A Praying Church, Part 2
March 16, 2023 | by: Dale Thiele | 0 Comments
Posted in: Pastoral Encouragement
In this series of articles, I seek 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.
Why pray? Why is prayer so essential for the Christian and the church? Why do authors like Paul Miller say, “Prayer is the very breath of the church,” as if the church cannot survive without praying? It is to these foundational questions that Miller gives attention in chapters 3 & 4 of his book A Praying Church. He gives a theological answer that carries an urgency. He explains, “We’ll take a closer look at the connection between prayer and how the Spirit of Jesus works in his church” (p. 23).
Miller says that every Christian operates with some sort of blueprint for a church. The typical blueprint places some core, essential activities at the center, or foundation, of the church, activities like preaching, worship, mission, and even prayer. The weakness of this blueprint, argues Miller, is that compartmentalizes prayer as just one activity to do. He then explains that a healthy church has the Spirit of Jesus at its core, all activity flows from the Spirit, and prayer is essential because it ties all activity to the empowerment of the Spirit. He writes, “Prayer becomes central because the Spirit, who carries Christ to us, is central. An attentiveness to the Spirit of Jesus is the missing key to the church’s prayerlessness” (p. 24).
Using the analogy of a power train in a car, which transfers the power created by the engine to the wheels in order to move the vehicle, Miller states, “The church’s power train: prayer -> Spirit -> Jesus -> power” (p. 25). Through prayer we are dependent on the Spirit. The Spirit’s main ministry is to bring Jesus to his people. It is Christ’s power that transforms people and empowers true gospel ministry. Or, as Miller says, “We are talking about the very life of Jesus by his Spirit flowing into our lives, our families, and our communities, reflecting ‘the immeasurable greatness of his power’” (p. 29). If we are prayerless, the power train is broken, we are not dependent on the Spirit, and we do not see the power of Christ working in our midst.
Therefore, Miller distinguishes prayer from the “ministries” of the church. Our ministries are only ministries of the gospel if the Spirit empowers them; prayer is the bridge to bring the Spirit to our ministry. Miller explains, “Prayer is not a ministry of the church—it is the heart of ministry through which the real, functional leadership of the intimate union of the Spirit and Jesus, formed at the resurrection, operates. Or to put it more simply: prayer accesses the Spirit of Jesus. He runs the place” (p. 29-30).
In chapter 4 Miller gives a short history of the praying church, demonstrating that the people of God, through all the ages, have been a people of prayer. Even as early as Genesis 4:26, God’s people were marked by prayer. Jesus modeled a life and ministry that was rooted in prayer. And after Pentecost, the church continued to be devoted to prayer. Miller says, “Praying together is so fundamental that the first description of Christians recalls the words of Genesis 4:26, ‘people [who] began to call upon the name of the Lord” (cf. Acts 2:21; 9:14, 21). Jesus’s praying heart has become the church’s praying heart” (p. 41).
Miller has written this book because he believes, “We (America and the West) are the first generation in two thousand years to have lost this vision of the church as a house of prayer” (p. 41). How about us, Oak Hills? Would you say that we have lost this vision of the church? What’s the core of our church? Preaching? Worship? Fellowship? Or the Spirit of Christ? Is prayer just one additional thing to do? Or is it the vital connection to the power train of the Spirit of Christ? Pray with me that we would become more and more a praying church.
-Pastor Dale
