Good day, brother Jeffery,<\/p>\n
Thanks for always answering questions. They’ve been helpful to me and the people around me.<\/p>\n
I want to ask you a question about the orderliness of prayer in the church. Can the church pray such that a time is given during worship, such as 10 to 20 minutes where prayers are done such that each member is allowed to make his own personal prayers and there would be a leader who at 3 minutes intervals brings up prayer points and after 20 minutes would conclude all prayers by leading a prayer.<\/p>\n
I am worried about this because I’ve studied this, but I have not seen any command or inference or any example whatsoever that authorizes this kind of prayer. Is this not a window that allows disorderliness?<\/p>\n
In Acts 12, the Bible talks about the disciples praying together but it does not say how. I Corinthians 14:16-17 infers that one person prayed in a church gathering and the rest replied amen. 1 Corinthians 14 also talks of orderliness and of one person at a time. In I Timothy 2:8 Paul writes that men should lead prayers everywhere. Also, when one person leads prayers and the rest reply amen, is it not the whole congregation that prays?<\/p>\n
Please I want to understand what the Bible says about this issue. I’d appreciate it if you could throw more light on the subject.<\/p>\n\t
“He came to the house of Mary the mother of John, whose surname was Mark; where many were gathered together praying<\/em>” (Acts 12:12).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
This was a gathering of Christians at Mary’s house, but it is not worded in a way that indicates it was a gathering of the church. As you noted it says that prayers were being made, but it doesn’t indicate how those prayers were organized. Still, this particular passage doesn’t address the question of what may be done when the church assembles.<\/p>\n
Paul’s point in I Corinthians 14, concerning the worship of the church, is that everything done in worship is to be done to edify the congregation (I Corinthians 14:26). The rules that follow show that things were to be done one at a time so that attention can be given to the one speaking. This would forbid multiple prayers being said aloud at the same time. “For God is not a God of confusion, but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints<\/em>” (I Corinthians 14:33). Earlier, Paul also argued against someone speaking a prayer of thanksgiving in a language that no one else assembled understands. “Otherwise if you bless in the spirit only, how will the one who fills the place of the ungifted say the ‘Amen’ at your giving of thanks, since he does not know what you are saying? For you are giving thanks well enough, but the other person is not edified<\/em>” (I Corinthians 14:16-17). In other words, prayer in worship is jointly done by all who are assembled. Private prayers (“praying in the spirit only<\/em>“) doesn’t benefit the congregation.<\/p>\n
This is not to say that private prayers are wrong, it just doesn’t fulfill the purpose of the church gathering together to offer unified prayer and teaching to all who are present. There is a place for private prayers, but not in the worship (Matthew 6:5-6).<\/p>\n
I’m also bothered by the idea of placing time limits on the prayers offered and interrupting the ongoing prayers with suggestions about what to pray for next. These are measures taken because no one knows what is being offered in personal, silent prayers.<\/p>\n\t
Response:<\/h2>\n
Thanks a lot for answering this question. May God bless you and increase your knowledge of the Bible so you will be able to answer more questions of faith and show people the truth.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: Good day, brother Jeffery, Thanks for always answering questions. They’ve been helpful to me and the people around me. I want to ask you a question about the orderliness of prayer in the church. Can the church pray such that a time is given during worship, such as 10 to 20 minutes where prayers…<\/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,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[1510],"class_list":["post-66225","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":66225,"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":25566,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-have-trouble-remaining-focused-in-my-prayers-what-should-i-do\/","url_meta":{"origin":66225,"position":1},"title":"I have trouble remaining focused in my prayers. What should I do?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 13, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have a couple of questions regarding my prayer life that are bothering me.\u00a0 I\u2019ve searched for the answers to these myself, but the only places I\u2019ve found them addressed is from the Catholic church, and I\u2019d rather hear an opinion from a member of the church of Christ.\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":32077,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-proper-to-publish-your-prayers\/","url_meta":{"origin":66225,"position":2},"title":"Is it proper to publish your prayers?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 15, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Pleasant good morning, I'd appreciate some guidance, please.\u00a0I have observed prayers in the comment section under news articles of tragic incidents. When tragedy strikes I could, in the privacy of my home, say a prayer for those involved, and believe that God hears my prayers. However, others are posting\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":29528,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/jesus-and-prayer\/","url_meta":{"origin":66225,"position":3},"title":"Jesus and Prayer","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 5, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeff Wolverton Sentry Magazine, December 2002 Jesus as Our Intercessor The intercession of the Holy Spirit does not set aside the intercession of Jesus Christ. \"And in the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":24516,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-do-you-make-your-prayer-life-better\/","url_meta":{"origin":66225,"position":4},"title":"How do you make your prayer life better?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 13, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: What should you do if you have been baptized and trying to live the Christian life, but your prayer life is not as it should be? You go for weeks without praying and asking God to forgive your sins. Then when you do pray for forgiveness, you never feel\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":28449,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-bad-to-keep-on-praying-the-same-prayer-all-over-again\/","url_meta":{"origin":66225,"position":5},"title":"Is it bad to keep on praying the same prayer all over again?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 13, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: This is a question about prayer. Is it bad to keep on praying the same prayer all over again? It could be from desperation, or it can be another reason. 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