The Prayers of the Righteous

The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. (James 5:16)

Sessions so far…

1. Abraham prays for Sodom
2. A wife for Isaac
3. Jabez
4. David – praying for God’s will
5. Isaiah – rend the heavens!

 

Session 6 –
Prayers of the Early Church

“The Christian must know how to pray privately; the Church must know how to pray together.”

(F. W. Dixon)

 

Acts 1:14:

They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.

 

Many of these notes are taken from a bible study by Francis W. Dixon, a Baptist minister who went to be with the Lord in 1985 but whose ministry is remembered by many. Much of his work can be found on the website wordsoflife.co.uk

 

A Model for corporate prayer

 

1: All

All were present. Men and women, new converts and leaders alike. The next verse continues…

¹⁵ In those days Peter stood up among the believers (a group numbering about a hundred and twenty)

 

2: Joined together

The early church often prayed together with ‘one accord’. What might it look like?

Matthew 5:

²³ “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, ²⁴ leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.

Ephesians 4:3:

Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.

 

3: Constantly

Steadfast and consistent. Not giving up.

Hebrews 10:24-25:

²⁴ And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, ²⁵ not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another–and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

We have a great illustration of this in Acts 12:5-17 –

⁵ So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him.

⁶ The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries stood guard at the entrance.

How could Peter sleep between 2 soldiers? James has just been put to death by the sword! (12:2)

¹² …he went to the house of Mary the mother of John, also called Mark, where many people had gathered and were praying.

Charles Finney often speaks of a ‘spirit of prayer’ in his autobiography when describing an attitude in the towns where great revivals took place. People were praying together in the streets and in their homes and it didn’t seem to be a chore!

 

4: In prayer

It’s good to meet together regularly socially. Fellowship is very important. But the deep connection of Christian fellowship, marked out from other great friendships found in and out of the body of Christ, is found when brothers and sisters pray together, sharing in each other’s needs, and excited together when answers are found.

Remember the different elements of prayer we’ve been using recently as a church:

• Praise
• Repent
• Ask
• Yield

And remember my challenge this month to include the prayer, “prepare my heart Lord for what is to come.”

Psalm 139:23-24:

²³ Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.
²⁴ See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

 

The results of following this model

 

1: Fellowship

Acts 1:14:

They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers. When we pray together, we stay together.

Acts 2:42:

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

 

2: Guidance

Acts 1:

²³ So they nominated two men: Joseph called Barsabbas (also known as Justus) and Matthias. ²⁴ Then they prayed, “Lord, you know everyone’s heart. Show us which of these two you have chosen ²⁵ to take over this apostolic ministry, which Judas left to go where he belongs.” ²⁶ Then they cast lots, and the lot fell to Matthias; so he was added to the eleven apostles.

They all prayed together that God would cause the right outcome. Matthias was chosen. In Acts 6 Luke refers to “the twelve” which will have included Matthias.

 

3: Power

Acts 2:4:

All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

Acts 4:

²³ On their release, Peter and John went back to their own people and reported all that the chief priests and the elders had said to them. 24 When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God…

³¹ After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.

Francis Dixon again:

“More prayer on the part of the whole fellowship of God’s people means more of the convicting and converting power of the Holy Spirit in the personal and public preaching of the gospel, and more power in the lives of God’s people, enabling them to show forth the beauty of the Lord Jesus in their daily walk and witness.  Historically there will never be another Day of Pentecost, but experientially all God’s children need to know His filling and empowering.  This is the greatest need in the Church, and in all the work of evangelism at home and abroad.”

 

4: Opposition

Acts 2:13:

Some, however, made fun of them and said, “They have had too much wine.”

Acts 4:

¹ The priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to Peter and John while they were speaking to the people. ² They were greatly disturbed because the apostles were teaching the people, proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead. 3 They seized Peter and John and, because it was evening, they put them in jail until the next day.

1 John 4:4

You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.

 

5: Increase

Acts 2:41:

Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.

 

A New Day

In Acts 2 we learn that on the day of Pentecost all the believers were meeting together in one place. Remember, these people were of Jewish origin. It was Pentecost. Jews were in Jerusalem to go to the temple and to participate in the Pentecost or Shavuot celebrations. But these believers were doing something different. They had already begun to break away from some old traditions.

Maybe we need to do the same. Maybe God is asking us to become a little more unorthodox, to follow the Holy Spirit’s leading a little more, to follow Jesus’ instructions to wait in Jerusalem, or whatever it is he’s asked us to do.

Ten days of waiting can be a long time when you’ve not been told how long to wait. Now Pentecost had come around and it might have been tempting to leave the 120 and join the masses in their annual celebration and ritual. But if God has told you to do something, keep doing it until further instruction.

Is he asking you to pray differently, pray together more, pray at a different time, or with someone as a prayer partner? Keep consistent with it and keep going. The results will be beyond your imagination.

 

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Home Group Activities

1. Read Acts 1:1-14 together

 

2. The book of Acts shows the early church meeting together regularly and being “of one accord”. Read the following 2 passages to show what it might take to be so unified. Leave space for any comments…

Matthew 5:23-24 (What does this say about God’s attitude to any ‘gifts’ you bring to him while you still have ‘beef’ with your brother or sister in Christ?)

Ephesians 4:3 (How can we do this practically? Any examples?)

3. The unity the early church had together was based in prayer.

Challenge – continue to pray every day, using Praise, Repent, Ask, Yield as a model

Challenge upgrade – ask God to prepare your heart for what he has next. There are always new things to learn in God, not academic things but eternal truths to see you through his next assignment for you. Ask in faith for him to prepare you, believing that there is something new around the corner that you will need preparing for!

Ask the group if they have any sense that God is doing a new thing? No worries if not, but if so it’s good to share.

4. The results of praying together as a church include the following:

Fellowship (Acts 1:14)

Guidance (Acts 1: 24)

Power (Acts 2:4)

Opposition (Acts 2:14)

Increase (Acts 2:41)

                Have you experienced any of these through prayer over the past weeks?

 

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