Day 20: Partner Prayer

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship,
to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
Acts 2:42 

In the book, Partners in Prayer, the author asks a question and then follows up with multiple choice answers. 

“How would you describe your current prayer life? A) eating a bologna sandwich B) checking out the menu C) sampling the hors d’oeuvres D) feasting at the banquet E) feasting and bringing others along with you to the banquet.”[1] 

Our goal toward the second half of this devotional is to enjoy the presence of God as we pray. For some of us, God uses a long “dessert” season to grow within us a desires for God’s presence. For others of us, God allows us to experience His presence often. Our duty is to patiently endure the times when our prayers seem dry and mechanical. J.I. Packer describes these times we wait where we go from “duty to delight.”  To help us get to the feasting part of the banquet and then the feasting and bringing others along we need to invite someone else to pray with us and then pray with them often. 

Some language of Scripture does not translate well into one-word equivalents in English. One of those parts of language is called the “plural you.” Basically, the plural you in Koinonia Greek will mean “all of you together” not just individual you. There is some research that says the plural you does not always mean the instruction is intended for groups[2], but most often it does mean “all of you together.” 

Paul only uses the plural you in the English translation of Philippians. When we read about Paul praying for the Church at Philippi, he’s praying for all them: 

“I thank my God every time I remember you….And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.” Philippians 1:3, 9-11 

This is an important concept to grasp as we seek to draw closer to God and experience His presence in prayer. Praying in solitude, secretly is beneficial to our faith, and we should do this every day. But praying with others is also great for our soul, and also commanded in Scripture. Part of hearing from God comes from other disciples of Jesus (the Church). When we regularly invite others to pray with us, we are more likely to hear from God and experience His presence. 

Prayerwork, Part 1: Begin praying for God to send you a prayer partner. Ask God to give you a name in your mind on who you will invite to prayer with you. Feel free to use this prayer, if you are still having trouble creating the words to your own prayer: “Lord, please reveal to me from my friends or family or from Church family, with whom you would like me to have regularly prayer times.” Then wait a minute and see if God brings someone to your mind. Sometimes when I pray this type of prayer and wait, God brings someone to mind, or the Holy Spirit brings someone from my subconscious to my conscious thought. But He doesn’t always gives me a name. If God gives you a name within that minute (or two minutes, if you want to wait longer), write it down in the space below. 

  1. ________________________________________________
  2. ________________________________________________
  3. ________________________________________________
  4. ________________________________________________
 
Prayerwork, Part 2: Be sure to praise Him for His wisdom and His generosity for either giving you a name or withholding a name. 

Prayerwork, Part 3: Get ready to pray for this person for several days before you ask them to pray with you. Ask God to put His favor on this person. Ask God to soften their heart and start putting on their mind a desire to pray. Do this every day for three days before you ask them to pray with you. 

Prayerwork, Part 4: Set your alarm 30 minutes earlier tomorrow. God to bed at least 30 minutes earlier tonight, so that you will feel rested and ready to pray. Tomorrow we will set ourselves us to pray for thirty minutes straight. If you have been following along and praying these prayer prompts every day, you will have no problem praying for thirty minutes straight—even if you have never prayed that long in one sitting before. 

“Therefore I want the men everywhere to pray,
 lifting up holy hands without anger or disputing.”
 1 Timothy 2:8 



[1] John Maxwell. Partners in Prayer: Support and Strengthen Your Pastor and Church Leaders (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, Inc, 1996), 12.

[2] Gerald Peterman, “Plural You: On the Use and Abuse of the Second Person, Bulletin for Biblical Research, vol. 20, no. 2 (2010): 201, https://www.jstor.org/stable/26424296