A Praying Church, Part 12
June 1, 2023 | by: Dale Thiele | 0 Comments
Posted in: Pastoral Encouragement
This is the final article of the series, in which I have sought to unpack the teaching of Paul Miller’s new book, A Praying Church, and apply the principles to our church. As we grow in our prayer habits, may we become people of hope in a discouraging world.
In the last section of the book, titled “Specialized Praying in Community,” Miller addresses three specifics tied to prayer. First, he considers the biblical commands to “be constant in prayer” (Rom. 12:12). Second, he explains how prayer is vital in the battle against besetting sins. Third, he encourages the discipline of fasting in connection with prayer. Let’s consider these in turn.
There are multiple places in his letters where the apostle Paul commands “pray without ceasing” (1 Thes. 5:17). Miller contends, “Christians usually run Paul’s exhortations to be constant in prayer through our grid of Western individualism and assume that the need for constancy applies to each of us separately…The idea is all of you, together, in your communities, be constant in prayer” (p. 229). If a church community is to cultivate a culture of prayer, there needs to be an inclination to turn to prayer in all circumstances, not only at designated times of prayer.
Miller provides examples for what constancy of prayer may look like in various relationships. In the end, he ties prayerfulness with our ability to love one another. He writes, “Finally, the only way you can sustain love, especially in close relationships, with all the complexities of your sin and the other person’s, is to saturate your relationship in prayer. Constant love requires constant prayer” (p. 231).
The second specialized area Miller addresses is how prayer impacts besetting sin. He only speaks about two sins, sexual immorality and cynicism, but his teaching applies to any sin. He begins by reminding the reader that only the power of the gospel breaks the power of besetting sin. As he explained early in the book, prayer is our link to the power of the gospel. He then spends time explaining the vital role of confession in one’s battle against sin, and how it is different from shame. He writes, “Shame that doesn’t come to God and rest in Christ is penance” (p. 237), meaning, when all we do with our sin is beat ourselves up over it, we are really not bringing it to God in confession. He goes on to write, “Repeated confession breaks the power of shame by shifting the focus of shame from self-loathing to sin-loathing” (p. 238). The real battle against sin involves the growth of both the hatred of sin and the delight in Christ. Of course, in a book advocating the need for a praying church community, Miller also explains, “The fight against temptation is communal” (p. 241). We need brothers and sisters praying with and for us in our battles against sin.
In the last chapter, Miller turns his attention to fasting. Frequently in the Bible we read that prayer is coupled with fasting. And yet, many in the church do not fast on a regular basis, if at all. Miller probes the effectiveness of fasting when he writes, “Why fasting is so effective: it thins the veil between you and heaven by cutting off your most basic desire—food. Something happens to your spirit in fasting that makes you more aware of the spiritual world” (p. 245). He then looks to the example of the Puritans in the 17th century. They would often call for days of fasting and prayer. Miller explains, “Like the Hebrew prophets, the Puritans never looked at events abstractly but instead reflected on the state of their own hearts” (p. 249). No matter what circumstances they were facing, each provided an opportunity to examine one’s hearts, confess sin, repent, and endeavor to delight in Christ all the more.
My prayer has been that these reflections on Miller’s book would inspire and challenge us to be people of prayer, and, as a consequence, our church would be a praying church. I have been most encouraged by the reminders that prayer is the link that binds us to the resurrection power of the gospel. In all the exposition about prayer, however, let’s not forget the simplicity that “Prayer is children asking their Father for help” (p. 256).
