Stanley D. Gale's Posts

How many parents have sat with their children after an ordeal of some sort and said something to the effect, "I hope you learned something from that"? We don't want our children to miss the lessons, the opportunity for growth and maturity.

In the same way, our Father in heaven wants us to learn and grow from the trials He brings to our lives. That's part of the "joy" of which James speaks when he urges us to consider it all joy when we encounter trials of various kinds.

When our goal is merely to survive the hardships of our lives, we miss out on the sanctifying lessons our God has for us. Through trials we learn of the glories of our God, the strength of His grace, the comfort of His presence, and the competitors for our heart.

The key is to expect and look for these blessings that would not have come to us apart from the storm.

I want to commend a resource I wrote to help in that endeavor, The Prayer of Jehoshaphat: Seeing Beyond Life's Storms. You can find a description at the bottom.

I read a comment from a pastor's blog that affirmed for me the benefit of the book and how God has used it: "The Prayer of Jehoshaphat is finally a book on prayer that truly SPOKE to me. I'm not saying there aren't other good books on prayer...but this one reached deep down into my soul. I feel better prepared on why to pray, how to pray, what to pray. I was so encouraged TO pray because of how the author presents God's heart of grace toward us in Christ. I was encouraged to not be distracted by what seems to be an 'experience' that contradicts the promises of God and to keep focusing on those promises and God's character. I was encouraged to pray expectantly and to pray big prayers again.”

http://www.wtsbooks.com/product-exec/product_id/5190/nm/Prayer+of+Jehoshaphat%3A+Seeing+Beyond+Life%27s+Storms+%28Paperback%29

Description: The Prayer of Jehoshaphat develops King Jehoshaphat’s prayer in 2 Chronicles 20:1-30 to give us focus, stability, strength, courage and direction in times of great distress. In the overwhelming circumstances that enter our lives, it directs us to take hold of the hand of our God who leads us from the point of crisis to gather up His blessings for us deposited by the storm. Each chapter can serve as a workstation where we bring others or linger ourselves with God, wrestling with the perspective brought to bear on our need, as we follow the movement from bleakness to blessing.

Do you ever have trouble praying? Maybe you don’t know what to say. Or what you do say sounds like you pushed the replay button. You even get bored with your prayers. Or maybe the problem is motivation. You have the best intentions but actually getting around to prayer is a different matter.

God has an answer. It’s called corporate prayer. Corporate prayer is where you gather with other believers around the throne of grace to pray together.

The genius of corporate prayer is that where you don’t have the words, others have them for you. They lead you in prayer, often in ways you would not even have thought. Sometimes they express things that are on your mind. As you pray along with them in your heart and utter the “amen” of agreement, their prayers becomes yours. You have prayed.

Often what happens in these situations is you find yourself opening up, warming to the task. Before you know it, you have said something out loud. The prayers of others have not only led you, they have emboldened you. As they have drawn you into the wonder of God’s presence, you become eager to speak up. You express something to God in the way of praise or thanks, maybe pray for another’s need. You hear someone in the group say “amen” out loud. You have actually led others in prayer, blessing them with words to say!

Then there is the matter of motivation. Your best-laid plans to pray can often be waylaid by disaster or simple distraction. Another day has gone by and with it the opportunity for concentrated prayer. Sure, you pray on the go, conversing with God throughout the day. But you still know how important it is for concentrated time with your Lord.

While praying without ceasing is akin to breathing in new life with Christ as we livecorum deo, and while the prayer closet is something to be practiced for focused prayer in communion with God, corporate prayer can be a big help for cultivating prayer. It can be a setting for the discipline of prayer as it is for training in praying.

If you plan to gather with a bunch of friends to watch TV, what will you do when you get there? You’ll watch TV. When you get together with other believers for the express purpose of prayer, what will you end up doing? You’ll end up praying. Your mind might wander now and then, but if the activity going on is prayer, you’ll get back into it. Certainly, you will pray more than if you stayed away.

So corporate prayer leads us in prayer and leads us to prayer. It is stimulating others to love and good deeds at its best (Heb. 10:24-25).

There’s something else about corporate prayer. God seems to have a special design for it. It helps you to pray but it does more than that. It carries with it a power and purpose at God’s design.

In teaching His disciples about church discipline, Jesus made a remarkable statement: “For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.” (Mt. 18:20) “Two or three” brings to the fore a corporate dimension. Our Lord is applying the general principle of His promised presence for those gathered in His name, in this case to the specific circumstance of church discipline.

To apply the general principle to corporate prayer: because we gather in the name of Jesus, He says He will be with us. But isn’t Jesus with us in our private prayer closet? Certainly He is. He is with us always. But here our Lord impresses something about His presence with those assembled shoulder-to-shoulder for the work of His kingdom. That work has to do with making disciples (including our own spiritual formation) and building His church.

I’m not sure we can pin down all this means for Jesus to be with us in some special way, but it has got to mean something remarkable. Jesus, to whom all authority has been given, who rules on high for His church, who beckons us to ask in His name and, through James, chastises us that we do not have because we do not ask, assures us of His personal presence in the endeavor. Talk about an encouragement for gathering with fellow believers in expectant prayer!

God has provided many helps to our prayer. The psalms give us words, expanding the range of our prayers, enlarging our view of God, engaging us in holy communion. The Spirit inhabits our prayers and fosters expression even beyond the limitations of vocabulary and deficiencies of our own wisdom. Corporate prayer finds a distinct contribution among the provisions of our God to rouse us to pray.

This article first appeared at The Worldview Church website.

Stanley D. Gale's Posts (2)

The Prayer of Jehoshaphat

Need Words? The Case for Corporate Prayer

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