S76P9 – The posture of prayer: power in partnership

2 Thes. 3:1-2

Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may run swiftly and be glorified, just as it is with you, and that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men; for not all have faith.

When he got saved, his perspective of the workplace transformed completely.  He was used to being one of the guys who talked the way they talked and shared the same unsavory interests they had.  Once he came to know Jesus, however, he was no longer of that breed.  He tried to use his friendship and history with his co-workers to tell them about the Lord, but no one lent him a listening ear.  He would spend countless hours in prayer asking for God to open a door of ministry only to be shut out time and again.  In his mind, this was his job, his pet project for God.  Because of that, it never occurred to him to ask his new brothers and sisters to pray in agreement with him for what he was trying to accomplish.

I have experienced feeling like my prayers should be enough to move the Spirit and make my requests come to be.  I have been too proud or even ashamed to ask others to join me in my prayers because I felt like that would be admitting my spiritual inadequacy.  The lie is that God’s unanswered prayers are a reflection of my inability.  The truth is that God wants and even tells us to rely on the remainder of the body for prayer as well. If we pray and God does not move, it does not mean that we are “less than.”  It also does not mean that our prayers are simply weak and ineffective.  God wants us to share this burden with one another because there is power in numbers.  Every prayer to God could use agreement by the Church.

Paul was an amazing man of God, and we often admire his ministry, but even Paul asked for the supportive prayers of his brothers and sisters on a regular basis in his letters.  He understood that he was not so great that his prayers did not need the power of the Church behind them.  We must understand that our prayer life is no different than any other ministry we perform.  We never would try to strike out and build a congregation on our own without seeking the encouragement and support of brothers and sisters to come alongside us.  Perhaps we should approach our prayer life in the same way.  Father, give us the humility and wisdom to know when to ask others to pray on our behalf and support our requests of You.