What Is Corporate Prayer? The Power of Praying Together
Corporate prayer is when God's people pray together, with one heart and one voice, in agreement with God and with one another. It happens in a church service, a prayer meeting, a small group, or around a kitchen table. Jesus didn't only teach us to pray alone. He taught us to pray "Our Father." And He made a special promise to those who pray together.
Again, assuredly I tell you, that if two of you will agree on earth concerning anything that they will ask, it will be done for them by my Father who is in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am in the middle of them.”
Matthew 18:19-20, World English Bible
Why Pray Together?
God has chosen prayer as one of the main ways He releases His power on the earth. Jesus Himself "always lives to make intercession" for us (Hebrews 7:25). When we pray, we join what He is already doing. At its simplest, intercession is telling God what He has told us to tell Him. It is simple enough for a child, and it is how God includes ordinary people in His work.
Scripture even gives us a glimpse of heaven, where the prayers of God's people rise like incense before His throne (Revelation 5:8; 8:3-5). Your prayers matter there. And when believers gather and agree, something happens that doesn't happen alone.
The Church Was Born in a Prayer Meeting
Before Peter preached, before thousands were saved, there was a room full of believers waiting on God together.
Now when the day of Pentecost had come, they were all with one accord in one place. Suddenly there came from the sky a sound like the rushing of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. Tongues like fire appeared and were distributed to them, and one sat on each of them. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with other languages, as the Spirit gave them the ability to speak.
Acts 2:1-4, World English Bible
Jesus had told them to stay in the city until they were clothed with power from on high (Luke 24:49), so they stayed and they prayed. When persecution came in Acts 4, they didn't scatter. They gathered again and "lifted up their voice to God with one accord" (Acts 4:24). They asked for boldness, and the place where they were meeting was shaken (Acts 4:31). When the church prays together, fear gives way to boldness.
Agreement Is the Key
The heart of corporate prayer is agreement, and it works in two directions.
Agreement with God. Jesus said, "If you remain in me, and my words remain in you, you will ask whatever you desire, and it will be done for you" (John 15:7). We grow in agreement with God by listening to the Holy Spirit and praying His Word back to Him.
Agreement with one another. Paul prayed for believers, "that with one accord you may with one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Romans 15:6). That kind of unity takes humility, counting others as more important than ourselves (Philippians 2:2-3), and love, which binds everything together (Colossians 3:14).
See how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to live together in unity! It is like the precious oil on the head, that ran down on the beard, even Aaron’s beard; that came down on the edge of his robes; like the dew of Hermon, that comes down on the hills of Zion: for there Yahweh gives the blessing, even life forever more.
Psalm 133:1-3, World English Bible
Notice where the blessing is commanded: where brothers and sisters live in unity.
Four Movements of Praying Together
1. Listen. Before asking, seek God's heart on the matter. The Holy Spirit takes what belongs to Jesus and makes it known to us (John 16:15). Daniel read the promises in Jeremiah, and then he set his face to pray (Daniel 9:2-3).
2. Ask, and keep asking. Jesus told a parable about a friend who kept knocking at midnight, then said, "Keep asking, and it will be given you. Keep seeking, and you will find" (Luke 11:9). "You don't have, because you don't ask" (James 4:2).
3. Receive by faith. "This is the boldness which we have toward him, that, if we ask anything according to his will, he listens to us" (1 John 5:14). When we know we are praying God's will, we can thank Him in faith before we see the answer.
4. Persevere until you see it. Paul tells us to pray "at all times in the Spirit" with "all perseverance" (Ephesians 6:18). We don't earn answers by persistence, but we don't give up too quickly when the answer is delayed.
When God Meets a Gathering
In 2007, shortly before Hannah and I married, I felt the Lord invite me to fast leading up to a large gathering of prayer and worship in Nashville. I had never fasted before, and honestly, I kept breaking it every few days. I was asking God for freedom in an area of my life I didn't want to carry into marriage.
When the day came, I was in a seat far from the stage in a hot outdoor stadium in July. They began to sing a simple chorus asking God for more love, more power, more of Him. And something broke open in me. I wept more deeply than I ever had. Strangers around me turned and quietly began to pray for me. God met me with healing and freedom that day, and I walked out different.
My fast was weak. But the prayers of thousands of people, gathered in agreement, became the place where God's power broke through in a way I don't think I would have experienced alone. I have believed in praying together ever since.
"If My People..."
Throughout Scripture, when God's people drifted or faced crisis, He didn't send them away to figure it out alone. He called them together.
if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves, pray, seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
2 Chronicles 7:14, World English Bible
Humility, prayer, seeking His face and turning from sin, together. The promise is healing, not only for individuals, but for churches, cities and nations.
How to Start Praying Together
Start small. Two or three is enough for Jesus' promise. Ask a friend, your spouse, or your small group to pray with you once a week.
Pray Scripture. Use the prayers of the Bible, like Ephesians 1:17-19, Ephesians 3:14-19 and Colossians 1:9-12. It gives everyone something to agree on.
Keep prayers short and simple. Let many voices pray. Shorter prayers keep everyone engaged and leave room for the Holy Spirit.
Make room for listening. Pause and ask, "Holy Spirit, what are You saying?" Then share what you sense, humbly.
Come as His children. We have received the Spirit by whom we cry, "Abba! Father!" (Romans 8:15). God isn't a reluctant boss making us pray. He is a tender Father who enjoys His children. That changes how we pray together.
At GateCity, we pray together on Sundays and at our gatherings throughout the week. If you're in Atlanta, come pray with us.
Go deeper. This post draws from the chapter "Shared Conversations" in Conversations by Hazen and Hannah Stevens. Start the free 10-day Conversations Bible plan, watch the Conversations series, or read How to Pray and How to Fast Biblically.
Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible (public domain).
