Talk of JESUS .com

Tag: corporate prayer

Not ME – the deception of SIN
“Not me,” we boastfully sang out as children.

We gleefully sang each verse of the children’s song so familiar we knew the continuous scratches in our 45 rpm record. Who’s afraid of the BIG BAD WOLF? — a story also told on our little black and white television and eventually in living color by Walt’s colorful characters. (We knew the story and song by heart.)

“Who’s afraid of the BIG BAD WOLF?” Not me.
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Who's afraid of the big bad wolf,
the big bad wolf, the big bad wolf,
"Who's afraid of the BIG BAD WOLF?"  
[then 5 familiar notes of melody during which we sang out: 
NOT MEEEE!]
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I’m not even certain ANY version of the song from “The Three Pigs” even included our unanimous care-free response of each little pig; but my sister, brother and I all knew where the story was headed.

A Father’s Letter to his Gentile Children

Now you’re probably wondering what a children’s song has to do with the Apostle Paul.

(I’ll make the connection before the last verse of his letter (so to speak) as we suddenly discover a HOT TOPIC for the church.)

In the year of our Lord 49 to A.D. 51

As the Apostle Paul nears completion of a Second Missionary Journey he sends a letter to a church back in Macedonia from where the Apostle to the gentiles had been forced to flee. Paul’s heart for these new believers looks back to Christ’s love in them.

But we were gentle among you, like a nursing mother taking care of her own children.
First letter from Paul, Silas and Timothy to the Thessalonian church 2:7

Thessalonica

The First Letter of Paul to the Thessalonians
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What do you do when travelling away from home and separated from loved ones? We do our best to communicate at a distance, (before hand-held phones) traditionally by letter.

Again, from Corinth, the year ~ A.D. 51 
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These new believers in Christ Jesus in Macedonia receive communication from Paul, a father to them in the faith. Silvanus we know familiarly as Silas and their young protoge Timothy has been their trusted courier and also a pastor to believers in distant towns.

[READ 1 Thessalonians 3 for details that complete the ACTS journey to Athens.]

Like any good father the Apostle encourages and also exhorts these young believers to maintain their new-found righteousness in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy,

To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:

Grace to you and peace.

We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers, remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

.. You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake. And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia.

8 For not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere, so that we need not say anything.
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Is this not what every child wants to hear from its father? 

'Well done, good and faithful young follower of Christ' 

Even in other parts of Macedonia and HERE IN CORINTH ACHAIA the Thessalonian faith has become an example to others.

The Apostle then recounts their struggles in other cities.
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2: ²But though we had already suffered and been shamefully treated at Philippi, as you know, we had boldness in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in the midst of much conflict. ³For our appeal does not spring from error or impurity or any attempt to deceive…
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Remember this, and remember the big bad wolf who will knock at our door later.
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5 For we never came with words of flattery, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed—God is witness.

Three Weeks in Thessalonica- Acts 17

Opposition to the Gospel in Philippi and then Thessalonica

We are proud of you

11 For you know how, like a father with his children, we exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory.

And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.
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CHILD of God, Christ is at work in YOU.
Good job, son! Well done, daughter.
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14 For you, brothers, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea. For you suffered the same things from your own countrymen as they did from the Jews, who killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove us out, and displease God and oppose all mankind..

but Satan hindered us
- DO YOU BELIEVE IN SATAN?
  - “Not me,” will be the response of many 21st century claimants of Christ.
- Yet the Lord Jesus AND Paul both include along with the Gospel warnings about the fallen angel Satan who huffs and puffs at the door of faith of every Christ follower.
.. we wanted to come to you—I, Paul, again and again—but Satan hindered us.
1 Thessalonians 2:18 διότι ἠθελήσαμεν ἐλθεῖν πρὸς ὑμᾶς ἐγὼ μὲν Παῦλος καὶ ἅπαξ καὶ δίς καὶ ἐνέκοψεν ἡμᾶς ὁ Σατανᾶς ESV

19 For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming?

Is it not you? For you are our glory and joy.

Furthermore then we beseech you..
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Many long-time servants of the Lord Jesus may detect a certain fatherly embrace of Paul opening his arms to his Thessalonian children of the faith. 

The more formal quaintness of the King James Version perhaps captures the Apostle's love for these saints best.
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Furthermore then we beseech you, brethren, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus, that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God, so ye would abound more and more.
First Epistle of Paul to the Thessalonians 4:1 KJV

(Some may even recall familiar and more formal prayers of your own childhood in Christ simply at hearing the plea,

WE BESEECH YOU.
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A General Thanksgiving (from the A.D. 1928 Anglican Prayer Book)

ALMIGHTY God, Father of all mercies, we, thine unworthy servants, do give thee most humble and hearty thanks for all thy goodness and loving-kindness to us, and to all men; We bless thee for our creation, preservation, and all the blessings of this life; but above all, for thine inestimable love in the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ; for the means of grace, and for the hope of glory.

 And, we beseech thee, give us that due sense of all thy mercies, that our hearts may he unfeignedly thankful: and that we show forth thy praise, not only with our lips, but in our lives, by giving up our selves to thy service, and by walking before thee in holiness and righteousness all our days; 

through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with thee and the Holy Ghost, be all honour and glory, world without end. Amen.
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NEXT: from Thessalonians 4-5 – WARNINGS

to the children of the Lord facing that Big Bad Wolf, who disguises himself as light while he huffs and puffs at the saints approaching the narrow door of eternal life.
July 13, 2023
I was in the spirit
I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet. – Revelation of Jesus Christ to the Apostle John [1:10]

We interrupt our series on Psalm 119 for a message about prayer, the Holy Spirit and hearing from God. God willing we will continue tomorrow, 28 January, in the year of our Lord 2014.

Romans 8

English Standard Version (ESV)

Life in the Spirit

8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus…

26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. 27 And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. 28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

Luke 12:12 “… for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”

John 4:24 “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”

IF you attended church on Sunday, good for you; yet consider that not all who attend church are part of Christ’s church. Some are not yet saved (in our mortal timetable) and others will turn back to their hearts of stone forever until Judgment. We must consider the witness of our corporate worship and our prayer in church.

Lord, I want to thank you and praise you for your salvation: for saving me, for Your own sacrifice for my own sinfulness. I thank you for the Cross of Christ Jesus and the Spirit of your Presence, which does comfort me from time to time (for I do not always listen, as I ought).

IF I pray the prayer I have just prayed in private, it is my prayer to God – my part of a conversation in the Spirit with the Living God. IF I utter this same prayer in the company of believers (church), it becomes my corporate prayer of witness.

Is it the same prayer?

It is the same words, but not the same prayer; for my own life and soul stand before my brothers and sisters in the Lord and also non-believers among us as witness of the sincerity of my words (known only to God) or the motive of my proclaiming loudly in the company of believers the same.

Personal prayer is an intimate conversation between you and God. Corporate prayer is a public proclamation to God before witnesses.

Jesus tells a story of two men who went up to the church to pray. One prayed most publicly, as if his prayer thanked God that he was not like those who were not saved. His teachings were that he showed concern for others and for God, but his witness was that his only concern was to be seen at church. Another prayed so humbly he would not even look up to God from the holy place where he worshiped.

Paul often prays for individuals both individually and corporately as a specific church (a named group of real people with real and specific needs for prayer and supplication). Paul’s corporate prayers have no hint of self-aggrandizement like the Pharisees. (‘See how I pray as I should and how you likely do not pray?) Paul frequently asks for prayer for himself and his companions, but for the sake of Christ and for the Church. You can read more of Paul’s heart and example by guidance in almost any of his letters to the churches (the epistles).

Paul gives further instruction to the church as to corporate worship and corporate prayer. Some of our 21st century worldly ways have accepted as proper that which is non-scriptural and causes controversies unhelpful in building up each church and body of believers. Some christians will stand firmly on the shaky foundation of just a single verse of scripture (or two). I will not do that. Let the Spirit instruct you as to what is right for you and for your particular church.

Some often heard in church ought to keep silent and others not heard in church ought to be heard from.

I speak of the gibberish of prayer in tongues without interpretation, prayer for the stranger rather than for the near brother or sister in the Lord, and prayer for proud example of your personal witness (as if evangelizing the faithful in the place of worship). Again, I will leave it to you and the instruction of the Holy Spirit to help you in this (excerpted below).

1 Timothy 2

English Standard Version (ESV)

Pray for All People

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people…

1 Timothy 2:1 alone is worthy of much more of your consideration and that of the worship leaders of our churches.

8 I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling…

11 Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. 12 I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet.

The proper culture of the centuries has been that a man is the head of the woman. Some use this to oppose women preaching and some to oppose women speaking in church or being part of church leadership. My observation is that too many wives are the heads of their christian husbands; some because they insist, but most because their husbands with not step up to bold witness in Christ as we ought. For Jesus said: “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.” [Luke 19:40]

I, myself, have been guilty of both not speaking when I ought and more often guilty of speaking when I ought not. I have done what I ought not to have done and said what I ought not to have said. (Who is not guilty in these things?) I am poor example to any of one led always by the Spirit, failing in humility to Christ Jesus as our Lord (even IF I lift up my hands as if I am humble unto the Lord). Even now I find I must leave my gift at the altar because of unforgiveness, because I am not humble enough before the Lord to ask a sister for forgiveness seven times seven. [Matthew 5:23-24]

Yet if I am led by the Spirit to pray or to speak or to sing or to raise hands or to kneel or to exhort or to teach or to preach, I will by the grace of Christ Jesus do what God would have over the will of every man or woman, mostly over my own will in obedience to His.
- Let us not say, “Thus says the Lord,” when it is not the Lord who has said it.
- Let us not presume to pray for unknown others as if we are priests and intercessors for the church; as if all do not have the intimacy of the Spirit near at hand and within the body of the Church.
- And let us not cry out of our own need so much as we plea for it in private and as a church we plead for our beloved brothers and sisters near to us, drawing all nearer to the Lord God by prayer.
I do not know, but the Spirit knows, what will build you up and what scripture may lift higher your corporate worship of Christ Jesus, our Lord. I leave it between you and the Lord.

1 Corinthians 14

English Standard Version (ESV)

Prophecy and Tongues

14 Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy. 2 For one who speaks in a tongue speaks not to men but to God; for no one understands him, but he utters mysteries in the Spirit…

4 The one who speaks in a tongue builds up himself, but the one who prophesies builds up the church…

9 So with yourselves, if with your tongue you utter speech that is not intelligible, how will anyone know what is said? For you will be speaking into the air. 10 There are doubtless many different languages in the world, and none is without meaning, 11 but if I do not know the meaning of the language, I will be a foreigner to the speaker and the speaker a foreigner to me. 12 So with yourselves, since you are eager for manifestations of the Spirit, strive to excel in building up the church.

13 Therefore, one who speaks in a tongue should pray that he may interpret. 14 For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays but my mind is unfruitful. 15 What am I to do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will pray with my mind also; I will sing praise with my spirit, but I will sing with my mind also.

I will pray with my spirit, but I will pray with my mind also; I will sing praise with my spirit, but I will sing with my mind also. – 1 Cor. 14:15b

19 Nevertheless, in church I would rather speak five words with my mind in order to instruct others, than ten thousand words in a tongue.

Therefore, beloved fellow believers and worshipers, let up worship the Lord in holiness. Let us pray and sing and worship corporately as just one stone next to others of the same Temple, singing and praying in thankfulness for the Cornerstone of our faith. Let us build up one another in Christ’s abiding love, faithful to those who will wait upon Him, praying without ceasing, and loving one another in the certain hope of our community of living faith to the witness of all the Lord leads into the church and all who gaze upon Christ’s Temple of His Church from the darkness of this world.

I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day and so I was grieved over our many sins and especially my own. But thanks be to Christ Jesus for His righteousness and for the Holy Spirit of the Living God, Who comforts and guides. He hears our heartfelt prayers.

Pray also for me, that the Lord would lift me up in the Spirit in loving witness to His way, His truth, and His most holy Life, given for us by His Blood of the Cross.
January 27, 2014