A Word about the Church as a Praying Creation

Today I want to share a word about the church as a praying creation. 

In our first episode about the qualities of the church, we looked at the nature of the church. We saw how we have: a Divine Origin, a Divine Calling, a Divine Relationship, and a Divine Purpose. Today we want to look at one of the powerful qualities of the church that comes from being a divine creation and that is this: the church is a praying creation.  Let’s begin by reading Mark 9:14-19 and 23-29.

When they came to the disciples, they saw a large crowd around them and scribes disputing with them. All of a sudden, when the whole crowd saw Him, they were amazed and ran to greet Him. Then He asked them, “What are you arguing with them about?” Out of the crowd, one man answered Him, “Teacher, I brought my son to You. He has a spirit that makes him unable to speak. Wherever it seizes him, it throws him down, and he foams at the mouth, grinds his teeth, and becomes rigid. So I asked Your disciples to drive it out, but they couldn’t.”

Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.” Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!” When Jesus saw that a crowd was rapidly coming together, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You mute and deaf spirit, I command you: come out of him and never enter him again!” Then it came out, shrieking and convulsing him violently. The boy became like a corpse, so that many said, “He’s dead.” But Jesus, taking him by the hand, raised him, and he stood up. After He went into a house, His disciples asked Him privately, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?” And He told them, “This kind can come out by nothing but prayer [and fasting].”

The Priority of Prayer:

Our task is immense, and our challenge to walk the walk and talk the talk in our world is overwhelming. We battle with spiritual forces we can’t see, and we battle cultural forces that we can see but can’t change. We battle difficult personalities and ungodly biases. We battle our own inadequacies, and we battle apathy, like with this classic one-liner:

What do you get when you cross ignorance with apathy? I don't know, and I don't care.

Or this one:

I started a support group for apathetic people. No one showed up, and I didn’t feel like going either.

And this one:

I entered an apathy contest once. Didn’t win. Didn’t care.

From the beginning Christians have been trying to fight these spiritual and cultural battles with our own power. We see here a great example, for the disciples failed using their own power. 

They thought that casting out this demon was child’s play. After all, they had done this before, when they were sent out by Jesus two-by-two, so they didn’t give this problem much thought, and they had a casual attitude towards it. They should count themselves as blessed that they didn’t wind up like the seven sons of Sceva in Acts 19:11-17:

God was performing extraordinary miracles by Paul’s hands, so that even facecloths or work aprons[a] that had touched his skin were brought to the sick, and the diseases left them, and the evil spirits came out of them. Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists attempted to pronounce the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “I command you by the Jesus that Paul preaches!” Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. The evil spirit answered them, “I know Jesus, and I recognize Paul—but who are you?” Then the man who had the evil spirit leaped on them, overpowered them all, and prevailed against them, so that they ran out of that house naked and wounded. This became known to everyone who lived in Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks. Then fear fell on all of them, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified.

This would have been a great Tic-Toc, if such a thing had existed in their day!

The Disciples played with fire and failed. They needed to get serious:

• They needed to get broken hearted over this child’s plight.
• They needed to get scared and seek God’s face
• They needed to fall on their knees, and in passion intercede.
• They needed God’s guidance and power.
• They needed to pray before running ahead of God.

We, too, need to get serious:

• We need to get broken hearted over the plight of the people around us.
• We need to get scared and seek God’s face
• We need to fall on our knees, and in passion intercede.
• We need God’s guidance and power.
• We need to pray before running ahead of God.

Make no mistake: God’s church has been a planning church. God’s church has been a programming church. God’s church has been a promoting church. God’s church has even been a pampering church. None of these in themselves guarantee us access to God’s power. That is why God’s church must be a praying church.

We begin our pursuit of God’s Kingdom on our knees!

Next, let’s read James 5:10-20.

Now above all, my brothers, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath. Your “yes” must be “yes,” and your “no” must be “no,” so that you won’t fall under judgment. Is anyone among you suffering? He should pray. Is anyone cheerful? He should sing praises. Is anyone among you sick? He should call for the elders of the church, and they should pray over him after anointing him with olive oil in the name of the Lord. The prayer of faith will save the sick person, and the Lord will restore him to health; if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The urgent request of a righteous person is very powerful in its effect. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours; yet he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the land. Then he prayed again, and the sky gave rain and the land produced its fruit. My brothers, if any among you strays from the truth, and someone turns him back, let him know that whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his life from death and cover a multitude of sins.

The Practice of Prayer:

A challenge that God’s people have faced from the beginning is the difference between knowing and doing. An example from modern Israel is an event in the book, Heroes and Hustlers, Hard Hats and Holy Men: Inside the New Israel. In this book, the author recounted a moment that’s both ironic and revealing about Israeli identity politics. 

At an international conference, Israeli diplomats insisted that kosher food be served—asserting it as a matter of national and cultural principle. However, once the kosher meals were provided, they didn’t actually eat them. The diplomats’ demand wasn’t about dietary observance—it was about asserting Jewish identity and sovereignty in a global setting. The act of requesting kosher food became a kind of performance of national pride, even if the personal commitment to religious practice wasn’t there.

In many ways, the church acts in a similar way about many things, including prayer. Pastor James, who was the pastor of the Jerusalem church, insisted that his congregation should not just accept prayer as a fact, but also to practice it as a ministry. For us to do this, we must pray faithfully, effectively, fervently, and righteously.

We need to pray faithfully, believing that God will answer. We must pray as if we believe, even if we have fears and doubts. If we do, God will help us to pray since He has been communicating with us since the beginning.  The father in Mark 9 admitted to Jesus, “I believe, help my unbelief.” Sometimes we just need to cry out to God in faith. “Lord help me!” is a valid prayer!

We also need to pray effectively, which means we should know what we are talking about. Social media is great for spreading information; the problem is, however, the information that is spread on social media is often false, incomplete, and misleading. We need to pray specifically, and we are often guilty of telling God to, “bless all the missionaries,” or to, “stir the hearts of the unconcerned.” God does help us in our prayers, however.

First, the Holy Spirit, who knows our hearts, interprets our prayers. This is especially good for me, because I can get a person’s name wrong. Once, during a worship service, I was asked to pray for a woman’s mother, and I did so, but I prayed for her using the lady’s married name, not her maiden name. So, technically, I prayed for my church member’s deceased mother-in-law instead of for her mother. God was understanding of my efforts, even if my church member wasn’t.

I also once misread the name of an incoming General on the bulletin for his change of command ceremony when I was a chaplain. During the invocation, I prayed eloquently for Brigadier General Gamble, but the name of the new commander was Brigadier General Gable. Ironically, he was more understanding than my church member was.

Second, God has also led us to discover tools for praying with understanding, tools like “Prayer Walking.” Nothing helps us understand the needs of our community like getting out into society, putting our boots on the ground, seeing the sights, hearing the sounds, and smelling the smells of a neighborhood. One author described this as “Praying on-site with insight.”

We need to pray fervently because if we don’t care, why should we expect God to? This is why I don’t pray in bed, because I will fall asleep! Prayer is warfare! We need to go at it with teeth bared and fists clenched, ready to meet the enemy on ground of our choosing!

We also need to pray righteously. Our sin separates us from God, and it hinders our prayer life. We have a remedy for this, too: prayer! 1 John 1:9 tells us that, 

If we confess our sin, He is faithful and just to forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Remember that saying from Alcoholics Anonymous? “If what you say and what you do don’t match, then what you say is a lie, and what you do is the truth.” The fact is, we will get out of our prayer life what we put into it. 

Next, let’s read Matthew 7:7-11.

Keep asking, and it will be given to you. Keep searching, and you will find. Keep knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who searches finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. What man among you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!

The Promise of Prayer:

Jesus made a dramatic promise to us. He said that if we ask, we’ll receive.

He also said that if we seek, we’ll find. In addition, He said that if we knock it will be opened to us. These are guarantees that we can count upon, not like what happened to the soldier who had an accident at jump school.

After two weeks of hard training, this soldier’s class arrived at the Friday afternoon before their first jump which was scheduled for Monday. Their instructors briefed them on the procedures that they would follow, and then one of them made two guarantees to them. He said, “I promise you two things will happened next week. First. Your parachute will open. Second, buses will be waiting for you on the drop zone to carry you back to the airfield so you can jump again.” The subject of this story took these two promises to heart and held on to them all weekend.

When Monday came, however, this soldier exited the aircraft in flight and completed all of his points of performance, but his parachute didn’t open. As he hurtled past the other soldiers whose parachutes did open, he was heard to complain, “And I bet the buses won’t be there either!” 

This promise comes out of God’s very nature: 

• He loves us and wants to do good things for us! 
• He is righteous and always does the right thing. 
• He is powerful and can do what He intends

God can bless us! He is willing to bless us! He does bless us! Isaiah 59:1 assures us that,

Indeed, the Lord’s hand is not too short to save, and His ear is not too deaf to hear.

Through prayer, God can save the most hard-hearted, like the Special Forces sergeant major I knew who was one of the meanest, most serious, least humorous man, I know. But the Lord saved him!

Through prayer, God can heal the sickest, like the woman with an inoperable brain tumor who went to her doctor one day and the tumor was gone!

Through prayer, God can change the most firmly set mind. A church needed a piece of land, but the owner would not sell. The land was prayer walked faithfully (without trespassing) for years, and eventually the owner sold the land to the church, and at an affordable price!

So then, why don’t we always see answers? First, the Bible shows us that God answers us in three different ways: yes, no, and wait. He answered “yes,” to the man in Mark 9. He answered, “no,” to Paul when he asked God to remove his thorn in the flesh. He answered “wait,” to David in 2 Samuel 7 when David wanted to build God a temple in Jerusalem. He also said, “wait,” to Mary and Martha after Lazarus became sick.

Pastor James also explained other reasons why we may not see the answer we are asking God for.  In James 4:1-4, he told his church,

What is the source of wars and fights among you? Don’t they come from the cravings that are at war within you? You desire and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and don’t receive because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your evil desires. Adulteresses! Don’t you know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? So whoever wants to be the world’s friend becomes God’s enemy. Or do you think it’s without reason the Scripture says that the Spirit who lives in us yearns jealously? But He gives greater grace. Therefore He says: God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Therefore, submit to God. But resist the Devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, sinners, and purify your hearts, double-minded people! Be miserable and mourn and weep. Your laughter must change to mourning and your joy to sorrow. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you.

We must pray believing in the trustworthy promises of God! We must also stay out of His way as works to bless us!

Finally, let’s read a couple of passages from Jeremiah.  Jeremiah 29:11-14 tells us,

For I know the plans I have for you”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“plans for your welfare, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. You will call to Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and places where I banished you”—this is the Lord’s declaration. “I will restore you to the place I deported you from.”

Also, Jeremiah 33:2-3 says,

“The Lord who made the earth, the Lord who forms it to establish it, Yahweh is His name, says this: Call to Me and I will answer you and tell you great and incomprehensible things you do not know.

The Personal Nature of Prayer:

We are all unique people, and we come in all sizes and shapes. All my life I have been an “extra-large” person in a “medium” world. When I was a child, we would take an annual trip to Sears to buy my clothes for school because they carried trousers in the “husky” cut. 

One thing I have learned is that “one size fits all” is a lie from the pit of fashion hell. In fact, football coach and sportscaster John Madden once wrote a book entitled, One Size Doesn’t Fit All. The good thing for us is, God knows that. He knows us individually, and He communicates with us individually, and personally.

God knows things we don’t know, and He knows that we can’t know everything. Understanding that, He tells us what we need to know, if we would only ask. As James 1:5 tells us,

Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives to all generously and without criticizing, and it will be given to him.

God knows that we often don’t know the way forward. He knows that we need someone to show us the way. The good news is that God has a plan for us, and the even better news is that He won’t keep that information to Himself. He is eager to share it with us, if we would only ask.

God knows that we feel isolated and alone. He knows that we feel stressed and depressed. He knows how we can have hope, and He is glad to share that with us if we would only ask.

God knows that we have wrecked our lives and that we need restoration. We just don’t know how to find it, but God does. He is glad to share that with us, if we would only ask.

God knows we need fellowship with Him. He knows that there is a God-shaped place in our lives that only He can fill. He is glad to share Himself with us, if we would only ask. As the Scriptures promised us in James 4:8,

Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.

Conclusion:

God created a people for Himself so that He could be with us and have fellowship with us. We know that He would come into the Garden of Eden in the cool of the day to walk with Adam and Eve. God’s people, from the beginning, has communicated with God, which is prayer.

When we talk about God walking in the Garden with Adam and Eve, we also need to remember that after the Fall, they hid themselves from God. What about us? If God would come to walk with us in the cool of the day, would we hide ourselves from Him? The church is a praying creation, and we, the members of the church, must be praying people!

Every blessing,

Dr. Otis Corbitt