And when they had come to him, he said to them: "You know, from the first day that I came to Asia, in what manner I always lived among you, serving the Lord with all humility, with many tears and trials which happened to me by the plotting of the Jews; how I kept back nothing that was helpful, but proclaimed it to you, and taught you publicly and from house to house, testifying to Jews, and also to Greeks, repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. Acts 20:18-21 (emphasis mine)

Corporate worship in a local church is the primary ministry of the local church. Corporate worship has four indispensable components: (1) Reading & Preaching the Word, (2) Prayer, (3) Worship in Song, (4) The Sacraments—Baptism and the Lord’s Supper.

We have considered the Word, both reading and preaching. This time: Prayer.

When Jesus cleansed the temple He said His Father’s house was to be “a house of prayer” (Mark 11:17). Interestingly, He said “a house of prayer for all nations,” pointing forward to the Church made up of both Jews and Gentiles, not merely the Jewish temple. The Church is to be a house of prayer. It is a house of preaching and/or fellowship, but let us never forget the importance of prayer. When the local church is gathered for corporate worship, prayers are to be an an essential component.

Jesus said that “apart from Him we can do nothing” (John 15:5). That being true, we pray that He would work in and through us to accomplish His divine will. It is, therefore, necessary:

To gather for prayer before the actual service begins. Can you come to the preservice prayer at least once a month? Don’t stay away because you are nervous about praying aloud. Pray silently. And as you listen to others, you will learn how to pray aloud, and will feel more at ease.
To open the worship service with prayer asking the Lord to superintend over all that takes place. As the service begins, let us all pray, expecting the Lord to do His work in us as we gather for worship.
To have a set time of corporate prayer in the worship service. We have different men in the church who take turns leading us in prayer. Allow me to encourage you to do more than listen to the men who pray aloud. Rather, let us all actively pray along with whoever is leading us in prayer.

Prayer is an expression that we need the Lord. A lack of prayer is a silent expression that we do not sense any particular need—that we can handle things without Him. Let us be reminded that we need the Lord. And pray!

Next: A few words about singing in corporate worship.