Prayer: Corporate Prayer in the Early Church

The early church devoted themselves to prayer together as a community. The Didache, one of the earliest Christian documents outside the New Testament (c. 70-100 AD), instructed believers: "Pray thus three times a day" and provided the Lord's Prayer as the pattern. Cyprian of Carthage (d. 258) wrote extensively on the Lord's Prayer, teaching that its very language -- "Our Father," not "My Father" -- reveals that Christian prayer is inherently communal.

Cyprian taught: "Before all things, the Teacher of peace and Master of unity would not have prayer to be made singly and individually, as for one who prays to pray for himself alone. We say not 'My Father, who art in heaven,' nor 'Give me this day my daily bread.' It is for all that we pray, because we are all one."

Practical application: Join or form a small prayer group that meets weekly. Use the Lord's Prayer as a framework: begin by praying it together, then expand each petition into specific intercessions. Praying aloud with others, even briefly, develops trust and deepens fellowship in ways that solitary prayer cannot.