Even a cursory reading of Acts reveals that prayer was a priority for the early church. As a local body of Christ we desire to devote ourselves to the teaching of the word, partaking of the Lord's table, fellowship, and prayer. We want each of these elements to receive their proper place within our corporate life.
“And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. Acts 2:42”
While we strongly affirm the necessity of Biblical proclamation in the corporate life of the local church, we believe, in some cases, preaching has been elevated with the result that the public reading of scripture, the Lord's table, and prayer function as secondary to the sermon. (Some may disagree with this analysis or that this is an issue with which to be concerned. We respect their view.) In our corporate gatherings we seek to find, what we believe, is the right balance between these elements of corporate worship.
“Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching. 1 Timothy 4:13”
During our worship gathering on Sunday mornings we include readings from the Psalms, as well as, the Old and New Testaments, an interactive teaching time, and observance of the Lord's table. We also include a time of focused prayer. During this time we are lead in corporate prayer for the global church, the persecuted church, a specific local church, and the body of Christ at Restoration Hill.
On Wednesday evenings we gather for a more in depth time of corporate prayer. Following the same pattern, we pray for the global church and our ministry partners who serve around the world. We pray in more detail for the persecuted church. Next we pray for the church in North America, including our ministry partners, and specifically for other local churches in our community. Finally, we bring the needs of our own local body before the Lord. These informal services meet an important need for corporate prayer in the life of the church.