Turning to Matthew 16.
I think I’m on. I’ve never heard a complaint about my low volume.
Now, you know these verses. We will look at part of Matthew 16, beginning in verse 13. I will not read all of this because you know it so well, but this is when the Lord turned to His own disciples and said, “Who do men say that I am?” We will focus on the latter part, verse 18.
And I also say unto thee, Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church, or assembly; and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.
This is the part we will be focusing on more today:
And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of the heavens: and whatsoever thou mayest bind on the earth shall be bound in the heavens; and whatsoever thou mayest loose on the earth shall be loosed in the heavens.
Then there is another, I think, very familiar passage in Matthew 18. Just a couple of verses. This is the portion in Matthew 18 that begins in verses 15 through 20. We will not read all of that, but the circumstances are that the Lord is explaining again about His church—the local church, I think we all know that.
This is a very particular situation where a brother has sinned against another brother and how you handle it. But then, in verse 18, after explaining something of the local church, He says:
Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
Sounds familiar, does it not? Verse 19:
Again I say unto you, that if two of you shall agree on earth concerning any matter whatsoever they shall ask, it shall come to them from My Father who is in the heavens. For where two or three are gathered together unto My name, there am I in the midst of them.
Then again in Matthew 21, verses 12 and 13:
And Jesus entered into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the money changers, and the seats of them that sold the doves.
And He saith unto them, It is written, My house shall be called a house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of robbers.
Now let us have a word of prayer.
Lord, we are so grateful that we have Your Word. Where would we be without Your written Word? And where would we be without Your spoken, living Word, rhema?
We just come to You and tell You once again: You alone have the words of eternal life. Once again, as we come into Your presence, we pray, Lord, that You would speak to us so clearly; that You would open something of the meaning of Your Word, which You alone can do by the power of the Holy Spirit; and help us to enter into the reality of what is spoken, and not merely have read it.
For we ask this today in the precious name of Jesus. Amen.
Thank you, Tim, for the water.
I think today we are concluding the basic lesson series. I am not going to make that a promise, but I think it is what I have been told. If there is another burden from someone, we may consider it. But today, this is the conclusion of the basic lessons series that John started some time ago.
Recently, our brother Jeffrey shared on the matter of personal devotion, and I think we were all encouraged by that message. Today, the burden I will be sharing is corporate prayer.
Now, some of you may not be so familiar with that term, so I will try to make it clear. Personal devotion has to do with the individual prayer life. I do not think anyone in this room doubts the importance of prayer.
Corporate prayer has to do with the church’s prayer life—the corporate us as a whole, as a body. And that, brothers and sisters, is little understood in the church of God as a whole. We need to make sure that we understand the importance the Lord Jesus placed upon it.
Prayer is the vital exercise of the individual believer. Without prayer, you will fall into a life of weakness and even ruin. In a similar way, corporate prayer is the vital exercise of the church. If we do not understand the importance of corporate prayer, we will never, in our lifetime, be part of the full accomplishing of the Lord’s purpose.
I do not think any of you doubt the importance of individual prayer. You remember the parable the Lord told in Luke 18:1-8—the parable of the unjust judge.
It says very clearly:
And He spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not faint.
To me, you do not need any more verses in the Bible to tell you how important individual prayer is before the Lord. Here is the Lord Himself speaking, and here is the Lord Himself teaching. When it comes to prayer, men ought always to pray and not faint.
Sometimes we take this parable and misunderstand the application of the unjust judge. I have often said this—and a few of you have heard me say it—this is not comparison; this is contrast.
When this widow went to the unjust judge and appealed, “Please avenge me of my adversary,” you remember what the unjust judge said: “This woman is wearing me out. Because of her continual coming and her wearing me out, maybe I will give in to her.” That is the gist of the story.
Now, I wonder: is that your idea of prayer with God? It is not at all our idea. We do not have to come to God, wear Him out, keep reminding Him, telling Him over and over, and then hope—hope—maybe He will give in to our continual calling to Him in prayer.
It is not comparison; it is contrast. Listen to the passage in Luke 18:3-5:
And there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary.
And he would not for a time: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man;
Yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she harass me.
Those are pretty strong words. How do people think the Lord was comparing God to this man? This was the unjust judge. But the Lord says, and here is the contrast:
Hear what the unjust judge saith.
And shall not God avenge His elect, which cry to Him day and night, and He beareth long as to them?
I say unto you that He will avenge them speedily.
What a difference. Think of that when you think of individual prayer. You do not have to come and sort of chase God down spiritually, twist His arm behind His back—spiritually speaking, allegorically speaking—and force Him to answer your cry in prayer. He will do that. That is the glory of personal prayer. I think it is beautiful.
Again, James 4:2:
Ye have not, because ye ask not.
How we need to ask and keep on asking. That is some of the importance of personal prayer. It is the primary connection, brothers and sisters, between man and God. This is how we connect with God. This is how we know God.
Individual prayer cannot be overestimated. Prayer itself is spoken of in the Bible some 250 times. I think, just from that, you ought to see its importance.
I often read the Psalms and think of David. Do you not think David made alive this matter of prayer in the Psalms? Did we know how to pray until we really read David’s pouring out of his heart and his passion? I think we discover the passion of prayer in David’s Psalms.
Psalm 64:1 says:
Hear my voice, O God, in my prayer:
Preserve my life from fear of the enemy.
And Psalm 65:2 gives this wonderful follow-up:
O Thou that hearest prayer,
Unto Thee shall all flesh come.
Individual devotion is absolutely important. If you neglect it, it will be to the ruin of your spiritual life. Do not ever think I am trying to eclipse what our brother said.
I remember a fellow, John Smith—not the man in Dothan, by the way, although it may be and I did not know it. I remember in history, I think it was 1794 to 1731, there was a brother in the Lord very devoted to personal prayer. His name was John Smith.
As a matter of fact, they called him “the man with calloused knees.” He gave himself so abundantly to this matter that he became known as the man with calloused knees. I wonder if it would not do us good to think about and emulate this dear brother, John Smith.
Now we must come to our subject. Corporate prayer is the subject we are dealing with. We have already said the difference: one is your individual devotion, and the other is your corporate exercise with the people of God. Both are equally, strategically important.
Most Christians in the landscape of the Christian church have never heard the phrase corporate prayer. They know a lot about individual prayer. Do not think I am just making this up, because better people than me have said this. Many know abundantly about independent, individual prayer, and that is good. But many of us have no idea about this matter of corporate prayer.
First of all, I am so thankful that we have grown up among brothers and sisters who have not only heard about this vast subject, but in some measure have entered into the reality of it.
Brothers and sisters, this is going to be more of an appeal than a teaching. I can tell you that I do not know where I would be as a Christian had I not heard words from men of God relating this matter of corporate prayer to us. I will be stronger: I do not know where we would be as an assembly or church without having heard these great matters of corporate prayer.
It changed our life. It changed my life. I can look across the faces in this room and say, “It changed your life.” We have been blessed and privileged to hear things that not every Christian gets to hear.
The unfolding of this great mystery has redirected us into something larger than ourselves. And that is what corporate prayer is.
Christians are always focused on, “Lord, You know my need,” and thank God, He never neglects our need. He makes it very clear that He knows we are but dust. He is concerned about our daily bread. He is concerned about our temptations. He is concerned about our relationships, and we always need to be clear on forgiveness. That is the heart of the Lord’s Prayer.
But, brothers and sisters, I think the unfolding of this mystery has brought us into something where the focus is not on us, but upon God’s will:
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.
That is how the Lord’s Prayer starts. Thank God He does not ignore our individual need:
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our sins.
He never forgets. But, brothers and sisters, this is the depth He has brought us into. I consider it the highest privilege.
As a young man of twenty-one years old, when I heard these messages, they captured me. They arrested me. They changed my direction. They brought me into something where I realized: it is not just about me.
In the end, although He cares for me and has given me the unfathomable riches of His grace, He is bringing you and me into something much greater and much larger. And that is corporate prayer.
I think the privilege of sitting under this ministry has indeed changed our life. Let me mention a few books to you. I am going to sell some books—not really, because I do not sell books—but I am going to mention a few books.
The first is Brother Nee’s The Prayer Ministry of the Church. You can see my old copy; it is a little beat up, and I apologize, pages are falling out. I remember, as a young assembly, when we read this, and we soaked up every word.
I wonder if the brothers and sisters, even though this exists, have even read it and contemplated this great calling to which we are called. This book changed this assembly forever. Brother Nee’s book shows that corporate prayer is the ministry of the church.
I think you all know how much we love Brother Lance Lambert. The School of Prayer—by the way, I have meant to say this, because I am selling books, and Linda will not like it—if you do not have this book, get it. If you cannot afford it, I will buy it; just do not tell Linda.
You should get this book, read it prayerfully, and consider before the Lord: are you doing all you should be doing as a believer in the body of Christ? That is the appeal.
Lance’s book is called The School of Prayer. I love that title because we never learn, you know. We never come to an end of learning. If you think you are a professor emeritus on corporate prayer, you are sadly, sadly deceived.
That is one thing, among many things—I am a little biased—that I like about UVA. They do not call anyone a senior. Old Thomas Jefferson, like him or not, tear down his statue or not, said we never arrive. You are first year, second year, third year, and never a senior; you are fourth year. We are always students in the school of prayer.
This book and our brother’s ministry changed this assembly. It gave us an understanding of the purpose of God. I sat here with you, and I heard those stories of those little old ladies in Egypt, Sister Ogle, and how he would speak about Rees Howells the intercessor. Those stories captured us and made us see this grand mystery of corporate prayer.
The last book is Teach Us to Pray, associated with Brother Stephen Kaung. He did not write this book, by the way. But these are forty-one lessons given at the beginning of every prayer meeting for consecutive weeks when he was here.
These forty-one lessons changed this assembly. These were fifteen-minute messages where we began to learn to pray. Just as the disciple came to the Lord Jesus and said, “Teach us to pray,” that is where the title is borrowed from.
We learned something of this great universe and ministry of corporate prayer. Well, you get the burden, I hope. I will give some lessons because we are giving lessons, but I hope to reignite this fire and desire in us to learn how to pray together even more intensely, corporately.
This is my fear: I believe, in some ways, we are losing the focus. In some ways, we are losing the fire. If God in His mercy can show us the great thing that is in His heart and bring us into the experience of it—not merely understanding it—then we can make a difference in God’s purpose.
I will tell you quickly some of my own experience. You know this, and I say it only to help those who may be in a similar situation. I am a businessman. Some people might not consider me a very good businessman, but nevertheless, I am a businessman.
Yet, when I began to pray one evening in preparation for the corporate prayer meeting, the Lord impressed me with such urgency that the business I was doing that night was heavenly business. It was the most important business I had done all week.
Because of that impression, even though my schedule and demands were great, I determined before the Lord that I would never miss, when I was in town, the gathering of the saints in the corporate prayer meeting.
Now, I am not going to shame you. I hope to inspire you. But, brothers and sisters, I remember as clearly as day that night I was praying, and the Lord spoke to me and said, “This is the most important business you are doing.”
I wonder if we are all so much alike. We all say, “When I get a little older, I will have time. When I retire, I will have time. When my family grows up, I will have time. When I get through my education, start my career, and get on some sound footing, I will have time.”
I think we are the people who say, “I will have time.” But time runs out, and we do not give ourselves to the most important priorities in God’s Word.
We are a little like the one who said to the Lord, “Let me go and bury my father.” Who would deny such a request? If you came to me, I would be going with you to help you. But the Lord said:
Let the dead bury the dead.
I think it is one of the hardest sayings of the Lord Jesus. Did He not care about this man’s loss? Did He not care about his grief? I think He is saying to us that in life there are legitimate priorities that can and often will eclipse what He has called us to. We must pay attention to what He has called us to.
Ever since that night of praying, I have felt convicted and convinced that I will gather with the saints. Although I am such a poor student, I will continue to learn in the school of prayer.
We are going to look at three areas. That is the appeal, by the way, in case you did not get it. Do you want me to repeat it? The lessons we need to learn have been the subject of conferences, multiple messages, and multiple series. We will not cover much as far as lessons go, but we should cover some.
We want to look at three things:
Corporate prayer, unlike the all-important individual prayer, is the prayer of the church. It is the ministry of the church. If we are not involved as the people of God in this ministry of the church, we are not fulfilling the ministry of the church.
You may think that is too strong. I happen to think it is not too strong, and I believe it with all my heart. It is a corporate gathering of the Lord’s body, praying, “God’s will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
It is not confined to a certain place and a certain time, but the Lord made it absolutely clear in Matthew 18 that it is wherever two or three are gathered in His name. Brothers and sisters, do not use that as an excuse not to gather with the saints on Wednesday. When we come together on Wednesday night, we are together as the assembly that gathers here, meeting for the purpose of corporate prayer.
Let me give you one testimony. You remember dear Brother Fontaine Bowles. He loved to do the announcements, but he often could not get through half of them. He was a little like me when it came to emotions—he had too many of them.
When Brother Fontaine stood up, do you remember how he would appeal every time and say, “Corporate prayer meeting”? We never put that thought in his mind and said, “Fontaine, you ought to say everybody, one in every family, be there.” Fontaine knew the importance of it.
He would say, “Let one from every family be gathered there.” He told me, sometimes on long rides together, how the Lord had shown him the importance of corporate prayer.
It used to be that bowling was important to Fontaine, and softball was very important to him. I am not against bowling and softball, although I am not good at either one. But then, through the patient love of a wife who travailed for him, he saw the importance of prayer.
When he was set free from the obligation that kept him from prayer, he determined in his heart that he would never miss a corporate prayer meeting if there was anything he could do about it. That is a brother I want to emulate.
The principle of corporate prayer is seen in the two sections we read in Matthew 16 and Matthew 18.
I think it has to be striking to you that the only two times the Lord Jesus directly spoke about the church were in Matthew 16, concerning the universal church, and Matthew 18, concerning the local assembly. In both instances, He ended with the same concluding thought: the importance of corporate prayer.
Think about it. When the Lord was teaching on His church, He could have ended with any thought. There are many things He could have taught on—the gospel, for instance. How important is the gospel? He could have spoken about a zillion things. But it is more than curious; it is absolutely important that we see that the two times the Lord spoke directly about the church, He used almost identical words concerning this very thing:
Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven;
And whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
He said this to Peter. Some people think that was a privilege given to Peter. It was not a privilege given to Peter; it was a privilege given to the church. It was a principle for the church.
He said to Peter, “I give you the keys.” He said, “I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” Then He brought in this overarching, concluding thought: what is important in the church, in the end, is corporate prayer.
I do not think there is any mistaking that. I do not think you can read Matthew 16 and come to any other conclusion. I do not think you can read Matthew 18 and come to any other conclusion.
I know Matthew 18 starts sort of messy in the local church, but I want to tell you a secret: the local church is messy. It is difficult to be built together. There are challenges. We get offended. Our toes get stepped on. And, believe it or not, a brother sins against a brother—not to say that a sister does not sin against a sister every now and again.
There are problems in the church. But in the end, He came down to focus on that exact same thing. It is as if the Lord is saying to His people, “This is what is important in the church.”
Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven;
And whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
What does this mean? I remember as a young believer, before I heard these ministries on corporate prayer, I thought, “What is the Lord talking about?” Have you ever thought this was confusing? What does He mean when He says that whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven?
In Matthew 18, when He came to the conclusion concerning the local assembly, He said:
Again I say unto you, that if two of you shall agree on earth concerning any matter whatsoever they shall ask, it shall come to them from My Father who is in the heavens.
For where two or three are gathered together unto My name, there am I in the midst of them.
Brothers and sisters, this is of striking and supreme importance. When the Lord spoke about the church, this was His concluding thought. We talked a little while ago about the importance of individual devotion. This is the importance of corporate prayer.
The Lord had those moments with His own when He was finally revealing what His church would be like, and this was the thing He was compelled to leave for eternity. I think it shows what the Lord was after.
There is another incident: the cleansing of the temple. I think you are all familiar with it. The only problem I have is with people who think it was one event. It was not one event; it was two events.
There was one event at the beginning of the Lord’s earthly ministry, recorded in John 2. Then there was another event near the closing of His earthly ministry, recorded in the Synoptic Gospels. These are the two cleansings, and I think they are very instructive concerning corporate prayer.
At the beginning of His ministry, He saw the sellers of doves, the money changers, and all of that. He made a whip of cords, chased out the money changers, and overturned the tables. My, oh my—the Lord should pray about temper, do you not think? Sorry, Mari. I know it.
But the Lord showed righteous anger at that moment. The disciples were so moved by the incident that they recalled:
The zeal of Thine house devoureth Me.
I think this first incident regarding the house of God on earth has to do with His passion for the house. Now this is my question to you: do you have a passion for the Lord’s house? Do you really think of it?
I often say to the Lord, “Lord, do I really have a passion for You? Do I love Thy dwelling place? Do I long to dwell in the courts of the Lord, to be even a gatekeeper, like the Psalmist said?”
Here is One who truly had a passion for His house. When you come to Matthew 21, there is the second cleansing. The circumstances are almost the same. He overturns the tables, runs them out, and says this striking word:
My house shall be called a house of prayer;
But ye have made it a den of robbers.
Think of that, brothers and sisters. It is the same as Matthew 16 and Matthew 18. The Lord could have said anything. “My house is a house of love.” We would have agreed with it. “My house is a house of righteousness.” He could have said any number of appropriate things.
But what was burning on the Lord’s heart when He was on the earth was to find His own who would understand: “My house shall be called a house of prayer.” To me, that is the purpose of the house.
At the first cleansing, we see the passion for the house. At the second cleansing, we see the very purpose and calling of the house. That is the matter we are dealing with today.
I think in the Old Testament we see some of these same thoughts carried through. I think the same purpose was in God’s heart from the creation of man.
You remember in Genesis 1:26 where He created man in His own image. I like the way Darby handles this. He has “man” first in lowercase, and then “Man” afterward, capitalized. In other words, God did not merely want to create a race of human beings. God was looking for the corporate Man.
That corporate vessel consists of man and woman. It is not merely Adam, but man and woman made in His image to do His business. He gave them an instruction in the garden: they were to till and guard.
I happen to think that is exactly what corporate prayer is. We come, we pray, and we guard what is of the Lord. We till what is of the Lord, and we hope to bring it to fruit by pronouncing what He has said and declaring that His will be done.
In the earliest phase of creation, He set forth His purpose in looking for a corporate vessel that would do His will—to till and to guard. He said something else: “You are to have dominion.”
Brothers and sisters, that is what I think corporate prayer is. It is taking dominion in the name of the Lord. In the end, He would have dominion over all things. Somehow, in the mystery of His purpose, He has chosen you and me to be the vessels who proclaim that and bring it forth. I do not know that I will ever take all that in.
I remember Luke 10. The Lord gave the disciples power, and they went and cast out demons. They came back and said, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us.” He said the strangest thing, something that seems totally out of context:
I beheld Satan fallen as lightning from heaven.
What does that mean? It means that man—that vessel, that new Man in Christ, the church—is to take dominion, and to till and guard. When He sees them taking dominion, He knows His purpose of Satan being defeated will be done.
I will never forget when Stephen told us some years ago that the Lord was going to use man to defeat the enemy. Is that not amazing? Can you take that in?
The Lord could, with a wave of His hand or a spoken word, say, “Be gone,” and Satan would be gone. Yet He is so devoted to His purpose in raising up this new Man in Christ—the church, Head and body joined—and giving them this responsibility of corporate prayer, that they would be involved in the very bringing down and defeat of Satan.
It is amazing. That is the foreshadowing.
I think of Isaiah 59:16:
And He saw that there was no man,
And wondered that there was no intercessor.
Do you not sense what is behind that? That same pain: “This is what you were made for.” He looked across the landscape of humanity and wondered—He wondered out loud, and put it in the prophet’s thoughts—that He saw no intercessor.
Isaiah 21:11-12 says:
The burden of Dumah.
One calleth unto me out of Seir, Watchman, what of the night?
Watchman, what of the night?
The watchman said, The morning cometh, and also the night: if ye will inquire, inquire ye: return, come.
I believe that is the heart of the Lord. He is looking for watchmen—Watchmen with a capital W. He is looking for that vessel that will be His watchman. The one thing He is after in that vessel is that they inquire. That they inquire, “What is Your will?” and pray His will into being.
Then Isaiah 62:6:
I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem; they shall never hold their peace day nor night: ye that put the Lord in remembrance.
Is that not a remarkable verse? To me, that is the definition of corporate prayer: “Ye that put the Lord in remembrance.”
These watchmen, this corporate vessel, are to do this one task: put Him in remembrance. It is not that we do what we think He will do. It is that we implore Him concerning what He has already said He will do. We merely put Him in remembrance.
To me, that is the principle of corporate prayer, and this is the privilege of corporate prayer: that you and I together can be those watchmen; that we can be that vessel together with the redeemed of the Lord, part of that corporate assembly, which can put Him in remembrance.
This is the incredible principle, and this is the awesome privilege. Can you imagine?
Now, the power of corporate prayer. Do not ever underestimate the power of corporate prayer. We absolutely need to see it.
He said:
Whatsoever ye bind on earth shall be bound in heaven.
And whatsoever ye loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
And whatsoever you ask in His name, it will be done. Brothers and sisters, to me, that is the power of corporate prayer. It is the most powerful weapon on earth.
I shared recently on a Wednesday night about weapons of mass destruction. We were praying about North Korea—that little madman, pardon me if you are a fan of his—that little madman in North Korea who is threatening the whole world and bringing them into war with his nuclear arsenal that we so lovingly allowed him to acquire.
Then we talked about weapons and prayer. We looked at Ephesians 6 and saw the weapons, the panoply of God, the whole armor of God. But when you get to the end of that list of incredibly defensive, powerful weaponry, you get to the real essence of the power.
Ephesians 6:10-18 concludes:
Praying at all seasons, with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints;
And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, in opening my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the glad tidings.
Prayer—that was the essential thing he wanted to get to. Brothers and sisters, we have been granted by the Lord Himself the most powerful weapon ever known.
It is more powerful than Kim Jong Un’s weapons, more powerful than United States weapons, more powerful than anything that can be conceived, because the weapon of corporate prayer is able to change the very destiny of the earth, not merely blow a hole in an isolated place.
This is the power of corporate prayer—great power.
Brother Nee said this concerning binding and loosing in The Prayer Ministry of the Church. I remember the impact it had upon me years ago. He asked, “What is the characteristic of this verse?” Then he said:
The peculiar point here is that the action on earth precedes the action in heaven. Not that heaven binds first, but earth binds first. Not that heaven looses first, but earth looses first. Since the earth has already bound it, heaven will also bind it. Since the earth has loosed it, heaven will loose it.
This statement is inscribed in my memory. He went on and made the most profound statement: “For the earth governs heaven.”
Think of it. Brothers and sisters, as a young Christian I could hardly take that in. I said, “No, it cannot mean that. Surely heaven governs earth. Surely Brother Nee did not get it right.” But I think he did.
The Lord has entrusted to His own the greatest, most powerful, most incredible weapon ever known in the universe. That is the power of this.
I always think of Exodus 17. You remember the battle with Amalek and the children of Israel. There are two scenes. There is a battle in the valley—Amalek against Joshua and the children of Israel. Then, up on the hill, Moses went with the staff of God.
I think the staff of God is corporate prayer. Moses would raise that staff, and when he raised it, Joshua and the children of Israel would overcome Amalek. When his hands grew tired and drooped down, Amalek prevailed.
Then something tremendous happened. Aaron and Hur came up to the mountain. One stood on one side and the other on the other side, and they lifted Moses’ hands with the staff. The staff never again failed.
Brothers and sisters, that is a lesson on corporate prayer. It is too big for any one of us, no matter how important we may be in the scheme of God. Moses was pretty important in the economy of God; you have to give me some slack there. But Moses alone was not enough.
You alone are not enough. Stephen alone is not enough. Lance alone is not enough. There must be three—two or three. That is what the Lord said in Matthew 18. And they prevailed.
This is the lesson: it is not what happens in the valley; it is what happens on the hill that matters. That is the lesson of corporate prayer.
Some people say, “What are those people thinking, gathering to pray, lifting up their voices to heaven, making these pronouncements? What on earth are they thinking?” We are controlling the battle.
What is done on the hill is what determines the victory. You get it? Brothers and sisters, that is the power of corporate prayer.
I think of Ezekiel 36:37-38:
Thus saith the Lord God; I will yet for this be inquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for them; I will increase them with men like a flock.
As the holy flock, as the flock of Jerusalem in her appointed feasts, so shall the waste cities be filled with flocks of men: and they shall know that I am the Lord.
Notice what He says: “I will be inquired of by the house of Israel to do it.” We think we are doing it. He says, “I will be inquired of … to do it.” He is the One who does it. Do not ever think so much of yourself that you are the one who does it.
He will do it, brothers and sisters. All we have to do is come and inquire. This is the power of corporate prayer.
I remember another verse as a young believer. I know there are people who take extraordinary exception to this verse, and you are welcome to. I happen to believe it in its entirety. It is Isaiah 45:11:
Thus saith the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker: Ask Me of things to come concerning My sons, and concerning the work of My hands command ye Me.
I think that is incredible. Brother Nee saw that with revelation. That is what the power of corporate prayer is. We are to inquire of Him concerning the work of His hands. Once we know His will, it is not that we do it, but we are to declare it.
We are to command Him. It is an incredible thought. I believe you can only understand it in the context of corporate prayer. Anything else would be a wrong understanding.
You may wonder about the power of corporate prayer. I will tell you a little story. There was recently a movie out, Dunkirk—the Battle of Dunkirk in World War II. I actually went to that movie. I had not been to a movie in I do not know when; I think they were not even talkies when I last went.
I was invited by a brother, and I did not want to offend him, so I went. I was glad I went, actually. It was quite inspirational.
The whole of Dunkirk, and probably the whole of World War II, turned on the power of corporate prayer. The whole British army at Dunkirk was on the beaches, sitting ducks—three hundred thousand men against the sea.
One writer said it was like the miracle of the Red Sea, when the children of Israel were against the Red Sea and pursued by the Egyptian army.
King George VI issued a proclamation and said, “Let this Sunday be a day of prayer”—unparalleled prayer—“and let us stand for God’s will.” That is what the king of England did.
The strangest thing happened. It was not so much a religious country in many ways, but the streets and the lines to get into those cathedrals and chapels were filled. When they gathered with this single intent to pray, the power of corporate prayer was realized.
What happened was a true miracle. Eight hundred vessels—fishing boats, little boats, bigger boats, not military vessels but civilian vessels—went to the beaches of Dunkirk and saved the British army intact.
It probably changed World War II. We might all be speaking German, and you would have my heritage.
Brothers and sisters, that is the power of prayer.
The practice of corporate prayer is essential. It is not enough merely to understand the privilege and the principle, as great as they are. It is not enough to contemplate the great power of corporate prayer alone.
It is absolutely essential that we, as the children of God, enter into the reality of corporate prayer and experience corporate prayer practically.
I know people who can tell you everything that is in that book. I know people who can wax eloquent about corporate prayer, but I hardly ever see them. I wonder: are they deceiving themselves?
Does not God, in the end, look across the whole spectrum of man for this vessel? If they understood that, they would be compelled, no matter their schedule or commitments, to gather together in His name.
The practice is what is important. Let me list a few things. Study these books and meditate on them.
First, the importance of gathering. I think I have already said that. I have some people I love who qualify this matter of gathering. I agree with them if they are saying that you are replacing your real life with Christ with a visible life in the assembly. I am one hundred percent in agreement with them.
You never replace the individual prayer life with a corporate prayer life. If you are not praying, you need to be praying.
But, having said that, can you doubt what the Lord meant when He said, “Wherever two or three are gathered in My name”? Absolutely, He had it on His heart that we should gather.
For those who say gathering is not important, I will be as kind as I know how to be—and Linda will tell you that is not too kind—do not listen to them. It is a deception.
I qualify that only by saying: if they are seeing people who are replacing the true Christian life with a public Christian life, they are right on.
Second, the determinate will of God. Corporate prayer is not the expression of your will and my will. We do not come together, put all of our prayer requests in a basket like a potluck dinner, and call that corporate prayer.
Corporate prayer has the single purpose that the determinate will of God would be done. That phrase occurs, as far as I know, in Acts 2:23. It speaks of the Lord Jesus, who was crucified according to the determinate counsel, or will, of God by evil men.
There is a determinate will in the universe. Corporate prayer comes together to determine, together, what that determinate will is. Once they know what that determinate will is, they pronounce it. That is corporate prayer in practice.
It is not, “You pray what you want to pray. Aaron, pray about Sue. Kenny, pray about something else. Jerry, you pray about something else.” We are together for a much bigger purpose: to discover the determinate counsel of God in a matter and then pray it through to conclusion.
Third, praying in one accord. There is not a more important phrase in the book of Acts than this phrase: one accord. It occurs eleven times. It starts at Pentecost: they gathered and prayed in one accord.
When we come together, we must pray in one accord. That means you and I have to lay down our own ideas and thoughts. We have to commit ourselves to Him so that we can pray together, not in a fragmented, scattered way with all of our various ideas.
To pray in one accord is the key to the testimony of Jesus in Acts.
Fourth, we need to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit. Some people say, “Your prayer meeting is not open because some people give direction.” Do not mistake direction for failing to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit.
I happen to appreciate what some brothers have said in their times of opening. It has helped me greatly. But in the end, if you notice, we open it up to praying as the Holy Spirit leads us.
The Bible tells us in Romans 8 that we do not know how to pray as we ought, but He has given the Spirit. If we come together and submit ourselves to His headship—the Head of the church, the Conductor of the symphony—the Holy Spirit will lead us so that we can pray according to the Spirit.
That is how we are to pray.
Lastly, the Lord had one word at the end of His earthly ministry, and He said it on several occasions:
Watch and pray.
Why did He say that? The first time, I think, was Gethsemane. He took the three with Him, hoping they would enter with Him into a moment of prayer in His darkest hour.
He said, “You wait here and pray with Me. I will go a little farther and pray.” And they fell asleep. You remember that the Lord came back three times. What did He say to them?
The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.
Brothers and sisters, this is a hindrance to prayer. We really need the Lord to help us. The Lord is looking for a group that He wants to take into communion with Him and exercise in corporate prayer, and they could not.
We need to do battle with our own flesh. We need to say no. I know that is not popular. Linda will tell you the hardest word that comes out of my mouth is “no.” She says, “You cannot say it. Please start saying it.”
Everybody calls, and I say, “Yes, of course. You want me to go here? Yes, of course. Will you help me do this? Absolutely.” Then I hang up the phone, and the first thing I hear is, “You cannot say no.”
Will you say no to the flesh? It demands you. Give yourself to this ministry of corporate prayer.
The Lord also said, “Watch and pray,” and do not let the cares of this life overtake you. Brothers and sisters, life is full of cares—absolutely full of cares. They will overtake you. They will take everything they can take out of you.
But if you miss this one thing the Lord is after, what have you missed? Have you gained the world and lost your soul?
He said, “Watch and pray,” that the surfeiting of this life will not overtake you.
Well, that is the burden. You can tell it is more of an appeal, more of an exhortation, than a teaching. But I believe we need to hear it.
Let me end with one thing Lance said. There could not be a matter more strategically vital to the church than this matter of corporate prayer. Nothing is more strategically important than corporate prayer.
Then he said this, and I think it is a warning for the days we live in:
In the days that lie ahead, during the last phase of world history, we shall need to know how to pray together, and how to pray through a matter.
Let us give ourselves again to this great calling. May the Lord light a fire in us, that we will be burdened and respond in this way.
Lord, we commit these thoughts to You and pray that the Holy Spirit would make clear what we could not make clear.
We pray in the name of Jesus that You would lead us again, as a company of Your own, to understand greatly this matter—its principle, the great privilege, and the enormous power.
But, Lord, do not leave us there. Bring us into the practice of it, that it may be something we do and give ourselves to do, and that Your will may be done.
May we be among those who hasten the coming of the Lord.
In Jesus’ name.