Prayer

A. From the above we see that a deep commitment to prayer is part of New Testament Christianity. Every disciple Jesus is called to abide in Jesus through a lifestyle of constant prayer.

B. However, from the Scriptures we also learn that a commitment to prayer has manifold outward expressions in terms of prayer formats, group dynamics, and organization. Outward forms, formats, and expressions of prayer can vary according to calling (individual or corporate), divine mandates, circumstances, and culture.

C. King David, the Apostle Paul, and Anna were all deeply committed to prayer.

Psalms 17:6 (NIV)

I call on you, O God, for you will answer me; give ear to me and hear my prayer.

Luke 2:36-37 (NIV)

³⁶ There was also a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, ³⁷ and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying.

2 Timothy 1:3 (NIV)

I thank God, whom I serve, as my forefathers did, with a clear conscience, as night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers.

D. Question: Which of these three do you think was the most committed to prayer?

E. David, Paul, and Anna were and will always be part of the “house of prayer” in their identity. However, prayer found expression differently in their lives according to their different callings. From a foundation of prayer, David ruled a nation. From a foundation of prayer, Paul went to the nations. His prayer furnace was often a prison cell. Anna sat night and day at the Lord’s feet in the temple as her full-time calling. As part of their life of prayer David and Paul often visited and prayed in the temple, but then left and continued functioning as a house of prayer outside of the literal temple complex. But Anna was called in a full-time way to an actual place of prayer. Through her lifestyle of prayer and fasting, she built a sacred space where people could meet with God in fellowship and intimacy.

F. We should be careful not to judge others if their life of prayer finds expression through different means and venues than our own. Sometimes there can be unnecessary confusion, hurt, and misunderstanding caused when people confuse the value of and commitment to prayer (normal Christianity and applicable on a general basis) with a particular outward form of prayer (more diverse and calling-dependent). For example, I have observed a lot of hurt and misunderstanding between marketplace people, missions people, and house of prayer people (e.g. story of my friend – “Your purpose is to fund us.”) This often springs from a failure to trust the Spirit’s leadership in the lives of others as much as we trust His leadership in our own (loving our neighbors as ourselves). Sometimes it springs from pride, insecurities, defensiveness, and faulty paradigms. We need to trust Jesus’ leadership in the church.

Romans 14:4 (NIV)

⁴ Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.

1 Corinthians 7:17-24 (ESV)

¹⁷ Only let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him, and to which God has called him. This is my rule in all the churches. ¹⁸ Was anyone at the time of his call already circumcised? Let him not seek to remove the marks of circumcision. Was anyone at the time of his call uncircumcised? Let him not seek circumcision. ¹⁹ For neither circumcision counts for anything nor uncircumcision, but keeping the commandments of God. ²⁰ Each one should remain in the condition in which he was called. ²¹ Were you a slave when called? Do not be concerned about it. (But if you can gain your freedom, avail yourself of the opportunity.) ²² For he who was called in the Lord as a slave is a freedman of the Lord. Likewise he who was free when called is a slave of Christ. ²³ You were bought with a price; do not become slaves of men. ²⁴ So, brothers, in whatever condition each was called, there let him remain with God.

G. Having said this, there are also times and circumstances in which God wants all of His people – irrespective of what He calls Paul, David, or Anna to put their hands to outside of the “temple”– to stop everything they are doing in order to gather for corporate prayer with a solemn and sober spirit.

Joel 2:1-17 (NIV)

¹Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm on my holy hill. Let all who live in the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming. It is close at hand— ²a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness. Like dawn spreading across the mountains a large and mighty army comes, such as never was of old nor ever will be in ages to come. ³Before them fire devours, behind them a flame blazes. Before them the land is like the garden of Eden, behind them, a desert waste— nothing escapes them. ⁴ They have the appearance of horses; they gallop along like cavalry. ⁵With a noise like that of chariots they leap over the mountaintops, like a crackling fire consuming stubble, like a mighty army drawn up for battle. ⁶At the sight of them, nations are in anguish; every face turns pale. ⁷ They charge like warriors; they scale walls like soldiers. They all march in line, not swerving from their course. ⁸They do not jostle each other; each marches straight ahead. They plunge through defenses without breaking ranks. ⁹They rush upon the city; they run along the wall. They climb into the houses; like thieves they enter through the windows. ¹⁰Before them the earth shakes, the sky trembles, the sun and moon are darkened, and the stars no longer shine. ¹¹The Lord thunders at the head of his army; his forces are beyond number, and mighty are those who obey his command. The day of the Lord is great; it is dreadful. Who can endure it? ¹² “Even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.” ¹³Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity. ¹⁴Who knows? He may turn and have pity and leave behind a blessing— grain offerings and drink offerings for the Lord your God. ¹⁵Blow the trumpet in Zion, declare a holy fast, call a sacred assembly. ¹⁶ Gather the people, consecrate the assembly; bring together the elders, gather the children, those nursing at the breast. Let the bridegroom leave his room and the bride her chamber. ¹⁷ Let the priests, who minister before the Lord, weep between the temple porch and the altar. Let them say, “Spare your people, O Lord. Do not make your inheritance an object of scorn, a byword among the nations. Why should they say among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’ ”

H. On a group level, a commitment to prayer usually finds expression one of two ways: large group prayer meetings, or small group prayer meetings. Both are valuable and have their practical advantages and challenges. At the end of the age, persecution will increasingly drive us to small group prayer meetings. This is already true in many parts of the world. But the bigger prayer meetings are also valuable so long as we can conduct them.

I. One increasingly popular model and format of prayer is the “Harp and Bowl” model. This is what they use down at IHOP in Kansas City. This model mixes prayer, worship, and spontaneous with the intention of creating an atmosphere of enjoyable prayer. It is inspired by John’s description of worship and prayer as he saw it in his vision of the throne room in Revelation 5.

Revelation 5:8 (NIV)

And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.

A. At the end of the age, the Bride’s growth in both her identity and function as the house of prayer will be more vital than ever. We will be called to stand pure, holy, and radiant in the face of an anti-Messiah empire and a level of worldwide wickedness more vile than anything the world has ever seen.

Luke 17:22-18:7 (NIV)

²² Then he said to his disciples, “The time is coming when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it. ²³ Men will tell you, ‘There he is!’ or ‘Here he is!’ Do not go running off after them. ²⁴ For the Son of Man in his day will be like the lightning, which flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other. ²⁵ But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. ²⁶ “Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man. ²⁷ People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all. ²⁸ “It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. ²⁹ But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. ³⁰ “It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed. ³¹ On that day no one who is on the roof of his house, with his goods inside, should go down to get them. Likewise, no one in the field should go back for anything. ³² Remember Lot’s wife! ³³ Whoever tries to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it. ³⁴ I tell you, on that night two people will be in one bed; one will be taken and the other left. ³⁵ Two women will be grinding grain together; one will be taken and the other left.” ³⁷ “Where, Lord?” they asked. He replied, “Where there is a dead body, there the vultures will gather.”

^8:1Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. ² He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men. ³ And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’ ⁴ “For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care about men, ⁵ yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually wear me out with her coming!’ ” ⁶ And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. ⁷ And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? ⁸ I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”

A. Jesus is zealous for the purity of his house. He is coming back for a fiery, praying, pure, and passionate Bride, not a dull, sleeping, unresponsive, and indifferent people. As the Daniel Training Network, we want to put a stake in the ground in the area of prayer. God wants a fiery praying Bride, then let us become one by His grace! Our solemn assemblies on the first Friday of every month are a small start. But it is a start, and the Lord values it and takes it seriously.

B. I believe that in the coming days we will see God raise up a multi-colored tapestry of prayer for the Bride’s preparation and strengthening. We will see multiple and complimentary outward forms of prayer; undergirded by a common deep commitment and value of prayer; flowing from a unified biblical worldview that motivates prayer.

C. “Solemn assemblies” will become increasingly important for the people of God at the end of the age. When God tells His people to shut down business as usual in order to pray, we had better heed His call. This means everyone: bride, bridegroom, the young and the old, the babies, the priests, the plumbers, the businessmen, the waiters and waitresses, moms and dads.

D. The Day of the Lord is at hand. Matthew 24 is upon us. The Lord has spoken to many credible prophetic voices that the earth is getting ready to enter a time of unprecedented worldwide shaking. It is time for the church to pray.