3 Reasons Praying Together Matters

It’s easy to think of prayer as a solitary endeavor, a conversation just between God and yourself. If we do pray with others, it can often default to grace before a meal or congregational prayer on Sunday mornings.

Make no mistake: Fruit is borne from these prayers. But it’s important to also intentionally join with others in prayer. The Bible provides three clear reasons that praying together matters:

1) Praying together unifies us with other believers. We see examples of this throughout Scripture. Some of the most prominent ones are recorded the book of Acts. The apostles placed tremendous importance on praying together, from the 120 believers who prayed together on the day of Pentecost (Acts 1:13, 2:1) to Paul and Silas’ prayers that resulted in their jailer's conversion (Acts 16:25). Look what God accomplished through the corporate prayers of His people! When we pray with others, we surrender our “me”-centered thoughts and instead focus on the requests we’re bringing to the throne together. We leave behind our individual agendas in the light of God’s will. As a result, we’re drawn to each other. We have the ability to be vulnerable, to open ourselves to accountability, and to grow in grace and mercy toward each other.

2) Praying together connects us with the purposes of Christ. The Apostle John writes: “And this is the confidence we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.” (1 John 5:14-15) This happens in our personal prayer times and as we pray with others. The Holy Spirit directs our thoughts and prayers and intercedes for us.

3) Praying together demonstrates our unity as believers and proclaims Christ to the world. This unity is how the world can come to know Christ and His love. And this unity is what Jesus prayed for in the final hours of His life: “'The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.'” (John 17:22-23)

There’s no formula to follow: Simply pray.

• Pray for each other. Lift up each other’s specific concerns and praise God for His answers to prayer.
• Pray for your community. Ask God to show you how you can serve and share Christ with those around you.
• Pray for the world. Use our annual Prayer Guide, PrayNow email, or another tool to pray for the work that God is doing around the world through folks like you—everyday people committed to His purposes.