What Will They Think of Me?

Acts 1:12-14

Verse 14  They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.

    Yesterday we discussed Jesus calling the Temple a house of prayer.  It wasn’t only a place for individual prayer but also for community prayer.  In fact there were times daily for prayer.

    This is part of abiding is being part of the Church and abiding together.  Praying together isn’t something that is as common in churches today, not that it shouldn’t be, and so it can be awkward.  We often say we don’t feel comfortable praying in a group, even if it is small.  There are a few different reasons for our lack of comfort – not knowing the “proper words” to say and not being practiced at praying.

    While it may be understandable to feel a bit of nervousness at first to pray in front of others this an important part of abiding together in Him.  If we can’t feel comfortable praying with fellow Christians it says two things about us, neither which are pleasant to think about ourselves.  First, it may say that we are comfortable in a social situation with our fellow believers yet aren’t comfortable enough for united spiritual discipline.  It may also say that we aren’t comfortable enough praying alone that we can’t talk to God in front of others.  Maybe we care more about what others think about us than what we say in prayer.

    That brings us to the other reason we mentioned earlier about feeling nervous praying in a group.  We have all heard people who seem to have a better spiritual vocabulary.  They pray in King James English and make the rest of us feel like God wouldn’t even bother listening to

 our prayers.  But that isn’t true.  God isn’t a language snob.  He doesn’t look at the sound of our prayer, but the heart of the prayer.

    The main thing to remember is that it isn’t about us.  This portion of abiding is important.  It is important for our growth in Christ and our faith community’s growth in Christ.  For us to grow, we need to step out of our places of discomfort and find peace with joining others in conversation with our Lord and Savior.  We need to be intentional in our prayer lives, both as an individual and as a faith community.

Making It Personal

    How comfortable are you with praying with others?  Which reason is true about your lack of comfort in praying with others?  Who is someone that you would be willing to meet and pray with?

Making It Personal Kids

    Are you afraid to pray in front of other people?  Why are you afraid?  Will you try to pray with someone?

Closing Prayer

    Father, thank You for calling us together to pray.  Give us a love for each other that brings us to pray together for Your kingdom.  In Jesus’ name, amen.