WHY WE WORSHIP THE WAY WE DO

Prayer

"Offering prayer in public is an aspect of leading in worship that deserves focused attention. Because the Lord's Day worship service is a public service, the prayers in these services are of necessity public… this means that public prayer will differ from private prayer in both its subject matter and its aim. Namely, public prayer must edify the public. Prayers offered in public are audible not silent, and must be intelligible because they aim at not personal but public edification. Their purpose is to bless both God and the congregation. There are two audiences, one on earth and one in heaven. This is precisely the apostle Paul's point in 1 Cor. 14:14-19. … Public prayer, while addressed to God, is for public edification and instruction. It is another kind of pulpit speech, closely related to preaching." – Terry Johnson

Next to preaching, prayer is the most important aspect of our worship unto God. The book of Acts bears eloquent testimony to the central role of prayer in the early church. We read in Acts 1:14 that the first thing the early church did after the ascension of Christ was to be joined together constantly in prayer. A little later on we read the following list of things that the Apostolic church was devoted to doing; preaching, teaching, fellowship, prayer and communion (Acts 3:1). We are even told that the primary duties of the Elders of the church are "prayer and the ministry of the word" (Acts 6:4).