Philippine Missions Association

Prayer is the essential foundation for Christian life and witness in the world. It is basic to spiritual maturity, church growth, mission mobilization and societal transformation.  Prayer is necessary but not sufficient.

In spite the multiplication of prayer movements and prayer congresses in the past 20 years, there seem to be hardly any change in the moral quality of societies and spiritual revival of churches.  Why is this so?  It seems that there is a tragic misunderstanding of prayer and hence also faulty practice of it.  It repeats the problem of Old Testament (OT) Israel where the prophets had to remind the people of God repeatedly that God prefers less religion and more transformation.  God desires not more religious services but more community services.

Isaiah proclaimed Yahweh’s call: “Is this the kind of fast that I have chosen, only a day for a man to humble himself? …Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the captives free and break every yoke?  Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter – when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?  Then will your light will break forth like the dawn…” (Isa. 58:5-12).

“Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; Put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes. Cease to do evil.  Learn to do good; Seek justice; Reprove the oppressor; Defend the fatherless; Plead for the widow. ‘Come now, and let us reason together,’ says the LORD; ‘Though your sins are like scarlet; they shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson; they shall be as wool.’” (Isa. 1:16-18).

This was repeated by Micah and Hosea: “With what shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before the High God? Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old?  Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams or ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?  He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you; But to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?” (Mic. 6:6-8).  “For I desire mercy and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.” (Hos. 6:6).

Amos was even clearer:  “I hate, I despise your feast days, and I do not savor your sacred assemblies.  Though you offer me burnt offerings and your grain offerings, I will not accept them; Nor will I regard your fattened peace offerings.  Take away from Me the noise of your songs; for I will not hear the melody of your stringed instruments.  But let justice run down like water; And righteousness like a mighty stream” (Amos 5:21-24).

Prayer meetings can be escapism in religious exercises devoid of spiritual substance that leads to more hypocrisy because the pray-ers don’t act consistently with their prayers!

Jesus rebuked the religious leaders of his time for just maintaining tradition: “You hypocrites!  Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.  They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men’” (Mt. 15:7-9).

Hence Jesus emphasized private prayers rather than public prayers: “And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.  But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. But when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words.  Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him” (Mt. 6:5-8).

So, what’s the right understanding and practice of prayer?

Right understanding.  Biblical prayer is fitting our will into God’s will.  It is addressed to our God who loves all people of the world and has a wonderful plan (called “abundant life,” Kingdom of God, shalom) for all. It is to ask “Lord, what is your will?” and follow it with “How do you want my life to fit into your will?” The best prayer that Jesus taught us is: “Your Kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” The most mature prayer is “Not my will, but Thine be done.”

Prayer is submitting or opening ourselves to obey what God’s will is. It’s surrendering our will to do what God desires. We pray to the Almighty God who is so generous to bless all peoples, including non-believers and our enemies.  Prayer is to put ourselves under His control and wait for His Spirit’s promptings in obeying His instructions revealed in the Bible, and to make us willing to obey Him promptly and boldly.

Genuine praying requires “waiting on God,” silently listening to God in front of His Word. Most significant praying is done after seeing a world in need, and then to ask God to send more workers into His harvest: “And Jesus went about all the cities and villages… But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, ‘The harvest truly is plentiful but the laborers are few.  Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.’” (Mt. 9:35-38).

The next verse (10:1) shows that as the disciples prayed, they were called to become the answers to their prayers! It’s dangerous to pray, especially for missions. Those who wait on the Lord will hear Him ask “Who shall I send?” And the answer He expects is: “Here I am, send me”!

Right practice.  Hence in Old Testament times, prayer revivals resulted in societal transformation, whenever Israel realized its role to be a model to the nations as a kingdom of priests and a holy nation (Exod.19:5-6).  And in the New Testament, prayer revival resulted in mission mobilization. Just 120 prayed, yet the whole city of Jerusalem was shaken with the Gospel being spread “from house to house” (Ac. 2:41-47; 4:31-37), and with persecution to the ends of the Roman Empire (8:1-4).  Prayer and fasting by Antioch’s ministerial fellowship resulted in actual sending of two of them into the mission field (Ac. 13).  Moving by the guidance and with the power of the Holy Spirit (and without the need for big prayer rallies), the missionaries made impact wherever they evangelized (Ac.19:8-10; Rom.15:18-20).

This kind of biblical praying happened repeatedly in church history.  There were the monastic movements with their disciplines of “prayer and work” (Benedictines, Dominicans, Franciscans, Jesuits) that spread Roman Catholic Christianity worldwide.  Pietists started “ecclesiola” (little churches) in the margins of the Lutheran Church.  Puritans formed “conventicles” in the margins of the Anglican Church, Wesleyans formed “classes” when Methodism was still a movement that transformed the British Empire and sent out “circuit riders” to plant churches.  Haugians organized “societies of friends” to transform Norway into a model nation with entrepreneurs and transformational missionaries.  These prayer groups soon produced mission boards, Bible societies, charitable foundations, urban ministries and lately also development organizations and political advocacy groups.

In Asia, Friends Missionary Prayer Board organized “prayer bands” in the margins of the Indian churches, Bethel Bands formed “three-man evangelistic teams” across China and among the Chinese diaspora.  In recent years, campus ministries sprouted in cell groups that produced evangelistic and transformational “nation-builders” in the marketplace in the Philippines. These were primarily lay initiatives which met in small groups listening to God and one another and as they applied God’s Word to their lives, just obeyed Him, often without consultation with and approval from their respective clergymen.

Thus historically, in great revivals, biblical praying resulted in massive societal transformation and mission mobilization.  Prayer produced obedience to the Great Commandment to love God above all and love neighbors as themselves (Mt. 22:37-39), and even to the New Commandment to “love one another” as Christ loves us (self-sacrificially as fellow members of God’s family – Jn. 13:34-35).  Not many prayed, but the few who did acted on their prayers.  Not many prayer meetings were needed, but repentance from the lack of love and social concern resulted in the moral transformation of their societies, often without support from the institutional church!

Biblical praying also resulted further in obedience to the Great Commission, to be Christ’s ambassadors “to the ends of the earth” (Ac. 1:8) and make disciples of all peoples with the assurance of the authority and superintendence of Christ himself (Mt. 28:18-20).  Not many prayed, but the few who did acted on their prayers.  Not many prayer meetings were needed, but repentance from the lack of love for the nations led to massive sending of missionaries, often with marginal support from the institutional churches, too!

In sum, we just need to release all believers to freely meet and pray together with other believers in small groups of two or three or four.  Let them listen to God and share with one another freely and privately.  It’s really impossible to hear God in a crowd, especially a noisy one.  And whatever they agree to do, let them just do it!  And their prayerful obedient actions will surely be blessed (Mt. 18:18-20).

Do their denominational affiliations really matter?  If anyone considers that it does matter, that’s denominationalism (or “party spirit”), and Paul gives a stern warning: “Don’t you know that your yourselves are God’s temple?  If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him…” (1 Cor. 3:16-17). The failure to have Christian unity has been and will always be the biggest hindrance to world evangelization and transformation.  It is the worst disobedience to our Lord’s will/prayer: “Let them be one… so that the world will believe…” (Jn. 17:20-23).

What God desires is obedience – to set up His rule of righteousness on earth. Much praying is needed when there is reluctance and rebellion to obey Him. Less praying is needed if His people are willing and faithful in doing His will. Then praying is just to show humility in dependence for God’s courage, strength and wisdom in our obedience. If we do our part, God will do His part — and more! If there is obedience, there is really no need to beg earnestly for God’s blessings for He is more eager than us to bless us and save all peoples! We pray to a loving God who is eager to bless and reluctant to condemn.

Therefore, enough of prayer with no transformation and mission!  Just as faith without works is dead, so is prayer without action.  May God use each of us to spark a prayer movement that really results in transformation and mission — by just forming obedience-oriented prayer groups or “house churches” wherever we can!