The Church at Prayer (Ac. 2:42)

Introduction

· Please turn to Acts 2.

· We’ve been doing a sermon series on the Book of Ephesians, and today will be an “excursus” on Eph. 1:15 and the importance of corporate prayer in the life of the church.

· Several years before writing Ephesians, Paul met with the elders of the church. He was wrapping up his third missionary journey and headed back to Jerusalem where he knew persecution awaited. In Ac. 20:38, we have one of the most emotional moments in the NT. Paul charges elders to pay close attention to themselves and to God’s flock, and to beware of fierce wolves that would attempt to sneak in and devour the sheep. Then he kneels down and prays with them all. Luke says there was much weeping on the part of all; they embraced Paul and kissed him, being sorrowful most of all because of the word he had spoken, that they would not see his face again.” Paul loved this church, and this church loved Paul. And one of the main ways they expressed that love for one another was in their prayers.

· We recently began a study through the letter of Ephesians and one of the prominent themes in this book is prayer.

· His opening greeting takes the form of a prayer in 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, …

· After discussing the blessing of redemption in the church, Paul prays for them in 1:15f. For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, We will look at this prayer over the next couple weeks.

· In chapter 3, Paul prays on behalf of the church For this reason I bow my knees before the Father…that he might grant you to be strengthened with power….to know the love of Christ.

· Then toward the end of his letter, he requests that the church pray for one another and for him. 6:18–19 praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel,

· Everyone would agree prayer is important, though many of us would confess we do not pray as well or as often as we would like. But today I want to focus on a specific kind of prayer - corporate prayer – that could change how you view prayer and the way we do ministry.

· When I talk about corporate prayer, I am not talking just about a Wednesday night prayer meeting. A church might choose to pray on Wednesday nights, and this may be a very good idea. But there is nothing in scripture specifically commanding us to do so. The church is, however, commanded to pray, and to be quite honest this is an area that we need to grow in.

· THREE BENEFITS OF CORPORATE PRAYER

Corporate Prayer Imitates the Early Church

· The first century church that is described for us in the Book of Acts provides many examples of how Christians ought to live. Being led by the apostles, and so closely after Jesus had physically walked the earth, and with a deep outpouring of the Holy Spirit, those early decades were a special time in the history of the church. Those Christians were not perfect, as the Book Acts reports and as many epistles show us. But they did provide many examples of what Christian ministry ought to look like, including their devotion to public or corporate prayer.

· Told to wait in Jerusalem. What were they doing? Acts 1:14 All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.

· When it came time to decide to decide who would replace Judas as the twelve apostle, they narrowed it down to two candidates – Justus and Matthias. And then it says, “And they prayed” (v. 24).

· On the Day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit was sent down, Peter preaches the gospel, Acts 2:41–42 So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls. [And then we come to our key text for this morning.] And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.

· When the church was handing out food to widows and it was discovered that the Greek-speaking widows were being overlooked, the apostles called an all church business meeting and said, Acts 6:3–6 Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” And what they said pleased the whole gathering, and they chose [seven men]. These they set before the apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands on them.

· These Christians did not just pray. They prayed corporately. You would have a hard time finding any ministry, any worship service, in the early church where prayer was not a major component.

· Warren Wiersbe: “The early church had none of the “advantages” that some ministries boast of and depend on today. They did not have big budgets provided by wealthy donors. Their pastors lacked credentials from the accepted schools, nor did they have the endorsement of the influential political leaders of that day. Most of their ministers had jail records and would probably have a hard time today joining our churches, let alone leading them. What really was the secret of their success? … the Christians of the early church knew how to pray so that God’s hand could work in mighty power.”

· Does prayer occupy a similar place of preeminence in our church? Does prayer receive the seat of honor in our worship services? Or is it the quiet stranger that gets drowned out by all the noisy activities? If a complete stranger were to visit our church for an entire week, to monitor every activity, to track every minute, would they find us to be a people of prayer? I am very thankful for the place prayer holds in our church, but listen. This is an area we need to grow.

· Now, more than ever. This year, we lost two of our greatest prayer warriors – Barbara Rike and Genii Munday. After she moved to Grand Junction, I was able to speak with her a time or two on the phone. She said not much Christian fellowship. She wants to remain a member of our church. Still “prays for us several times a week. God is good.” I wonder, who will carry on this legacy now that Genii is gone? We should say with the disciples, “Lord, teach us to pray.” (Lk. 11:1).

· Corporate Prayer Imitates the Early Church, and in this area, we must go and do likewise. But there is a second benefit…

Corporate Prayer Empowers Other Ministries

· We often think of prayer as a preface to ministry. It is like stretching out on the sidelines before the game. It is like warming up in the orchestra pit before the concert. We offer up an obligatory prayer at our meals and our worship services because that is what good Christians are supposed to do. But prayer is much more than that. In many ways, prayer is the most important thing we do. And certainly, we cannot expect anything else of eternal significance if it is not bathed in prayer.

· Oswald Chambers: "Prayer does not fit us for the greater work; prayer is the greater work."

· Mark 9 Jesus was teaching. And someone from the crowd answered him, “Teacher, I brought my son to you, for he has a spirit that makes him mute. And whenever it seizes him, it throws him down, and he foams and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid. So I asked your disciples to cast it out, and they were not able.” … And when Jesus saw that a crowd came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You mute and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.” And after crying out and convulsing him terribly, it came out, and the boy was like a corpse, so that most of them said, “He is dead.” But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose. And when he had entered the house, his disciples asked him privately, “Why could we not cast it out?”And he said to them, “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer.”

· I wonder, what would God choose to accomplish through us if we gave more time to corporate prayer? What neighbor might come with you to church? What wayward child might repent and come back to the Lord? What volunteers might step up to help in ministry? What unreached people group might hear the gospel? What greater harvest of fruit we might bear in our ministries?

· Like Aaron and Hur propping up the arms of Moses, so a pastor needs to have members of the church upholding him in prayer.

· Metropolitan Tabernacle was a massive auditorium built in London in the mid 1800s to accommodate up to 20,000 people. that would come to hear Charles Spurgeon preach could every Sunday. . could hold six thousand people. Spurgeon preached here from 1861. A visitor at Spurgeon’s Tabernacle in London was being shown around the building by the pastor, Charles Spurgeon. “Would you like to see the powerhouse of this ministry?” Spurgeon asked, as he showed the man into a lower auditorium. “It is here that we get our power, for while I am preaching upstairs, hundreds of my people are in this room praying.” Source: BE series

· Application: let me encourage you to make prayer an essential part of your ministry. E.g. elder meetings, deacon meetings, small groups. But what about other areas. E.g. money counters, children’s ministry, ushers, etc. There’s no reason it can’t play a more prominent role in these areas. Might seem awkward at first. But let me give you permission. Let me go further than that. Let me ask you to pray for your ministry, for the church, and for our leaders.

Conclusion

Some practical applications:

Plan to attend our monthly Prayer Meeting – Sunday, Nov. 1, at 4pm.

Worship Leaders – prepare. Several articles posted on our website. "Four Methods to Organize Your Prayer Life" by Tim Challies (article)

· "Looking to the New Testament for Models of Corporate Prayer" by Andy Davis (article)

· "Thirty-two Principles for Public Prayer" by Ligon

· Stay engaged in prayer. Do whatever necessary to minimize distractions.

· "Next to the wonder of seeing my Savior will be, I think, the wonder that I made so little use of the power of prayer." — D. L. Moody