Public Prayer
Jesus denounced the religious leaders for seeking to gain recognition and praise from the public by praying in the public sphere. (Matthew 6:5-6) So why would we as disciples of Jesus want to have a practice in our services that seems to run contrary to what our Lord has said? While we must not dare to dismiss our Lord's admonition to a private prayer life, the catholicity of Holy Scripture has a broader vision for prayer than just the 'closet;' nations are destined to provoke one another to seek quickly the Lord in prayer. (Zechariah 8:20-23) How can this be? It is because the Church is a Trinitarian body, one and many. Therefore what a church does as a body in her assembly is analogous to what an individual follower of Christ does in his or her private devotions.
"Else when thou shalt bless with the spirit, how shall he that occupieth the room of the unlearned say Amen at thy giving of thanks, seeing he understandeth not what thou sayest? For thou verily givest thanks well, but the other is not edified." (1 Corinthians 14:16-17) Here, Paul is stating here the importance of prayer being heard by one another; if prayer is meant to be just a time of private pious expression, why would the Spirit through Paul be concerned that other listeners understand and respond to public prayers? It should be clear then that public prayers are neither inherently sinful nor spiteful towards the commandments of Christ, especially when they are in the context of the local assembly. As indicated in the passage and others, public prayer is for the edification and unification of the body.
How does one's public prayer build up one another? Prayer reminds us that we are not alone and not self-sufficient in our earthly mission; It reminds us that God is in control and open to listening to us, etc. Therefore as a believer grows in grace and displays it in his or her prayers, other listeners are refreshed in their walk and are encouraged in the grace of God. An objection may arise, "Wouldn't that encourage pray-ers to be show-offs of their spirituality?" That is not a problem unknown to all of external worship; if a pray-er is focused on God the Father and is interested in the edification of the hearers, that should not be an issue.
What and how should we pray? Here is my previous post on the subject.
How is worship expressed in public prayer? First, public prayer displays who really is in charge of our churches, families, and lives. In prayer, we acknowledge our weakness and His strength, our poverty and His bounty, and our hopelessness and His happiness. Second, public prayer reminds us in Christ that God is cheerfully at our 'service' and He is always near when we need Him; also prayer reminds us of the work that God is doing through His saints in uttermost parts of the earth, how they need His Spirit in all things. Third, we participate by being ready in our hearts and minds to pray whenever we are called upon to do so. If not, we participate by praying in our hearts and affirming out loud the truths and godly wishes that are prayed out loud.
Partaking of the Lord's Supper
"For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come." (1 Corinthians 11:26) This is an odd practice; while the other forms of worship use words to express our awe of what Christ has done, this ordinance uses food as an expression of worship. However, this was the most important practice for the Church such that it is why they gathered together on the Lord's Day. (Acts 20:7)
So what is the significance of the Lord's Supper? During the Last Supper, Jesus, our Passover redefined the practice of Passover. For centuries, Passover was a demonstration of God's protection of Israel with the blood on the doorposts against His wrath upon the firstborn of Egypt, a reenactment and refreshment of that historical phenomenon for future generations. Jesus then redefined the Passover to demonstrate His crucifixion, God's propitiation for the sins of both Jews and Gentiles so that He may 'pass over' them in the presence of Jesus Christ. Paul in his letter to the Corinthians gives the "ABCs" of the Lord's Supper: Allegiance, Blessing, and Communion. (Here is a sermon by Bro. Mike for more details on these things)
Douglas Wilson has good articles on his blog concerning Communion here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.
How is worship expressed in partaking of the Lord's Supper? We remember the work of Jesus Christ, the cost and joy that it took for Him to be made sin for us that we may be made the righteousness of God in Him. We remember Jesus' promise that He will partake with us in His Kingdom; and we remember that we partake as a body that is being made into one bread. We participate by examining our own motives and convictions; we recall to mind our allegiance to Christ and His new covenant.
(This is all I have time to cover in this section, in the next section we will discuss evangelism.)
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