When the Church Prays

(This is an abridged version of the sermon I preached at Epworth Chapel UMC, Baltimore on 7/10/11)

"While Peter was kept in prison, the church prayed fervently to God for him." (Acts 12:5)

The most powerful weapon of the church is prayer. Prayer has the capacity to change things, and to change people. Prayer can break down barriers and heal relationships. Prayer can heal bodies and open the doors where God can make ways out of no way.

God desires that the church be about the business of prayer.
• That’s why the Lord said, “If my people who are called by my name would humble themselves and pray, I will hear from them, and heal the land.”
• That’s why Paul encouraged people of faith to, “Pray without ceasing.”
• That’s why Jesus reminded us that “the fervent prayers of the righteous (the church) availed much.”

We are called to be about the business of prayer - praying for ourselves, for our families, for our children, for our communities, for our church, for the person sitting next to us on Sunday, for our nation.

Indeed, God is calling the church to prayer today - for our sisters and brothers around the world, for the church universal, for the disinherited and dispossessed, for the abused and alienated, and for those who may not yet know God.

The truth is that prayer is the most powerful weapon that we have at our disposal to make a difference the world. That’s why we are reminded that there is no weapon that is formed against us that will prosper. The weapon of prayer – the tool of prayer - is more powerful than the weapons of hatred, and destruction, and negativity that are so incumbent in our world – and even in many of our churches today.

The scripture reminds us of what happens when the church prays. In the book of Acts, we find that Peter was in jail. King Harod, also known as Agrippa II, had Peter locked up because Peter had been going about doing the work of the Lord. People’s lives were being changed by the power of God as Peter went about preaching the word of God, and healing people in the name of Jesus.

King Harod had Peter locked up, and Harod wanted to be certain that Peter wouldn’t escape, so Harod had four soldiers guarding Peter at all times. The guards put chains on Peter’s wrists, and each of the chains was locked to a guard. Outside the jail cell stood two more guards.

The church, God’s people knew that Peter was locked in jail. And so while Peter was imprisoned, the people of God gathered at a house and they started to pray. That night, while Peter was sleeping, and the people were praying, an angel showed up and stood next to him. The angel tapped Peter, woke him up and said, “Get up quickly!” And suddenly, the chains fell off of Peter’s hands, and he was set free!

In 1990, Nelson Mandela was released from a prison in South Africa after having been incarcerated for over 26 years. While in prison, Mandela and others were subjected to humiliation and brutality at the hands of their white, pro-Apartheid captors. But something within Mandela allowed him not to strike back with the same violence of those who imprisoned him.

What was it that helped Mandela hold his peace amidst the adversity that he faced in jail? Maybe it was that Mandela knew that people on the outside were praying for him. Maybe Mandela knew that pastors and people of faith like Bishop Desmond Tutu were praying for him. Maybe he knew that there were people in churches even across the world – even here in America - who were praying that Apartheid, with all of its atrocities and oppressive features would be stamped out.

Maybe Mandela knew that truth stamped to the ground and crushed will always rise again. Maybe he knew that through the power of prayer, God would intervene on his behalf, and one day set him free. Maybe Mandela knew that God answers prayer, and that the Lord might not always come when we want him, but he’s always on time.

And so the power that was extant and alive in Mandela and others, was portrayed in a popular movie from a few years ago that took its title from short Victorian a poem entitled “Invictus” where English poet William Ernest Henley wrote:

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul...
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

Invictus is the Latin word of unconquerable, and William Henley here is speaking to the unconquerable nature of the soul. We know that we are only unconquerable in and through the power of God.

And so, what happens when the church prays? First, when the church prays, we realize that we must focus not on our own power, but on the power of God – who is omnipotent. The earliest followers of Christ of Peter’s day knew that they couldn’t overcome King Harod and his army by themselves, but they knew that with God all things are possible.

Second, when the church prays, we become more united. Prayer unites the church. Prayer helps us to see God at work through the body of Christ. Prayer helps us to unite even in the midst of our differences. In the case of the Acts church, they were praying together and were on the same accord, and that’s when the Lord showed up and set Peter free.

Third, when we pray we realize that God will change the things that need to be changed in our lives and the lives of others. And we know that through prayer that God is changing us so that we can deal with all of the things of this world with the power of God working within us.

The good news is that God answers the prayers of God’s people.

We pray because we know that God is a prayer answering God, and that the Lord is with us in every situation. We're not alone!

The song-writer put it best:

"I’ve seen the lightning flashing, and heard the thunder rolling.
I’ve felt sins breakers dashing, trying to conquer my soul.
I heard the voice of my savior, he bidst me still to fight on.
He promised never to leave me, never to leave me alone.
Never alone, no never alone,
He promised never to leave me, never to leave me alone."