Tag: Church Ministry

1631706557.8875852-CF458A0D-CA72-4CF4-93C4-A85E8895E64D

Orthopraxy: Corporate Prayer

, , , , , , , , , , , , 1

I grew up in the American “bible belt;” an area where there is a church building on nearly every street corner and a social expectation that you are a member of one of these churches, even if you never attend. Growing up outside of the local church, therefore, caused various relational challenges for me when people would ask the question, “where do you go to church?” 

A few decades later, I now live in Uganda, where there is a similar cultural expectation of religious affiliation, though the divisions are different. Back in the U.S., the divide was denominational — baptist, methodist, pentecostal, church of Christ, etc. The religious lines here, however, are whether you are Catholic or “protestant,’ meaning Anglican (government recognized churches), a “mulokole” or “a born-again,” meaning evangelical/charismatic (not government recognized churches), or you are a Muslim.

Due to this different background, the question people ask here is also much different. Instead of being asked, “where do you go to church?” you are much more likely to hear, “where do you pray from?” While this also implies the question “which god do you pray to,” I still like this question much better. After all, as we discussed last week, the church is not a place you go; it is the community of believers with whom you gather. Prayer, however, is one of the biggest reasons why the church gathers, so the question “where do you pray from” is entirely appropriate.

As we continue our practical dive into what the church does and why, I want to dig deeper into the practice of prayer, or more specifically, “corporate prayer” as the body of Christ. Next week, we will go further into prayer by looking at the role of “intercession” as a ministry of the church.

What is Prayer?

According to the Lexham Bible Dictionary1, prayer is “communication with God, primarily offered in the second-person voice (addressing God directly). May include petition, entreaty, supplication, thanksgiving, praise, hymns, and lament.”

From the Jewish and Christian perspective, the concept of prayer is much different from that of many other cultures. It comes down to one critical theological difference between the personality of Yahweh versus the deities of other religions. Yahweh is an intimate God who wants fellowship with His creation. Since the first man was formed in Genesis, human history has been marked by people’s relationship (or lack of relationship) with God. Relationship is one of the primary biblical characterizations that define our faith. We are the people of God because we know Him and live in relationship with Him.

Our God is a Relational God

The Bible is full of intimate and relational language when it talks about human interaction with God. For example, Moses was called a friend by God (Is. 41:8; James 2:23). The book of Hosea demonstrates God’s unfailing love for His people as a husband’s pursuit of his unfaithful bride. Jesus is called “Immanuel,” meaning God with us, and when He had to leave the earth, He sent His own Spirit to dwell inside of us. These are only a few examples, but they make the point well.

This intimate view of deities was not common in most of the pagan cultures of the first century. Instead, the gods that people worshipped were silent and distant. Prayers and offerings were made to appease them but never to know them. This is why when Paul preached to the gentiles, his gospel often emphasized the closeness of our God (Acts 17:26-28).

God is personal! Although it’s been said thousands of times before, it bears repeating: “Christianity is not a religion. It is a relationship!” 

To summarize this point very candidly, to be a Christian is to know Christ. We do this first through His revelation of Himself in scripture, but we go deeper in intimacy with Him through prayer and fellowship with the Holy Spirit inside of us.

What is Corporate Prayer?

“Corporate prayer” is simply a way of saying that when we come together as a congregation (or in a small group), we are praying in unity with one another. There is cooperation in how we lift our voices to the Lord and agreement in our prayer focus.

This unified seeking of the Lord — especially for more of His presence and power in our lives — is one of the main reasons we gather as a local church. And there are several components that ought to be included when we come together in corporate prayer.

1. Worship

Though there is a strong misconception that “worship” means singing to the Lord, this is not the case. Instead, worship means recognizing and acknowledging the praiseworthiness of God, whether in song, prayer, proclamations, or deed.

Worship, therefore, should be one of the primary goals of our corporate prayer time. As we gather together, our purpose should be to behold Him and, together, publicly display our adoration of Him. That is worship.

We see worship as a vital part of prayer throughout history. Just read through the book of Psalms and see how often God’s character traits are celebrated. Also, notice how Jesus begins His model prayer by acknowledging that God’s name (character) is “hallowed” or wholly set apart, high above all other names (Matthew 6:9). (Remember, the revealed names of God represent His personal character and relational promises: Jehovah Jireh, “God who provides.” Jehovah Rapha, “God who heals.” Et al.)

If worship and adoration are not a priority in our church services, both in our singing AND in our corporate prayer, we are missing the point.

2. Thanksgiving

Whereas worship is closely related to celebrating who God is, thanksgiving celebrates all that God has done. It is gratitude for His faithfulness.

In a future post, we will see why sharing testimonies should be a regular part of our church practices to encourage others to trust the Lord more. However, as we seek to keep a record of what the Lord has done and is doing among us as the local body of Christ, we must make saying “thank You” to Him a regular practice as well.

Remember, prayer is vital for living in relationship with the Lord. It hurts His feelings when He blesses us so abundantly, but we refuse to acknowledge it through praise and thanksgiving. We must be like the Samaritan leper in Luke 17:11-19, who made the return journey to Jesus, just to say thank you. When we pray, we must take time as a body to thank Him for all that He does.

A second way we should incorporate thanksgiving into our church prayer times is to thank God for one another. We see this demonstrated in almost every pastoral letter from the Apostle Paul. He takes time, in each letter, to pray for the recipients and makes it a point to give thanks to God for individual people and their God-given gifts and roles in the church (1 Thessalonians 1:1-2; 2 Timothy 1:3; Romans 1:8; et al.). Remember, when we receive one another as a gift from God, with honor and gratitude, we will also receive the blessing from one another, as God intends (Matthew 10:41).

3. Community Petitions

Another vital element to our corporate prayers is that we should be lifting the needs of one another to the Lord. 

Of course, we do this privately. Paul tells us: 

“The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” 

Philippians 4:5b-6

He also tells us to “pray without ceasing,” which implies that this is not only when we are together with the church.

However, when we walk together in unity as the body of Christ, we share in one another’s burdens (Galatians 6:2), and through our prayer, we become instruments of grace to each other. As James writes:

“And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.” 

James 5:15-16

Therefore, it is good to give members time to make their requests known to the congregation and for the church to take time to pray specifically for those needs.

4. Blessings and Impartations

Beyond just lifting the stated needs of church members, however, our times of corporate prayer should also be opportunities to bless one another in the Lord. We should make time, as the body, to lay hands on each other, to see an impartation of God’s grace and gifts onto others; to see God’s power come alive in their lives; and to see the Holy Spirit fill them in new, fresh ways.

In the Old Testament, God commanded the Jewish priests to bless the people by putting God’s name upon them (Numbers 6:22-27). (Again, referencing God’s name implies believing in His revealed character and claiming the related promises on behalf of the person.)2

In the New Testament, we see Jesus putting a blessing onto people by embracing them (Mark 10:16), laying His hands on them, and imparting the Holy Spirit to them (John 20:22). This example was followed by the 12 Apostles (Acts 8:17) and the Apostle Paul (Acts 19:1-6).

This shared time to seek the Lord for the benefit of one another, for more of God’s presence and power in their lives, ought to be a central goal of our times in corporate prayer. 

What Corporate Prayer Is Not

As you can see from the four elements we have listed above, a time of corporate prayer must be God-focused and purposeful. With that in mind, let’s take a quick look at a few things corporate prayer is not.

1. Corporate Prayer is Not Mindless

Worship, thanksgiving, petitions, and blessings all require us to pray with mindfulness. This means that when we enter into a time of corporate prayer, we must take time to explain the intended focus so that everyone is unified in seeking the Lord. It may even be necessary, at times, to give clear instructions on how to pray with or for one another.

What we never want is to say, “let’s begin to pray,” without an explicit reason. If you’re going to lead people deeper into worship through a time of prayer, or if you want to spend time praying for the empowerment of the Holy Spirit in some way, you must explain this clearly. Otherwise, you will have confusion in the prayers and declarations being made by various members of the body.

When people are home, praying in their secret place with the Lord, they should pray as the Spirit leads them. However, in corporate prayer, we must be unified in the Spirit and in agreement with one another in our requests. This unity is what will make our prayers effective.

“Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”

Matthew 18:19-20

2. Corporate Prayer is Not Religious Ritual

Many more traditional forms of Christianity use liturgical prayers both in and out of their services. For most of us, the best example would be the praying of “The Lord’s Prayer” when we fellowship together. For others, there are standard prayers to be prayed over various aspects of a church service or at various times and seasons of the year.

Some Catholics and traditional protestants recite prayers like the “Jesus Prayer,” which says, “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”

Some denominations use liturgical books, such as “The Book of Common Prayer,” used by the Anglicans, or other forms of prayer books. In fact, many of the hymnals used in many evangelical and charismatic churches contain a section of pre-written prayers to be recited, as well.

While it can be very useful to use some of these traditional prayers, which can keep us grounded in our church history and theological orthodoxy throughout the generations, we must be careful of turning corporate prayer into a weekly religious ritual we perform out of obligation.

We never want prayer to become a mindless routine or something we do simply because it is what we have always done. Even if we use some form of liturgical prayer in our services, we must do our diligence to keep the focus on Jesus and not just perform a religious exercise. 

We do not pray for the sake of prayer. We pray to connect with Jesus relationally.

3. Corporate Prayer is Not Focused on the Devil

Another negative trend I have noticed often in corporate prayer is that it becomes too easy for people to take our eyes off the Lord and instead begin to engage in warfare with the devil.

Let me be clear; I do believe there is a need for spiritual warfare in the life of the church. We will cover this topic in a future post. However, the point I want to make is that we should NEVER take the time dedicated to the Lord and use it to talk to the devil. When it is time to pray, we pray to God alone. We CANNOT get distracted from Him as the central pursuit of our services!

To turn our attention to the devil when we should be in prayer actually expresses a belief that God cannot hear or answer our prayers until we get the devil out of the way. What faithlessness! Our authority over the devil comes from our relationship with Jesus! Let us never cut our intimate time with Him short to engage with an already-defeated enemy.

The Church Must Pray

Now that we have a clear understanding of what prayer is and is not, all that is left is to put it into practice. The body of Christ must pray. It should be inherent in our meetings.

  • As a leader, have you taught your church what prayer is and how to do it?
  • Do you lead your church regularly in the four elements discussed in this article?
  • If not, what corrections do you need to make immediately, to fulfill the biblical call to corporate prayer in your meetings? 

Let’s Connect

If you want to more than just the blog, join me on social media for more #ChristianLife and #Gospel Leadership insights throughout the week. I can be found on Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and LinkedIn, and would love to see you there.

You can also make sure to never miss any future posts by subscribing to my newsletter below. I promise never to spam your inbox or share your info with others.

Endnotes:

1 Leslie T. Hardin, “Prayer,” ed. John D. Barry et al., The Lexham Bible Dictionary (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016).

2 Joshua G. Mathews, “Blessing,” ed. Douglas Mangum et al., Lexham Theological Wordbook, Lexham Bible Reference Series (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2014).

If you’re enjoying the content I produce, a little caffeine to keep me going would be appreciated!



© Anthony Scott Ingram 2021. All Rights Reserved.

Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.”

Please note that I do get a small kickback from Amazon for any purchases made using the links on this post. Should you choose to purchase from them, I just want to say thank you for further supporting my work in ministry!

IMG_5145

9 Books that Shaped My Ministry

, , , , 0

As I continue to take a break from my regularly scheduled blogging this week, I don’t just want to share with you the books that changed by life, but also the books that have made me into the ministry leader that I am today. Some of these books shaped me in my early days of serving the church, and I may not fully adhere to their teachings today. Nevertheless, all of these books have influenced the way I serve the Lord, and I am happy to share them with you.

HERE ARE 9 BOOKS THAT HAVE SHAPED MY MINISTRY:

The Radical Reformission: Reaching Out Without Selling Out by Mark Driscoll

The book, ‘The Radical Reformission’ was my first introduction to Mark Driscoll, and though he has gone through some rough times in his ministry, and is now looked down on by some, the influence he had on my post-Bible College life, entering ministry, cannot be overstated. His preaching style was direct, practical, and attention grabbing, but it was his ministry leadership sermons that held my attention the most. I still love Mark Driscoll for his influence in my life. I also believe this book still has value to up and coming church planters today, offering real, practical advice for how to grow a church grounded in truth while purposely engaging the culture.

The Essential Guide to Healing: Equipping All Christians to Pray for the Sick by Bill Johnson and Randy Clark

Living in Haiti for most of 2012, I dedicated myself to praying for the sick, believing that God still heals today. Week after week, my prayers proved ineffective. I began looking for resources from those who have verifiable healing results to push me forward in this journey, and quickly found ‘The Essential Guide to Healing’ in the iBooks bookstore. This was my first introduction to Dr. Randy Clark, who has become a spiritual father to my ministry, and I was immediately taken with his life experience which mirrored my own in many ways. I was also captured by the simplicity with which Randy and Bill are able to impart the truth of the scriptures and the wisdom of their experience in the healing ministry. Never looking back, this book started my journey into healing that continues to increase to this day. (Our ministry is also spiritually covered by Randy Clark’s Apostolic Network of Global Awakening, and my ministry credentials are held by the same.)

Victorious Eschatology by Harold R. Eberle and Martin Trench

Early on in real life ministry, I struggled with the fear-based teaching I was getting from the church and Christian television. I could not reconcile that a good God, determined to establish His Kingdom on the earth, would let thousands of years go by in which believer’s preach the gospel and attempt to disciple nations, only to end with a destruction of that work by the anti-Christ, and a great, surprise rescue mission to get the church out of harms way. The book, ‘Victorious Eschatology’ was my first venture outside of the Left Behind teachings, and opened a whole new world of possibility to me! Now, after years of study on the subject, I hold to the amillennial view of end times, which along with “historic postmillennial” makes up the majority view for most of Christian history. Yet this book, with its short, straight to the point exegesis of end times scriptures, helped me on this journey.

(Two bonus books worth reading on the subject are ‘Unafraid: A Better Book on the End Times’ by Marc Arlt and the much larger book, ‘A Case for Amillennialism: Understanding the End Times’ by Kim Riddlebarger)

Heavy Rain: How to Flood Your World with God’s Transforming Power by Kris Vallotton

Where ‘Victorious Eschatology’ led me in the early theological framework for my end times views, ‘Heavy Rain’ stepped in to paint a practical picture for what this viewpoint could mean. Now, I do not know the eschatological views of Kris Vallotton, and would not speak on his behalf, however, this book struggles through some of the same things I wrestled with in my previous, dispensational way of thinking. What if the world isn’t getting worse and worse, but is actually being overcome with the Kingdom of God, sometimes in the most subtle of ways? This book set my course on the journey to find out, and for those who will read it, it will definitely make you hungry for revival.

Contagious Disciple Making by David Watson and Paul Watson

Although I did not run into this book until last year, ‘Contagious Disciple Making’ has instantly had a major impact on my ministry in East Africa. The call to make disciples, not just converts, is a challenge faced by many ministries, especially those heavily invested in crusade-style outreaches. As a practical guide for not only reaching the lost with discipleship in mind, but also opening new churches built on this mindset, it has useful information any pastor and leader can learn from. As I now seek to train the pastors of Sozo Ministries and beyond in methods for discipleship, I lean heavily on this book’s guidance in doing so.

Simple Church: Returning to God's Process for Making Disciples by Thom S. Rainer and Eric Geiger

When I was on staff at a small, historically Baptist church in west Texas, we ran program after program, seeking to be effective in our ministry to reach the lost, and help Christians to grow. What we were discovering, however, is that too many programs actually led our church to burnout, quicker than it led to success in ministry. ‘Simple Church’ changed all that by helping our staff think through the reasons behind our church programming, and to actually cut down on how much we were doing, in exchange for higher quality work in the few we kept. If you are in a program-driven ministry, I highly recommend this book. Although your ministry might not change much, you will at least challenge the assumptions you currently make about what you are doing.

The Other Half of the Army: Women in Kingdom Ministry by Phill Olson

“Women in ministry.” That phrase was almost as bad a cursing in the fundamentalist circles I came out of. There, a woman’s highest aspiration to serve the Lord was to become a pastor’s wife, or to infiltrate the secular education system as a teacher. For a long time, I held to the perspective that men were the only ones capable of carrying the highest levels of church leadership, though privately it was always a question I struggled with. It just didn’t make sense. Yes, men are to be the head in the household. However, the Bible gave other leadership to women, from being a judge in Israel in the Old Testament, to calling some apostles and prophets in the New Testament. Ultimately, my viewpoint shifted on the matter. Now, being the father of two beautiful daughters, and hearing God directly instructing me to prepare them for the ministry He has for them, I am so thankful for men like Phil Olsen and books like ‘The Other Half of the Army’ who are leading in this mindset change. Every church leader should read this book! (And if you are a pastor in Sozo Ministries, you will…)

Always Enough: God’s Miraculous Provision Among the Poorest Children on Earth by Heidi Baker

Since I first heard Heidi preach, back in 2012, I have admired this woman of God, and sought to learn from her ministry in Africa. Her pioneering movement in Mozambique is the stuff of missionary legends, as her family continued to pursue God into bigger things for His Kingdom, without being held back by limited funds or a disbelief in God’s provision. When I read ‘Always Enough,’ it pushed me closer to trusting God in the calling He has given me for my family’s move to Africa and the overwhelming vision He has placed in me for the work. I highly recommend this book, and any others that Heidi has written!

Free in Christ by Pablo Bottari

From my first encounter with deliverance ministry, at a Nigerian evangelist’s revival meeting in Fort Worth in 2005, to my first time helping “pray out” a demon in Uganda two year’s later, I have been drawn to deliverance, and helping people get free from the bondage they are held in. Out of all the books I initially read on the subject, none of them helped me grow in my authority and effectiveness for deliverance ministry, as did Bottari’s book, ‘Free in Christ.’ Based in his experience developing a deliverance ministry from the ground up, during the Argentine revival, his simple method for not only getting people free, but also helping them stay free, is still the most effective I have found. While I do not recommend getting into deliverance ministry lightly, if God lead you there, this book will certainly help. 

(Two bonus books worth reading on the subject are ‘Unbound: A Practical Guide to Deliverance’ by Neal Lozano and Randy Clark’s ‘The Biblical Guidebook to Deliverance,’ which also follows Bottari’s pattern for effective ministry.)

IMG_4710

Why Discipleship Matters

, , , , , , , , , , , , , 2

I live in East Africa as a missionary. What I have found where I live is that there is a passion for outreach and evangelism that is lacking in many parts of the world. In almost every church there is a willingness to gather together for open-air gospel crusades, door-to-door evangelism, and other forms of outreach. This is very different than where I come from in America. As a former leader in multiple churches in Bible-belt, Texas I know from experience that it is a difficult thing to get large numbers or Christians together for sharing the gospel, and if you try to do an open-air meeting, it is usually not-well attended.

In Nigeria and other places, Reinhardt Bonnke leads mega crusades attended by millions of people daily. It is an incredible sight, seeing the faces of people stretching past the horizon. However, a few years ago, I attended a Bonnke Crusade in Houston, Texas – one of the largest cities in America – in a stadium that only has about 22,000 seats plus whatever can be added at ground level. From my perspective, the stadium appeared to be one-third of the way full. I don’t think that is the fault of Bonnke. It is because the churches and believers in Houston weren’t unified to see the crusade become a success.

Here in East Africa, the church is good at outreach. They lead big crusades. Churches coordinate together to form mass choirs. Teams are able to canvas an entire city, door-to-door, in a few days. And it is common to see thousands of people put their faith in Christ. I am truly impressed at what I see here!

Can I tell you what the church is not good at in East Africa?

We are not good at bringing the harvest into the barns and preserving the fruit! All too often, the harvest is simply left laying out in the field where it was picked. Churches go out and lead many people to Jesus, yet do not do well (on a large scale) at turning those converts into disciples! 

This is not just an East Africa problem. This is epidemic! It is becoming a whole-church problem!

The Great Commission

“And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has  been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them  in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them  to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’”

Matthew 28:18-20, English Standard Version

The problem with the lack of discipleship strategy is that the commission of Jesus on the church was not to Go and make converts! It was never to simply to go, preach the gospel, and lead people in a prayer to accept Jesus as their savior. It wasn’t even to go and do signs, wonders, healings, and miracles so that people see the power of God!

All of those things are great, and we need to do them even more. However, until we take those who pray the prayer and those who are touched by the power, and bring them into the body of Christ and disciple them, we are failing at the mission given to us by Christ.

If someone gets saved, but does not get discipled, we are picking the fruit from the tree, but leaving it laying in the field. To say it another way, we are becoming spiritual fathers and mothers to people, long enough to give new-birth, then leaving them as bastard children in the world, with no nurture or guidance to help them grow.

Defining Discipleship

The Lexham Theological Workbook says: 

“Discipleship is the process of devoting oneself to a teacher to learn from and become more like them. For the Christian, this refers to the process of learning the teachings of Jesus and following after his example in obedience through the power of the Holy Spirit. Discipleship not only involves the process of becoming a disciple but of making other disciples through teaching and evangelism.”

So discipleship is the process of taking a lost person, seeing them saved by introducing them to Jesus, and then walking with them into maturity as a believer in their relationship with the Holy Spirit. 

I used to think that discipleship looked different: The first steps begin small – things like repentance of sin, baptism, church attendance – then as time goes on, the person should grow to learn to pray, study the scriptures, and serve. Eventually, they step into leadership and begin evangelizing the lost, teaching biblical truths to others, and discipling others in their own Christian walk.

Those things are good and necessary, but as I have grown in the Christian life, I have come to know that those things are only the actions of a disciple. They don’t make a disciple.

Converts vs. Disciples

Truly making a disciple is taking the now-saved person and helping them draw closer to the Lord; to Hear His voice; to walk in obedience to Him; to learn their identity in Christ, and leading them to fulfill the destiny God has for them in such a way that gives all the glory back to God. That will involve all the action steps listed above, but it is also so much more!

Let me break this idea down a bit:

Q: Should a new believer come to Church?

A: Yes, obviously!

Q: Is it the goal to simply get a new believer to attend church? Is that “success?”

A: No.

The goal is that the person learns to worship the Lord and serve God’s people! Church attendance is necessary, but it is not the final goal. Church attendance should lead the people into the life of worship and service.

I hope you can see the difference: A convert becomes a church attender. A disciple becomes a worshiper and a servant.

Our job is to take a lost person, bring them to Christ in conversion, and then continue the process of leading them to become mature disciples. This is how we preserve the harvest Christ has given to us.

Discipleship matters because the world is full of converts to the Christian religion, but God’s desire is mature sons and daughters. We have to do more than go into the field as harvesters, we have to invest the time, energy, and resources to preserve the harvest God has given.

We would love to hear from you in the comments: Have you been discipled by mature believers in your Christian walk, or were you left to struggle on your own? How are you investing in the next generation of believers to see them grow to full maturity in Christ?

In This Series

In this series on discipleship, we will look at:

As we go deeper into how discipleship works, I pray this series helps you as a believer to create a strategy for discipling others. Don’t forget to subscribe! You might also enjoy this video teaching I did recently on this topic, also called “Why Discipleship Matters.”

Photo by Joshua Hoehne on Unsplash