A Community that Prays

And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers (Acts 2.42)

Over the past 4 months, we have shared numerous “prayer requests” with praying friends. We’ve seen God answer many of these prayers in visible and dramatic ways – such as healing and physical recovery; but we’ve also seen God give us patience and grace to trust him when our prayers are not visibly answered. Either way, God responds and intervenes in our lives.

For many Christians, a “prayer request” is a familiar term – it represents a request that the community of believers ask God to act behalf of a person or a situation. Prayer is a Christian community effort. It is more than a “hope” or “keeping someone in our thoughts.” A community “prayer request” assumes that God is alive, and wants to act in daily or real-life situations.

Asking for “prayer requests” is an ancient practice in the Christian Church. Just a quick review of the scriptures will reveal that the early church had a habit of praying as a community. It was something they were devoted to: And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers (Acts 2.42) Here are just three examples of how Christ’s community prays.

1. With expectancy. After hearing about Peter’s unjust imprisonment, the church gathered and prayed for Peter’s release. “Peter was kept in prison, but earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church.” (Acts 12.5) And after an evening of “earnest prayer,” the Lord opened the prison doors, and Peter was escorted out of prison by an angel of the Lord. That was a practical answer to prayer; miracles are always practical and personal. Community prayer is active and expectant; we can expect the Lord to answer our community’s prayers in personal and practical ways.

2. With perseverance. In Paul’s well-known description of spiritual warfare, he concludes his admonition with a reminder about community prayer: With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints. (Ephesians 6.18)  Strapping on the “armor of God” is just the first step of engaging in spiritual work or warfare; praying at all times with perseverance for all the saints is the day-to-day work we share.

3. Keeping alert. This common prayer life seems to more than a ritual or rote; it was a heart-felt habit, a practice that was necessary for the common good of the fellowship. Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving (Colossians 4.2) “Keeping alert in it” is what watchmen and tower guards do; they are watching and looking and maintaining a readiness to act. Prayer is an active effort of preparing our hearts and mind to respond to God. Prayer is our role that we play in the larger drama of God’s work and purposes.

What does this mean to you and me? We can bring our requests to God in the same way: with expectancy that he will act; with perseverance when we don’t need see immediate results; and with keeping alert in our prayer, knowing we are part of a larger drama.