Three Ways to Minister to the Lord: Individual, Church, and Group Prayer

Genesis 18:1-19

Now, in the following verses, Abraham offers these three visitors something to drink and something to eat. He gives them something to eat, and he gives them something to drink. Then, in Genesis 18:9, they ask, “Where is thy wife?” In verse 10, he said, “I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of thy life. And lo, Sarah, thy wife shall have a son. And Sarah heard it in the tent door, which was behind him. They were very old in verse 11. In verse 12, she laughs. And then verse 13, who is one of the strangers? The Lord himself, whom Abraham has given food to eat and water to drink. And the Lord said to Abraham, Why did your wife laugh? And then she denied it, of course, but the Lord said, “You did laugh. Nonetheless, you shall have a son.”

Now then, in verse 16, I’m moving very quickly. The men rose up and looked toward Sodom, and Abraham went with them to bring them on the way. And then the Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do, seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him.”

Alright, now turn over to Acts 12:1. Now, about that time, Herod the king stretched forth his hand to vex certain people in the church. Here is a king who has decided to vex the children of God in the church of God. And he killed James, the brother of John, with the sword. Then, in verse three, he took Peter as well. And he put him in prison, and he surrounded him at this Easter time, at the resurrection time, with soldiers to keep him. Verse 5, Peter went to sleep. What’s happening in verse 5? That prayer was made, without sleeping, of the church unto God for him. Well, you know the story so beautifully. An angel of the Lord came and woke up Peter, and Peter didn’t even know he was awake until he got outside. He thought he had been dreaming all of this.

Verse 12. And when he had considered the thing, he came to the house of Mary, the mother of John, whose surname was Mark, where many were gathered together, praying. And of course, Peter knocks on the door. A little girl named Rhoda comes out and opens the door. She comes back and says, “It’s Peter.” And what do they say to the little girl? Huh? You’re mad. You’re crazy. Little girl, just be still. You’re crazy. Alright, was it, Peter? Praise the Lord. It was Peter.

Thirdly, brethren, in Acts 13:1. Now there were in the church that was in Antioch certain prophets and teachers; as Barnabas, and Simeon that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, which had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, “Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them.” And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away.

Okay, three passages of Scripture. The first one is speaking of an individual experience. The second one is speaking of a church experience. And the third one is speaking of a small-group experience. I want to go through them because each one of them has a real message for the Lord’s children. The first one is an individual experience in prayer. The second one is an experience of the church in prayer. And the third one is the experience of a small group of brothers in the church in prayer. The first one is a single brother. The second one is the whole church. The third one is a group of brothers. I won’t say this is exactly repeated. We will look at it. We will behold.

Whenever the Lord comes to a man and is with him, whatever fellowship that is, that is something of a man in contact with the Lord. Abraham saw three men coming and prepared something for them to eat and drink. The Lord himself can receive food and drink. The Lord can be ministered unto. Now, after they came there with Abraham and sat down, they began to have fellowship together, and something took place. After the Lord Himself had received from Abraham, the Lord gave Abraham something. What did he do? What did he give him? He gave him a promise. Brothers and sisters, the Lord gave him an answer to a prayer. Abraham and Sarah wanted a son, and God had also promised them that they would have a son. So, who gave Abraham the prayer?

The Lord gave the prayer. So the Lord gives the prayer. The prayer is prayed, and then the Lord answers the prayer. The prayer begins with the Lord, and the prayer ends with the Lord, and Abraham is simply the instrument of the prayer. Now that is the full experience of prayer. The Lord himself is within us supplicating, and we enter into His prayer. We pray the prayer He wants us to pray. We are that instrument. Then the Lord gives the answer.

Brother, when Abraham was very young…not young, but certainly not as old as he was then…God said, “I will give you a son.” Then He let him live 30 years without a son. Then 40 years. Then 50. Yet Abraham kept on by faith, believing that even though he was old and his body could no longer produce the seed, nor could Sarah, God nevertheless heard his prayer. Now, there is no record that at this moment the prayer was offered by Abraham, but Abraham knew with whom he was speaking; it was the Lord. He called him Lord at the very beginning; he knows the greatest thing that is on his heart. God gave him a prayer that he had prayed throughout the ages. No, there’s no record of it here, but nonetheless, we know he prayed it. It is at this moment that the prayer is answered, for right after this, Sarah conceived and bore the child.

Now, I’m only saying this, that God gives the prayer. We pray the prayer. The time comes when the Lord answers the prayer. When you come to the Lord, you may have a sense of what you need to pray. At that very moment, the Lord may answer the prayer. He may wait for a year. Now, when I say He may answer, you don’t look into heaven, and suddenly the Lord has dropped a $20 bill into your hand. It may simply be that some of the struggle within you about a matter has been dropped. The Lord gives the prayer. You pray the prayer, and the day comes, as you fellowship with Him, and you face Him, and you feed Him, and you give Him drink, and you minister to Him, He answers.