66b) The Church at Prayer, Part 2 (~1987)

Driving home: If there is no oneness in fundamental doctrinal perspective, there will be no oneness in prayer.

The Greek word 'sunfoneo' (agree) is transliterated to 'symphony' to illustrate the harmonious agreement required in corporate prayer, where voices speak together in unity.

All right, brethren, we pick up as we are dealing with the directives for leading the corporate meetings for prayer. We're examining the major principles that ought to condition and regulate corporate prayer. And we come now to the fourth of those principles, and it's stated in your notes this way, the unanimity of corporate prayer must be carefully fostered and preserved. And here we go back to Matthew 18, 19, where our Lord uses a very interesting term, if two of you shall agree, and the Greek verb is sunfoneo.

0:02 - 0:41 Read in full sermon

Driving home: If there is no oneness in fundamental doctrinal perspective, there will be no oneness in prayer.

The agreement between Ananias and Sapphira to lie to the Holy Ghost is used as a negative example of 'sunfoneo' to underscore the significance of agreement, even in its perversion.

And there in your notes, I've listed Matthew 22, 13, and Acts 5, 9, instances of the uses of this verb that underscore its significance. There was an agreement between the master and those whom he hires with respect to their wages. There was this demonic, devilish agreement between Ananias and Sapphira with regard to...

1:03 - 1:26 Read in full sermon

Driving home: If there is no oneness in fundamental doctrinal perspective, there will be no oneness in prayer.

The concept of 'taproots of oneness' is used to explain that fundamental doctrinal perspective is essential for oneness in prayer, just as taproots provide stability to a plant.

Now this underscores the necessity of the context of oneness in prayer being maintained by those things that constitute the taproots of oneness in prayer. If there is no oneness in fundamental doctrinal perspective, there will be no oneness in prayer. Somebody is praying, Oh God, call out your elect. And someone is sitting there saying, There ain't no such thing as an elect.

2:17 - 2:42 Read in full sermon

Driving home: If there is no oneness in fundamental doctrinal perspective, there will be no oneness in prayer.

An example of someone praying for election while another denies it is used to illustrate how doctrinal differences prevent a 'symphony of agreement' in corporate prayer.

Now this underscores the necessity of the context of oneness in prayer being maintained by those things that constitute the taproots of oneness in prayer. If there is no oneness in fundamental doctrinal perspective, there will be no oneness in prayer. Somebody is praying, Oh God, call out your elect. And someone is sitting there saying, There ain't no such thing as an elect.

2:17 - 2:42 Read in full sermon

Driving home: More stuff gets pushed under the rug under the guise of waiting for the outpouring of the Spirit.

Martin recounts staying late after a prayer meeting to deal with a brother's concerns, which involved others, to illustrate the direct link between relational static among brethren and their inability to agree in corporate prayer.

that involves at least three to four people where there's either been lack of communication, miscommunication, misunderstanding. I'm in this building until quarter eleven Wednesday night after prayer meeting, dealing with a brother, and he raises an issue, and I say, well, I happen to be meeting with that other brother, do I have your permission to express your concerns since you feel it's been a dead end? Yes. So we express the concerns.

3:58 - 4:21 Read in full sermon

The point: As a general rule, refuse to break up the congregation into smaller groups during corporate prayer meetings to maintain corporate identity.

Martin describes experiences in churches where prayer meetings are broken into smaller groups (young people, women, men, or prayer partners) to illustrate how this practice can diminish the sense of corporate identity and unanimity.

If you've not listened to them and you want to use them for reference, that's why I've listed them. But then, thirdly, by refusing to break up the congregation as a general rule. I'm sure many of us have been exposed to churches where when it comes time to pray in a prayer meeting, the young people go off here, the women go off here, the men go off there. I've been part of one where you had your prayer partner and you kneeled down in the pew with another individual.

7:00 - 7:25 Read in full sermon

The point: As a general rule, refuse to break up the congregation into smaller groups during corporate prayer meetings to maintain corporate identity.

The small group movement, while having some good, is described as a 'capitulation to the me-ism and to the navel-gazing' of the age, illustrating how it can undermine corporate prayer by focusing on individual needs over kingdom advances.

Brethren, you're going to face it more than some of us have. Because with this need-centered mentality, you see, here's the key. It's in the smaller group you're more comfy to express your needs and to know that people will be concerned about your needs. And while I'm convinced much good has come through the small group movement, I'm also convinced if the Lord tarries, it will clearly be...

8:35 - 8:59 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin presents the fifth principle: the sense of God's presence should be the constant focus of expectancy and supplication. He explains that based on God's promises, believers…

Martin uses Psalm 31 as an example of the psalmist's pattern of confessing God's nature ('You are my rock') and then praying for God to act according to that nature ('Be to me a strong rock'), illustrating how expectation and pleading for God's presence should function.

I was struck with this principle where the psalmist again and again confesses what God is, and then having done that, he makes his prayer, Lord, be to me what You are. My psalm yesterday was Psalm 31, and I was struck with that afresh. In You, O Lord, do I take refuge, let me never be put to shame. Deliver me in Your righteousness.

10:13 - 10:34 Read in full sermon

The point: Expect and pray for the presence of Christ by His Spirit in prayer meetings, and let your people sense your expectation.

An extended quotation from Murphy's 'Pastoral Theology' is used to underscore the paramount importance of cherishing and actively seeking the Holy Spirit's presence in every prayer meeting, without which all other efforts are vain.

Again, I close this section with this comment from Murphy, page 314, in his work on pastoral theology. This is his 15th point of directives to pastors in ordering and directing the lives of the prayer experience of the church in its corporate prayer. A sense of the divine presence should be cherished in every meeting, and it's in every meeting for prayer. This is our final, and most important counsel.

11:31 - 12:04 Read in full sermon

The point: Encourage flexibility of format in prayer meetings to prevent ruts and unofficial orthodoxies.

Martin recounts L.E. Maxwell's definition of a rut as 'just a grave with the ends kicked out,' illustrating the spiritual danger of predictability and lack of variety in prayer meetings, which can lead to spiritual death.

you know what a rut is? I said, No, sir. He said, It's just a grave with the ends kicked out.

25:04 - 25:09 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: This section urges believers to take 'rational initiative' in prayer, countering the idea of only praying when 'feeling led,' using the example of Stonewall Jackson. Martin also…

The anecdote of Stonewall Jackson insisting on his duty to pray publicly, despite difficulty, is used to illustrate the concept of 'rational initiative' in prayer, countering the idea of only praying when 'feeling led.'

And you see, we'll have people who have fallen prey to this. And we need the mentality that Stonewall Jackson had. Have you heard the incident in Jackson's life when he became a church member? And he went to the prayer meeting and he heard the pastor calling on different ones to pray.

27:25 - 27:41 Read in full sermon

The point: Discourage idiosyncrasies in prayer that might hinder others from engaging fully.

Martin shares a personal story of correcting a brother whose voice would go into an 'almost falsetto' during prayer, illustrating the need to address idiosyncrasies that hinder edification and cause people to 'tense up.'

What do I mean by that? You'll begin to notice as your prayer meetings begin to establish some kind of wholesome predictability that when this particular brother prays he has this oddity of an expression that when he uses it you wince and you sense your people are wincing and it may be we had one brother he would shoot up into an almost falsetto it was not his voice coming out of earth it was something halfway between earth and heaven and I just went to him and I said brother are you aware that when you get praying you suddenly you exchange your throat for your nose now I didn't say it that bl...

29:06 - 30:35 Read in full sermon