It happened again, just this week. A situation arose in which our family desperately needed prayer. As we began our own prayers, we invited others to join us in prayer as well. It is a familiar scene. I would guess that this scenario has played out in many other homes. As I was asking others to pray though, I was reminded of a question I was asked not long ago: is there more power in our prayers when there are more people praying? I have to admit, I did not have an immediate answer to this question. On the one hand, it is very natural for us to default towards the idea that more is always better—basically, if one prayer is powerful, two must be twice as powerful. On the other hand, I cannot believe that God could be manipulated simply because of a large number of people start praying—there isn’t magic in numbers. Then, of course, more questions are raised: If there was more power in numbers, what number would be the most powerful? Also, if having many people praying was so much more powerful, why aren’t those prayers always answered how we think they will be? As I searched for answers to these questions, I learned some things that may help. First, praying in groups is not a bad thing—it’s even encouraged—but it does not guarantee more power in your prayers. We have plenty of evidence in the New Testament church of Acts that the people gathered in groups to pray. The Apostles were gathered together for prayer right before the Holy Spirit came upon them on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 1:14). Also, when Peter was rescued by God from prison, he went to a house where many were gathered together and praying (Acts 12:12). Paul even encourages the people of Corinth to help him in prayer, “then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many” (2 Corinthians 1:11). However, Jesus warned us not to pray like the pagans, who hope to be heard because of many words (Matthew 6:7; see also Isaiah 1:15). Consider the showdown on Mt Carmel in 1 Kings 18: it describes the many prayers of all the priests of Baal, and reveals them to be powerless. Granted, it could be argued that they weren’t praying to God anyway. Yet, it appears that they held to the belief that their many prayers should have been more effective than the one prayer of Elijah. Another thing I found was that the Bible places more emphasis on the individuals’ relationship with God, rather than the size of the prayer team. James tells us that “the prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective” (James 5:16). Proverbs 15:29 says, “the Lord is far from the wicked, but he hears the prayers of the righteous.” (1 Peter 3:12 says something similar.) At first glance, this may look like extreme bias, as if God is playing favorites. Yet, if our sins separate us from God, how can He hear our prayers (Isaiah 59:1, 2)? Just to clarify: a righteous person is not the one who simply does more good things than bad things, but is the one who has repaired the broken relationship with God by accepting the sacrifice of Christ and receiving His righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:12). This is why God promises in 2 Chronicles 7:14, “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and forgive their sin and will heal their land.” This is a promise to His people; those who have a relationship with Him and follow Him. It will be those who humble themselves, seek His face, and turn from their wicked ways, that will be heard when they pray (this also explains the power of the “sinner’s prayer,” when a person realizes their need for God and prays for forgiveness and salvation). If this is the case, why would we need to pray in groups? Why gather together to pray if the prayer of one righteous person is effective and powerful? I think this questions rises because we forget the purpose of prayer. I wrote a blog specifically on this topic, so I will not go into a lot of detail, but in brief: prayer is not a wish-list, or an information network, it is communication with our God. When we pray, it is not to inform God about our wants and needs, or to demand we get what we ask for, it is to align ourselves with His will and give Him control over our situation. You see, prayer is the way we vocalize our dependence on God and when we pray as a group, we become united in that dependence. I have found that praying with other people can create a powerful bond between me and them. So, is there more power in the prayers of many? Not exactly. The amount of people praying does not make the prayers more convincing to God. Having prayer vigils all over the world can be a wonderful thing to unite the people of God, but those prayers will not have added power simply because many are saying them. The Bible is clear, it is the prayers of the ones who will humble themselves, seek to know God, turn from their wicked ways, and fully depend on Him, that are powerful. Do you want a more powerful prayer life? Follow God’s counsel in 2 Chronicles 7:14. Strengthen your relationship with God. The power is in the relationship, not the numbers. Yet, imagine the transformational power that would fill the prayer lives of a righteous group of God’s people, humbly united, and fully depending on Him?
