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Additional Quotes about the Local Church by Watchman Nee and Witness Lee
2. Prayer Meetings of the Local Church
Watchman Nee gives more details on the prayer meeting of the local church:
B. Being Specific
How can our prayers be in harmony? Perhaps the biggest problem in our prayer meeting is that we bring up too many subjects. Once there are too many subjects in the prayer meeting, it is impossible to have harmony. Some prayer meetings have so many subjects that the meetings are an all-inclusive bazaar. We cannot find such a meeting in the Bible. What we see in the Bible is men praying for specific matters. When Peter was imprisoned, the church prayed for him fervently (Acts 12:5). They did not pray for many things but for one specific thing. When the subject is specific, it is easy to pray in harmony.
It is better to pray for only one thing in every prayer meeting. We may pray specifically for a brother or a sister, or we may pray specifically for sickness among the brothers and sisters. In these cases, it is better to pray for one brother’s or one sister’s sickness or to just pray concerning sickness among the brothers and sisters. We should not mention other subjects in addition to sickness. At other times, we may pray specifically for the brothers and sisters who are in need, or we may pray specifically for the brothers and sisters who are spiritually weak. If there is only one subject, it is easier for us to be in one accord.
If there is still time after we have prayed thoroughly over one subject, we can bring up another subject for prayer. But we should never mention more than one subject at the beginning of our prayer. It is confusing when there are too many subjects. The responsible brothers should only mention one subject at a time. If there is more time later, they can mention other subjects. We should pray for only one thing at a time. The greatest need in the prayer meeting is to have a clear subject.
According to Acts 1 and 2, Pentecost was brought in through the power of prayer. Please remember that the cross was the work of the Son of God, while Pentecost was the work of the children of God. How did such a great work occur? It came through prayer in one accord. Let us learn to concentrate our prayer on specific subjects, not on many items.
If we want to be specific, everyone who comes to the prayer meeting should come with some preparation. We should try the best to inform the brothers and sisters ahead of time concerning the items for prayer. Let them receive the burden first before they come together to pray. First we need to have feeling and burden. Then we come together to pray.
(Watchman Nee, Collected Works, Set 3, Vol. 48, 204-205)
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