An assembling of believers to worship God and to share the Word of God, Jesus Christ, is itself a body with a spirit. As such that body also has a head and that head is Jesus Christ and the head of Christ is God the Father. The Holy Spirit is a gift from Jesus, sent from the Father that also sent Jesus. Just as with the individual the assembly needs time in a closed room to pray and worship God in private that the fullness of God may be revealed within. As with the individual, God has blessings for the body (commonly called a church) that have need to be prayed for in private and rewarded by God openly.
Through out the New Testament assemblies of believers (called churches) have been referred to as the body of Christ (and also the church as a whole – all assemblies). In the book of Revelation it talks about the angels (or messengers – one per church) of the seven churches. Each of the churches have their own personality. They are bodies being ministered to by the messenger of God. The head of the body is Jesus and the body is the body of Christ. Just as we are seen by God the Father as Jesus in all His glory perfected and not by our sins, so it is with the body. Just as the individual’s sins are revealed to us so we may repent and not add to the suffering of our Lord Jesus, so it is with the body.
Jesus said, “When you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites (pretenders). For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. But you, when you pray go into your room, and when you have shut the door, pray to your Father who is in the secret; and your father will reward you openly. And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions, as the heathen. For they think that they will be heard for their many words” (Matt. 6:5-7). That is not only for the individual, but also for the believers (Christians) that come together to worship God as one body. There is a time to pray in a closed room and wait to hear from God and there is a time to pray in a closed room with praise and worship before the Lord in the fullness of His glory.
If out of love for the unbeliever and for the order of the assembly the church holds to itself (between the individual and God) prayer in the spirit, that is a good thing. For in all things first love. But as a body, it is right that the body should all come together in closed room and lift up the Lord in spirit in praise and worship and pray as one body. And in one body they should also have time of quiet when they bathe in the Holy Spirit and wait on God for a word. The word may be a prophecy given in tongues and interpreted for those still unbelieving in the gifts. For tongues is a sign to unbelievers and prophecy to the believer (I Cor. 14:22).
These things should not be left undone for the care and feeding of the body. When we are called to the feast of our Lord, there will be a time when the door is shut and we will dine behind a closed door. Let all praise be to the Lord our God and all glory to God (Father, Son and Holy Spirit). We do not stand alone but in the body of Christ, individuals all of us but in the body also, one body and one spirit. That spirit needs to pray just as the individual’s spirit needs to pray to God. Glory to God and praise to Jesus the Christ our Lord.