We have a problem with some Christians imitating the Pentecostal’s mass prayers where many people pray out aloud at once. I need your help with the Bible refutation.<\/p>\n\t
People tend to gravitate to things that are exciting and novel. A large noisy party is exciting. A lectureship in comparison is dry. Yet, in a party, there is very little communication taking place. Oh, people talk with others individually, but nothing is communicated to the group as a whole. In a lectureship, there is communication to all but less individual participation.<\/p>\n
When the church is assembled for the worship of God, is it for individual worship or worship as a group? Paul’s point in I Corinthians is that worship is a joint effort and expresses our unity. “Is not the cup of blessing which we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ? Is not the bread which we break a sharing in the body of Christ? Since there is one bread, we who are many are one body<\/strong>; for we all partake of the one bread<\/em>” (I Corinthians 10:16-17). This concept is not limited to just the partaking of the Lord’s Supper.<\/p>\n “When you assemble, each one has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification<\/strong>. If anyone speaks in a tongue, it should be by two or at the most three, and each in turn<\/strong>, and one must interpret; but if there is no interpreter, he must keep silent in the church; and let him speak to himself and to God. Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others pass judgment. But if a revelation is made to another who is seated, the first one must keep silent. For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all may be exhorted<\/strong>; and the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets; for God is not a God of confusion<\/strong> but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints<\/em>” (I Corinthians 16:26-33).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n If all pray at the same time, there is no building up of the group. Each individual might claim to benefit himself, but the church exists to build up the group. “And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ<\/strong><\/em>” (Ephesians 4:11-12). Instead, mass prayers give way to mass confusion and this is not what God desires.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Question: We have a problem with some Christians imitating the Pentecostal’s mass prayers where many people pray out aloud at once. I need your help with the Bible refutation. Answer: People tend to gravitate to things that are exciting and novel. A large noisy party is exciting. A lectureship in comparison is dry. Yet, in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[1510],"class_list":["post-64487","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-prayers"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":18591,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-we-pray-individual-prayers-together-in-worship\/","url_meta":{"origin":64487,"position":0},"title":"Can we pray individual prayers together in worship?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 18, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Brother Jeffrey, Please, I want to know from Scriptures about mass prayer in New Testament worship.\u00a0Can we pray together, when we come together, but each one prays his or her own prayer? Thank you. Answer: Worship as a church is distinct from individual worship. In a church service, everything\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":31582,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-wrong-to-read-a-prayer-in-worship-services\/","url_meta":{"origin":64487,"position":1},"title":"Is it wrong to read a prayer in worship services?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 3, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Is it wrong to read a prayer in worship services? Answer: \"Until I come, give attention to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation and teaching\" (I Timothy 4:13). Many of the passages of the Bible are prayers, such as Jesus' prayer (John 17), Hannah's prayer (I Samuel 2),\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":34893,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/are-singing-and-prayers-during-mid-week-bible-study-worship\/","url_meta":{"origin":64487,"position":2},"title":"Are singing and prayers during mid-week Bible study worship?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 20, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Dear Brother, I am a member of the Body of Christ. I have a question that I hope you can answer for me. After midweek Bible class everyone gathers and we sing songs, offer up prayers, a short sermon is given, and an invitation is extended. Is this worship?\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":33450,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-a-church-have-time-in-worship-for-members-to-pray-quietly\/","url_meta":{"origin":64487,"position":3},"title":"Should a church have time in worship for members to pray quietly?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 25, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I am a member of the Church of Christ in a local congregation. Of late, when we pray in the church, we do allow individual members some time to say their prayers adding that we should not speak loud. I am perplexed now. Answer: I don't blame you for\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3747,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/are-lectureships-scriptural\/","url_meta":{"origin":64487,"position":4},"title":"Are lectureships scriptural?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 20, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Tell me your thoughts about \"lectureships.\"\u00a0 Is this a scriptural term?\u00a0 Do we have authority for women lectureships? Answer: Let us establish a basic point. The question is not whether a particular term is found in the Bible or not. After all, language changes constantly. What might have made\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":30869,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-announcements-come-before-or-after-worship\/","url_meta":{"origin":64487,"position":5},"title":"Should announcements come before or after worship?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 8, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Can announcement be done before the Lord's Supper, preaching, praying, singing, or done at the end of service? (Matthew 6:33). God's business first, then the church's business last? Please I need help! Thank you. Answer: When God does not make a rule, it is not proper to make one\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64487","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64487"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64487\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64487"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64487"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64487"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}