How many people need to pray for our need, before God will act in the way that we want?

I have done a systematic study of prayer in the Bible before and have found that we often don't pray as taught and patterned in the scriptures. Usually our errors are in the area of thinking God does not know our needs or that He really needs our advice on what would be the best course of action in our particular case.

I think the model prayer Jesus gave us has some good parameters for prayer -

Matt. 6:8 “Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him. ⁹ In this manner, therefore, pray:

Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
¹⁰ Your kingdom come.
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.
¹¹ Give us this day our daily bread.
¹² And forgive us our debts,
As we forgive our debtors.
¹³ And do not lead us into temptation,
But deliver us from the evil one.
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. (NKJV)

 

I am not suggesting there are not other acceptable categories for prayer, but I think it is worth noting some basics Jesus taught:

 

1. God knows what we need (vs. 6).

 

2. We should recognize and worship God for who He is (vs. 9).

 

3. We should want His will, not ours (vs. 10).

 

4. We should recognize our dependence on Him and ask Him to meet our basic needs (vs. 11).

 

5. We should ask for forgiveness for our sins (vs. 12).

 

6. We should forgive or ask for help to forgive those who sin against us (vs. 12).

 

7. We should pray for God's help in avoiding sin (vs.13).

 

8. We should acknowledge that God has all power and all is for His glory (vs. 13).

 

When it comes to prayer in the church, our prayers should certainly be weighted heavily toward these categories. As we read the NT letters to the church there are is much in common with Jesus' previous words on prayer -

 

Acts 4:24 So when they heard that, they raised their voice to God with one accord and said: “Lord, You are God, who made heaven and earth and the sea, and all that is in them, ²⁵ who by the mouth of Your servant David^[b] have said:

‘Why did the nations rage,
And the people plot vain things?
²⁶ The kings of the earth took their stand,
And the rulers were gathered together
Against the Lord and against His Christ.’^[c]

²⁷ “For truly against Your holy Servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together ²⁸ to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose determined before to be done. ²⁹ Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word, ³⁰ by stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus.” ³¹ And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness. (NKJV)

Phil. 1:9 And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, ¹⁰ that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, ¹¹ being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God. (NKJV)

Col. 1:9 For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; ¹⁰ that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; ¹¹ strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; ¹² giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. (NKJV)

2 Thess. 1:11 Therefore we also pray always for you that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfill all the good pleasure of His goodness and the work of faith with power, ¹² that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ. (NKJV)

All of the previous verses are similar in content  to Jesus teaching in Matt. 6 passage. The next two are a little different and worth noting -

James 5:13 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms. ¹⁴ Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. (NKJV)

What are we to do when we are suffering? Pray! What are we to do if we are sick? Send an email to everyone so they will pray? Mention it at a prayer service? Make sure we have as many people as possible praying for our healing? Those might be OK, but the thing we are definitely told to do is "call for the elders of the church" to pray/anoint, etc. Why do we not do the one thing we are told we should do?

What should we be sharing with others on a regular basis and praying about, try this -

James 5:16 Confess your trespasses^[e] to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. (NKJV)

Why do we want to make our medical needs as public as possible, even as we fail to deal with them biblically, and at the same time keep our sins, which we should be confessing and praying about with each other, as private as possible?

Why do our prayer in person or by other sources such as internet/email, seem to be a million miles away from the biblical teaching and pattern for prayer? We act like getting the most people we possibly can to pray, for our need or that of a loved one, will move God to act in our favor and all the while we neglect almost every aspect of prayer that God's word actually teaches. The Bible says the prayer of even one righteous person avails much. We tend to focus on how many people we can get to pray, rather than if we are praying in accord with God's word.

1 John 5:14 Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. ¹⁵ And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him. (NKJV)

Want to pray effectively?

We need to know His word, to know His will, then we can pray with confidence, whether we are one or many!

"Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved."