on prayer, I think I love the one Matthew recorded in chapter 18, verses 19 and 20, and the surrounding verses. Before writ-
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ing this chapter I read them again from seven different versions and translations: King James, Revised Standard, Amplified New Testament, Berkeley, Lamsa, Phillips and Williams. They all throw new light on Matthew 18:19, 20 but I want to quote from the direct, simple Williams' translation: "Again, I tell you, if only two of you on earth agree on what they pray for, they will get it from my Father in heaven. For wherever two or three have met as my disciples, I am right there with them."
Why pray together? Because Jesus promised that when two of His disciples (that means us today) meet to pray, He will be there with them. Our risen, living Lord said and meant what He said: "I am there, right among them" (Phillips). "There am I in the midst of them" (King James). In a particular way, in a particular promise, He is present. I have experienced it again and again, and so can you.
Why pray together?
Because Jesus knows that the problems of life press in upon us when we are alone until the spirit is almost broken; the mind refuses to accept reality and so escapes into a world of its own. Burdens shared become lighter. "Bear one another's burdens," said Paul. Before I learned the secret of prayer together, I thought that my burdens were greater than anyone else's burdens. Now I know they aren't and now I know a way to help instead of always wanting to be helped.
Why pray together?
Because as we pray the Spirit of our Lord has our attention. He is always conscious of us, but we need to focus our attention and our consciousness upon Him. Then He can whisper to us the love plans He has for us. Sometimes these directions come to two or more persons in the group at the same time. We find ourselves in total agreement in all that we are asking. This leaves no room for wavering, for double-mindedness or for doubt. We have agreed in His presence, and He Himself has given us that agreement.
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Why pray together?
Because His great heart of love longs and yearns to give us all that we need, whether that need is spiritual, mental, emotional, physical or material. I believe He gives us all He can give, without our direct asking; but when we are consciously in His presence He softens our hearts and our minds, and we find ourselves being changed and enabled to receive. When we pray together we become bold and honest, and ask for things we never intended asking for at all.
Why pray together?
Praying with other people gives us new sisters and new brothers in Christ. The more we pray with other people the more we begin to trust them, and the more honest we all can be about our personal needs. Self-consciousness drops away and we can pray about our real problems, not just surface ones. Genuine "togetherness" is a God-given state, and hearts are joined in His presence. We can depend upon that presence because He has said, "I am right there with them."
If all this and more is waiting for us when we pray with one another and with Him, why is it that so few persons today meet to pray together? We spend hours in time-consuming pleasant conversation. We talk for an hour on the telephone. We all know how to talk. And we talk. Why then do we find so many excuses not to talk with the Lord Jesus, and with each other in His presence?
Even though we practice it little, we believe in prayer and we want to know more about prayer. We want to know more about the simplicity of praying. In a survey conducted on "Sermons America Wants to Hear" by This Week magazine, the number one choice was: "How Can I Make Prayer More Effective?" The results of this poll are no surprise to me. Everywhere I go I find a growing interest in prayer.
At this writing, I have just returned from a Michigan
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church where we held pre-Easter meetings. My associate, Eugenia Price, brought the evening message. The pastor wanted an invitation following the message, but was afraid the people wouldn't go along with it.
This plan came to our minds while Genie and I were actually praying together: She would announce an "after-service" in which I would give simple instruction on prayer, using material from this book. We felt that only those with real needs would come. The first night I set out ten chairs in the room adjoining the church sanctuary. To our amazement, seventy persons crowded into that room! It was the same night after night. Many of them had never prayed aloud and did not particularly want to pray aloud in front of anyone else. But most of the people did pray — simply, honestly and directly from their hearts.
During the week we were there, families which had never prayed together before began to speak to God conversationally in their homes. A regular church prayer meeting has begun again at the request of the people and the minister. Comfort and togetherness were given to lonely hearts. We left with the certainty that things have only just begun to happen in that Michigan church.
I was more convinced than ever that people do want to pray, and all that is needed is simple instruction at the personal level, and an opportunity to pray. We don't learn how to pray in six easy lessons, we learn to pray by praying.
But, you say, I am not in that Michigan community, and there is no group of people in my church or town with whom I can pray. Then begin to "ask" for someone with whom you can pray. Ask and believe that God can and will give you at least one person with whom you may pray aloud.
Maybe you still have an unconscious block about praying aloud, which will not yield. In the first five chapters of this book we have already talked about many of the problems concerning praying aloud. Perhaps it will help
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you to look at them again. One of them is bound to be yours:
Chapter 1. Self-defense, what others think, wanting the approval of others, wanting to be "spiritual," fear of imperfection in praying, fear of weeping.
Chapter 2. Long wearisome prayers, stilted in language and static in content, uncreative and without life.
Chapter 3. The language barrier, the King James tongue twisters, that far-awayness of God because you may think He cannot appreciate English as it is spoken today.
Chapter 4. The haziness of your concept of the Triune God. It is difficult to pray to a God you do not know. Prayer to the Father may seem stiff and formal because you fail to understand the identity of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Chapter 5. The impossibility of speaking intimately (as in prayer) to One with whom we have no relationship. Perhaps your need is to invite Him into your heart, to make a definite commitment of yourself to Him, to believe in Him personally, and to believe that He is a Person whom you can trust.
All the above problems are answered in each of the chapters mentioned. At least they are answered in a way that helped me, and opened the way for me to approach God through Jesus Christ.
The real basis for not wanting to pray with someone else (aside from not wanting to answer the call of the Good Shepherd and come under His authority and His care) is usually human pride. Pride is the basis of all self-consciousness, which in turn is one of the products of being a so-called adult. Children pray easily without self-conflict or self-consciousness. Jesus taught us that we must become like little children to enter, and to live within, the Kingdom of Heaven. As adults we become aware of ourselves and our real or imagined abilities, and will go to any lengths to erect defenses to keep from exposing ourselves as we are.
Do you really want to learn to pray with others? Do
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you recognize what it is that is holding you back? Then you are "on the way" and it is the Good Shepherd Himself who is leading you.
Anyone who belongs to Jesus Christ, confessing Him as Lord and Saviour, can be delivered from fear of praying in public. The first step is to ask Him to deliver you from this fear. Read II Timothy 1:7. "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." Let us ask and receive the gifts He has for us, and refuse all else, in the power of His Name.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, in his book, Life Together (Harpers) helped me tremendously. I defeat my purpose for instance, if I pat myself on the back after I pray aloud, and say to myself, "My, you certainly prayed a good prayer that time!"
A prayer life full of self-conceit and pride would rise no higher than the top of my head, and certainly there would be no unconscious outreach in love to my brother or sister in that prayer group. I would be thinking only of making a good impression, and the unconscious result of such an attitude both upon myself and upon others would leave little room for love.
Go ahead and stumble in your prayers, go ahead and cry. Out of your very weakness your brother is made strong. Out of your own weakness you are made strong by Christ. Out of the inadequacy of your prayer, the inability to express yourself, the shame of your tears, and the urgency of your need, you meet the Saviour who understands you. You are comforted and your brother is strengthened. Out of this weakness your brother, hearing and observing that you are in no better state than he, becomes strong. He is encouraged by your so-called failures that he, too, may meet the Lord in his weakness.
If I pray a "spiritual" sounding, well-padded prayer of which I am proud, who is helped by it? Neither I nor my brother.
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Wherever two or three are gathered together, said Jesus, I am right there with them.
Wherever two or three are gathered with the Lord, there He is, with all His love revealed and exposed. How? In and by and through one another. And where there is love there is healing. Wherever Jesus Christ is present eternal love is present. When my attention is turned toward Him, and my prayer directed to Him, then His love heals my heart, and I am ready to pray, in love, for my brother or my sister.
For wherever two or three have met as my disciples,
I am right there with them (Williams).
Chapter Seven || Table of Contents
