The Healing Touch of the Elders:
"While one may pray privately, there is special merit in praying with others as part of a congregation;" - Jill Robins, The Phenomenology of Prayer, Pg. 39
I am not sure about other people, but I have always personally found the power of corporate prayer to be one of the most fascinating things about my faith. The Bible gives a clear precedent of this power, and it even argues that the power can continue on today. Over the summer, a man in my church, who was struggling with severe migraines and who was discovered to have a brain tumor the size of an orange, approached the pastor and asked for the church to pray over him. Lo and behold, we prayed over him as the Bible describes clearly, and he was completely healed. Honestly, the doctors were shocked, because they had the x-ray images of the tumor that had been miraculously taken away.
Again, it its very interesting to me to hear of scholars calling out the importance of corporate prayer. Robins goes on to argue that those who pray alone are "walled in". In many ways this is true, but I am cautious to go as far as she does in describing the experience. Also, I think that it is very important to point out that God does want us to have our own prayer closets where we can go to him alone.
Regardless, God's promise that where two or three are gathered, there he too would be in the mist is always honored; and it is a most powerful thing.
No comments:
Post a Comment