Heb. 10:24-25 - And let us consider one another so as to incite one another to love and good works, Not abandoning our own assembling together, as the custom with some is, but exhorting one another; and so much the more as you see the day drawing near.

1 Pet. 4:7-8 But the end of all things has drawn near. Therefore be sober-minded and be sober unto prayers. Above all, have fervent love among yourselves, because love covers a multitude of sins.

Read Matthew 18:15-22

Paying Attention to Corporate Prayers

We should pay attention to the corporate prayers, that is, the prayer of the church. When we talk about the prayer of the church, we do not mean that personal prayers are unimportant; we are not insensitive to the need of personal prayers. But there is a law in God's kingdom: Some things are impossible for an individual to do alone; they require a collective effort and mutual support. Mutuality is particularly necessary in the matter of prayer. Those who follow the Lord constantly realize the need for praying with other believers. Sometimes it is not enough for a person to pray alone. Particularly for matters as great as God's kingdom, the only prayer that works is one in which the whole church strives to pray. The Lord said, "My house shall be called a house of prayer" (Matt. 2 1:13). We can follow this with the phrase "whose house we are" (Heb. 3:6). (The Collected Works of Watchman Nee, vol. 38, p. 462)

Paying Attention to Corporate Prayers and Living the Kingdom Life

The Lord said, "Again, truly I say to you that if two of you are in harmony on earth concerning any matter for which they ask, it will be done for them from My Father who is in the heavens. For where there are two or three gathered into My name, there am I in their midst" (Matt. 18:19-20). Both fact and experience tell us that when we are gathered together in the Lord, there is more of the Lord's presence than when we are by ourselves. The Lord is in the midst of the church; He cannot be in the midst of individuals. (With individuals, there can be no "midst.")... When we truly are gathered together into the Lord, we will feel the broadening sphere of our prayer, and we will be much more empowered in our prayer-battle. Moreover, in our prayer meeting we can often experience the Holy Spirit revealing God's will to us, burdening us, and giving us utterance for prayer.... The prayer of the church cannot replace our personal prayers. At the same time, personal prayers will always come short of the prayer of the church; they are not on the same level as the prayer of the church. (The Collected Works of Watchman Nee, vol. 38, pp. 462-463)

Living the Kingdom Life

We need to read and consider prayerfully the Lord's speaking in Matthew 18:15-22, which reveals how we can live the kingdom life. Verses 15 through 17 say, "Moreover if your brother sins against you, go, reprove him between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not hear you, take with you one or two more, that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to hear the church also, let him be to you just like the Gentile and the tax collector." If this sinning one would not listen even to the church, what shall we do? The text says that we should let him be to us like the Gentile and the tax collector; that is, like an unsaved person who is outside the fellowship of the church.

Verse 18 then says, "Truly I say to you, Whatever you bind on the earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on the earth shall have been loosed in heaven." We have to see the connection between verses 17 and 18. Verse 17 is so low, saying that we should let the sinning one who will not listen to the church be to us like a Gentile and a tax collector. But verse 18 says that we should touch heaven by our binding and releasing prayer. This is the prayer of the vital group. Verse 19 says, "Again truly I say to you that if two of you are in harmony on earth concerning any matter for which they ask, it will be done for them from My Father who is in the heavens." This is the practice of a vital group of two or three in harmony touching the very God in heaven. These are the two or three mentioned in verse 16: "But if he does not hear you, take with you one or two more...." These are the members of a vital group.

If a brother sins against us, we need to deal with him first in love. If we cannot get through, we should bring with us one or two more to contact him. If we still cannot get through, we should tell it to the church, and if the church cannot get through, then the sinner brother will lose the fellowship of the church. But this is not all. We have to then pray in the way of binding and releasing, and we have to pray in harmony. Whatever we pray, our Father in heaven will accomplish to gain that person. Verse 20 says, "For where there are two or three gathered into My name, there am I in their midst." This is the reality of the vital groups. These two or three are gathered into the Lord's name for His purpose, not into their names for their purposes. (The Vital Groups, pp. 4-5)

Further Reading: The Collected Works of Watchman Nee, vol. 38, ch. 60; The Vital Groups, msg. 1