Leadership Tools

connecting

Devoted to Prayer
Aaron Williams
9/28/08

Key Scripture: Acts 2:42-47

“And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in prayers. Then fear came upon every soul, and many signs and wonders were done through the apostles. Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them as anyone had need. So continuing day by day with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.”

Introduction:
We’ve been walking through these verses because we’ve taken them as a Vision statement for us as a church. This section of Scripture is a beautiful picture of the church.
It feels alive with excitement and wonder, seeing God at work. There’s expectation and hope that God is forming a people for Himself, a new community that is unlike anything anyone had ever experienced before. There is faith and belief that Jesus really is who He said He was, and that His kingdom really is at hand. Many signs and wonders are being done through the apostles. Thousands are being saved. The poor have provision and the hungry are fed. People are devoted to good theology. They are devoted to forming this new community. They are devoted to remembering Jesus’ death in the breaking of bread, and they are devoted to praying with each other. It’s very inspiring.
But do you know what I like best about these verses? My favorite part is this little phrase in verse 26; “day by day”. Day by day they attended the temple together and ate their meals together. Not only is there expectation, but also a sense of the day by day reality of life. They shared their lives together on a daily basis.
Living daily is often living slowly; expectantly, joyously, but slowly. Developing fellowship and relationships takes time. It takes not days, not weeks, often not even months, but sometimes years, or sometimes a lifetime.

A. Three things make this hard to do.
1. Our culture:

Our culture does not move at a slow pace
We live in a fast pace culture of high-speed internet, hi-def t.v. etc.
Living day by day seems pretty slow and boring

2. Being theologically charismatic:

I believe that the Holy Spirit is alive and well, and He is working in the lives of people today.
I believe these verses in Acts are a picture, a vision of the Spirit filled church. Signs and wonders, and daily prayers. Thousands being saved and friends and family eating together. Lord, let your kingdom come and Peter, please pass the potatoes.
The Holy Spirit often makes us feel like we can fly with eagles but it is also the Spirit who leads us to treasure buried in a field of dirt. Flying and digging in the dirt, that’s the Spirit filled life.
Planted like oaks of righteousness, and faith like a mustard seed
It’s not always something big and monumental, sometimes it’s small and slow.
The seeming paradox of vision statements:
Vision statements usually do not seem to have time for day by day living.
We have a vision to reach, a goal to accomplish, a church to grow, a ministry to start, so get on the bus. We’re going someplace whether you’re in or not.
The leader pumps everyone up to achieve the vision, like a coach in the locker room.
We are out to change the world, but something happens when we walk out of here.
Reality gets in the way: It’s time for lunch. I have to mow the lawn. I have to study, I have to work. It is hard to live out the vision statement under these conditions, because a vision statement is an alternative reality. It is a better reality we are working towards, but these things seem to get in the way.
People seem to get in the way of reaching the vision. If I didn’t have to sit and talk to so and so about their problems all the time, then I could…
Work gets in the way. If I didn’t have this job, or if I had a different job. I could…
School gets in the way. If it wasn’t for all this homework, I could…
The worst one that gets in the way is church. If we just had better small groups, or worship music, or preaching, then I could…..
If it wasn’t for all these things in the way, maybe we could reach the vision.
Reality is frustrating.

People are frustrating, work is frustrating, school is frustrating. Most of all church is frustrating. But maybe, the Spirit filled life, the picture that we see in these verses works in reality. Maybe the Spirit filled life is:

God is alive in relationships with friends and family.
God is alive at work.
God is alive in the classroom and in late night study sessions.
God is alive at the dinner table.
God is alive when the worship band is too loud.
God is alive when you don’t like the preaching style.

These things may not seem like much, but that’s o.k. because the Spirit- filled life is God redeeming and sanctifying a people for Himself, and apparently that is slow work. It’s been going on since the beginning of time. Since the creation of the world, God has been calling a people to Himself, and He’s not finished yet. He goes at His own pace. Day by day He created the world. There was evening and there was morning, the first day. And we get to be a part of the people He is gathering to Himself. We get to be in on what He is doing.
I hope it doesn’t sound like I’m trying to downplay the intensity and excitement that is going on in these verses. Rather, I want to make them livable in day by day reality. Whether it’s a monumental day or a normal day, the Spirit is alive and at work in our lives. Whether three thousand are saved or you’re stuck in class, God is alive and at work. Whether signs and wonders occur, or you’re driving to work, the Spirit of God is alive and at work. Day by day they attended temple and broke bread together. Day by day the Spirit was alive and at work. And so day by day we devote ourselves to these thing

B. The Prayers- The New Community’s cry for the Kingdom
Verse 42- “ They continued steadfastly in the apostles teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.”

They continued steadfastly, persevered, constantly in prayer.
Acts 1- They went to the upper room and prayed.
Acts 2- Again, they gathered to pray.
Acts 3- Peter and John were on their way to pray.
Acts 4- Peter and John released from prison- everyone prays.
Acts 6- They created the office of deacon so they could pray more.
Acts 7- Stephen prays as he is being murdered.
Acts 10- Peter is praying on a rooftop and receives a vision.
Acts 12- The church prays for Peter, who is in prison.
Acts 13- While in worship and fasting, the Lord calls Barnabas and Paul as missionaries, and so they pray and fast some more before sending them out.
Acts 14- Paul and Barnabas appoint elders in the new churches in Derbe, Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch.With prayer and fasting they commit them to God.
Acts 16- Paul, Timothy and Luke go to Philippi and find some women gathered there praying by the river. They lead Lydia to Christ. Later on they are thrown in prison, and start praying and singing to the Lord.
That is just half the book of Acts. The rest is filled with the same. They devoted themselves to prayer.
A dependant people is a praying people.

They were totally dependant upon God. They needed God to come through. If people were going to come to know Jesus, if the poor were going to be fed, if people were going to be healed of diseases, then God had to show up. They knew they couldn’t do this alone. God had to come. And so, they devoted themselves to prayer.
Illustration: Suzanne Williams’ painting of a small boat in a huge storm at sea.
“ I only pray when I’m in trouble. But I’m in trouble all the time, so I pray all the time.” Isaac Basheris Syer

C. How should we pray? The disciples asked Jesus the same thing and He responded this way:
Matthew 6: 6:9-13 “ In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed (Honored) be your name. Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen”

1. Our Father- The Lords’ prayer is plural.

Prayer as a community act- The beginning word shapes our view of prayer. It forms it and conforms it to God’s view of prayer. We are prone to see prayer as an individual act, a solo act of me and God, one on one.
Alone but never alone- Jesus tells us that we should get alone, shut the door, and talk simply with our Father, but this is not because prayer is a solo act. It is because of pride. For our own good we should probably get away from those places where we’ll seek the attention of others, and rather seek the Father. But this seeming aloneness, of me and the Father, can deceive me, because I am never alone in my prayers.
Jesus begins this prayer in the plural, “our Father” and then continues in the plural for the entire prayer. In prayer we step into the community of God, in conversation with our Father. We are not alone in our praises and petitions, but rather, we are joined with all believers and with all creation.

Romans 8:22-23, 26 “ For we know that the whole of creation has been groaning together until now and not only that, but we ourselves who have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption the redemption of our body…Likewise, the Spirit also helps us in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings too deep for words.”
d. Often I don’t know what to pray, but I just feel myself groaning, crying out for God to do something. Apparently that’s a good place to be, because there the Spirit Himself intercedes for us.
e, As we groan in prayer, creation groans with us like a mother giving birth. There is a birthing taking place, new life is coming into the world, a new community, a new creation is coming. The kingdom of God is coming, and one day it will be here in it’s fullness.
f. From bondage and decay, sin and brokenness, freedom is being birthed, as we pray, as we groan, as we praise, as we cry out.
Verse 20-21 “ For the creation itself was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.”
g. It is the eternal and global community in prayer.
“ We join with those around the throne. We gather with those who have gone before us and those who will come after us. We join with those in Bukina Faso and China and Guatemala and Wilmington North Carolina. Together we pray to our Father.
Prayer brings us into the multi generational and multi conversational conversations that gather around the throne… However earthbound we feel, however humdrum and mundane, our work is, our prayers give us a place in a choir that expresses all the melodies and harmonies that heaven comprises…Prayer, conversation with God is not
conversation regulated by social or class distinctions, but conversation in which all men, women, and children; widows and judges, kings and beggars, the illiterate, the poor and the rich, the wise and fools, saints and sinners, are all equals. All are peers with identical access to the ear, the attention, the consideration of God( the Father of us all).” Eugene Peterson
2. Our Father –
Jesus says ,”You are praying to our father.

The church is not a business, and God is not the CEO. It’s a family, and He is our father.
We’re here to point people Jesus and to our father, and to invite them into the family.

3. Honored be your name-

God is to be honored, not me.
We pray that God’s name is honored and made much of, not us, not our church, not our ministry, but God.

4. Your Kingdom come-

We all would like to see our kingdom come. We think we have great ideas.
But Jesus doesn’t let us do that. He says pray this way,” Father, I want to see your kingdom come. It’s not about my kingdom or me. It’s about you and your kingdom.”

5. Your will be done-

Jesus prayed in the garden,” Father, if there is any other way, please let it be that. But it’s not about what I want, it’s about what you want. In the end, I want what you want.”
We pray for God’s will to be done, not our own.

6. On earth as it is in heaven-
a. Give us this day our daily bread.
b. Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.
c. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil…

I believe these three petitions are prayers for the kingdom of heaven to come to earth.
Jesus says prayer is like this: Our Father, we pray that everyone has enough to eat; that you will forgive us our wrongs, that we will forgive others like you have forgiven us, and that evil will be overcome. Father, we are tempted to try to bring honor to our own name, to demand our own will, to try to make our own kingdoms. Keep us from this evil.

Conclusion:
   Writer and pastor John Ortberg says this: “ In a world where shalom (the kingdom of God) prevails, all marriages would be healthy and all children would be safe. Those who have too much would give to those who have too little. Israeli and Palestinian children would play together on the West Bank; their parents would build homes for one another. In offices and corporate boardrooms, executives would secretly scheme to help their colleagues succeed; they would compliment them behind their backs. Tabloids would be filled with accounts of courage and moral beauty. Talk shows would feature mothers and daughters who love each other deeply; wives who give birth to their husbands’ children, and men who secretly enjoy dressing as men.
   Disagreements would be settled with grace and civility. There would still be lawyers, perhaps, but they would have really useful jobs like delivering pizza, which would be non-fat and low in cholesterol. Doors would have no locks; cars would have no alarms. Schools would no longer need police presence or even hall monitors; students and teachers and janitors would honor and value one another’s work. At recess, every child would get picked for the team.
   People would be neither bored nor hurried. No father would ever say again, “I’m too busy.” to a disappointed child. Our national sleep deficit would be paid off. Starbucks would still exist but sell only decaf.
   Divorce courts and battered women shelters would be turned into community recreation centers. Every time one human being touched another, it would be to express encouragement, affection and delight. No one would be lonely or afraid.       People of different races would join hands; they would honor and be enriched by their differences, and be united in their common humanity.
   And in the center of the entire community (of the entire kingdom) would be it’s magnificent architect and it’s most glorious resident; the God whose presence fills each person with unceasing splendor and ever-increasing delight. The writers of Scripture tell us that this vision is the way things are supposed to be…And one day will be.”

Read acts 2:42-47 again and read the Vision statement
What a vision! This is the new community. This is the kingdom of God. We are totally and utterly dependent upon our Father to bring this about. If we are to be a people devoted to prayer, then we must pray. We do not become devoted to prayer by preaching, talking and reading about it. We have to actually pray.

Discussion Questions:

Why does it seem to take so long to develop relationships in the church body?

What is the struggle that we have as Charismatic believers, with fulfilling the vision?

For you personally, in what ways does the reality of normal life get in the way of the vision?

When we think people are getting in the way of fulfilling the vision, what is our real problem?

In what area of life do you most need to see God alive and working?

Is prayer a solo act or a community act in your life? Do you regularly pray with other believers?