Jan 1When the Church Prays

8/7/2019 Jan 1When the Church Prays

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When the Church Prays: The Priority of

Praying Together (Acts 6:1-5)

Written by Lloyd Stilley

This is sermon # 1 in a series of a 6-sermon series on prayer titled: When the Church Prays

Note: I have drawn substantially from John Franklins fine work, And the Place Was Shaken, forthe outline and content on this message.

My aim this morning is, first, to so persuade you from Gods Word and from church history of

the primacy of corporate prayer that you will never view the prayer meetings of our church the

same again.

Second, my aim and my prayer is that you will determine to take one step forward in yourparticipation and confidence in prayer, not just as an individual, but with other believers,

gathered together with the purpose of seeing Gods glory manifested.

Why am I talking about this today? Is it because our Wednesday prayer meeting attendance is offor our Prayer Ministry involvement is lacking? No, in fact, in both cases, this church has been

stronger in attendance and involvement than any Ive served.

And the Place Was Shaken

I bring the issue of praying together up for three reasons:

1) Corporate prayer is on par with preaching and teaching as a priority in a healthy church.

2) Praying together is a vital key to opening Gods presence and work among His people inunique ways. And


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3) The tendency among believers, even among those who occupy leadership positions in thechurch, to think of prayer gatherings as the extra-curricular activity in the life of the church.

Its good to have, but not important enough to join; something you briefly tack on to a meeting

before you get down to the real business. There are a growing number of believers who view

prayer meetings as optional, secondary,

This morning I am on a mission: I want to convince you that God has sovereignly ordained the

corporate praying of a church, such that His mighty workings increase exponentially and Hispurposes are accelerated when we pray together. Understand that this message is not given to

minimize personal prayer. Instead, it is to show you that personal prayer alone will not result inthe working of God to the degree needed for spiritual transformation in our lives, our church, our

cities, and our nation.

Pretty bold statements, pastor. You got anything to back that up? Im glad you asked. I want to

give you five proofs from the Word and world history that establish the desperate need for all

who are believers to become a part of the prayer gatherings of this body. This morning we willsurvey various Scriptures that establish something simple, profound, and stirring: PrayingChurches are used of God to change the world. Here are 5 proofs:

Putting Priority Back on Prayer Meetings

1. Praying Together Was A Priority for the Apostles.

In Acts 6, the Church in Jerusalem faced one of its first dilemmas. Heres how it happened:

In those days, as the number of the disciples was multiplying, there arose a complaint by the

Hellenistic Jews against the Hebraic Jews that their widows were being overlooked in the dailydistribution. (Time out! The word distribution is the word diakonia, which is the root wordbehind our words deacon and ministry. So the emphasis is on serving people.)

Verse 2: Then the Twelve summoned the whole company of the disciples and said, It would not

be right for us to give up preaching about God to wait on tables. (Stop once more! The wordtranslated wait on or serve tables is diakonein, from the same root family as in v. 2, focusing on

serving others). Back to the passage: Therefore, brothers, select from among you seven men ofgood reputation, full of the Spirit and wisdom, whom we can appoint to this duty. Literally, v. 4

reads, But we to the prayer and the diakonia of the word will steadfastly continue.

Now Ive always heard that this meant that the apostles delegated ministry responsibilities toothers so that they would be freed up to spend time in personal prayer and receive a fresh wordfrom the Lord to preach to the people. But that is not the point of this passage.

The apostles are not referring to the need for personal, private prayer. Instead, they are talking

about the ministry of mobilizing the people of God to pray together. They were marking out thetwo ministries they must especially do as church leaders. Let me show you the clues that lead to

this conclusion.


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1) The context of this passage revolves around ministries. Verse 1 points out a problem withministries. In v. 2, the apostles discuss what ministries they must do and the ones they must not

do. In v. 3-4, they instruct that seven men be identified from among the congregation to take onthis ministry. This section of Scripture is focused on ministry to people, not on personal issues.

2) The definite article before prayer in v. 4 points to something significant. Listen again: But weto the prayer and to the ministry of the word will steadfastly continue. That little word the thatappears before prayer indicates that this doesnt mean prayer in general. It highlights something

specific and important. The syntax of the sentence creates the possibility that the ministry ofprayer and the word are twin ideas.

3) The example of the apostles in Acts points to the priority praying together held for them.

Every occurrence of prayer in Acts preceding Chapter 6 (1:14, 24; 2:42; 3:1; 4:23-31) picturesthe apostles leading others in prayer. Not one reference points to their private prayer time; the

focus is on Gods people praying together.

So by testimony and by example, it is plain that the apostles placed a high premium on thepeople of God praying together. They considered guiding the corporate prayer life of the churchjust as critical a priority as the preaching/teaching of Gods Word. Lets add a second proof:

2. Praying Together was Modeled and Practiced by Christ.

The apostles learned their leadership patterns from the Master, Jesus Christ. Ransack the Gospels

for Jesus teaching and practice of prayer, and you will identify 37 verses, sometimes repeated inmore than one Gospel. Of those 37 instances in which Jesus refers to prayer, 33 of them were

addressed to a plural rather than singular audience. In other words, Jesus instruction decisivelyleaned toward praying with others, not just praying in private.

Take, for example, Matt. 7:7: Keep asking, and it will be given to you. Keep searching, and youwill find. Keep knocking, and the door will be opened to you. We read you in that verse and

immediately think its singular, referring to an individual. In fact, it is a plural you, meaningJesus is urging a gathering of believers to ask, seek, and knock.

In other passages, Jesus deliberately emphasized the significance of praying together. Listen to

Matt. 18:19: Again, I assure you: If two of you on earth agree about any matter that you pray for,it will be done for you by My Father in heaven. Jesus could have said, If anyone asks;

instead, He deliberately chose to emphasize a group gathered for prayer. This focus of Jesus onmore than one praying indicates that there is a design of Gods in such gatherings, through which

He uniquely and powerfully works.

So the apostles made it a practice and a priority to teach about praying with fellow believers andto practice it because they had heard and seen Jesus emphasize the same thing.

3. Praying Together and the Mighty Moves of God in the NT.


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The Book of Acts records the mighty works of God for and through His church in its early years,and clearly connects them to unified, corporate prayer.

The 120 were gathered in an upper room praying in one accord when Pentecost comes (Acts

1:13; 2:1).

The disciples prayed for wisdom in knowing who Judas replacement should be (Acts 1:24).

When Peter and John reported the Sanhedrins threats, those gathered cried out to God in one

accord for boldness, and the place was shaken where they prayed (Acts 4:24, 31).

The church prayed over the seven men appointed to serve the widows (Acts 6:6).

After James was martyred and Peter imprisoned by Herod, but the church was fervently praying,and God miraculously delivered Peter from his cell (Acts 12:1-11).

While the prophets and teachers were praying and fasting, the Holy Spirit called Paul andBarnabas to go on their first missionary journey (Acts 13:1-2).

Paul and Silas were praying when God sent an earthquake that resulted in the conversion of the

jailer and their release (Acts 16:25).

Again, let me say that I am not disparaging personal, private prayer. Ananias was praying alonewhen God instructed him to go to Saul (Acts 9:10ff.). Peter was alone on the rooftop when he

had his famous vision leading him to share the Gospel with a Gentile named Cornelius (Acts10:9ff.). Nevertheless, the majority of Gods recorded workings came when His people prayed

together.

4. Corporate Prayer in Gods Mighty Works in Past History.

There are so many examples of how corporate prayer was the springboard for the sweeping

movements of God. Let me mention a few. In 1857, America was riding the wave of a strongeconomy, and, as tends to be true in times of prosperity, showed a radical decrease of interest in

the things of God. There was a layman named Jeremiah Lamphier whose concern led to a call forprayer. He tacked up notices in NYC calling for a weekly prayer meeting on Wednesdays from

noon till one at a rented space on Fulton Street.

The first prayer meeting was on September 23, 1857. Only six people came, and they didnt

arrive until just before 12:30. The next week, the attendance jumped to 20. The numberscontinued to climb week-by-week.

Then, on October 10th, the Stock Market crashed and financial panic ensued. Trouble had its

humbling affect and the hearts of many turned to spiritual matters. It wasnt long untilsomewhere between 10 and 50,000 businessmen were meeting every day in NYC to pray at

noon. By week 15, the meetings moved from weekly to daily.


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In 1858, this prayer movement leaped to every major city in America. The Second GreatAwakening swept our land. Estimates are that a million Americans out of a population of30

million at that time were converted in less than two years. And it all started with prayer.

Rees Howells, a Welsh coal miner, journeyed to South Africa as a missionary in 1910 in

response to an increasing burden from the Lord. Six weeks after arriving, he joined in a prayermeeting. Out of that came the sweeping work of the Holy Spirit in which they had two revivalmeetings a day for fifteen months and all day on Friday. Thousands were converted as a result.

I could tell you story after story of how corporate prayer became the springboard for the mighty

movement of God. But I want to add one more proof that is as current as todays newspaper.

5. Praying Together and Gods Works Today.

Right now, the Gospel is sweeping the globe at a rate that is unimaginable. Avery Willis, the VP

of our IMB, has reported that statistically, most of the people who have ever been saved in

history were saved during the 20th Century. Willis suggested as high as70% of the total numberof people who have been saved throughout world history have come to Christ in the last hundred

years.

But get this: 70% of that number has been saved since 1945! Let me boggle your mind with one

other layer of observation from this world missions expert: 70% of those saved since 1945 weresaved since 1990! Thats how fast the Gospel is storming our world. That means that at the turn

of the 21st Century, possibly one-third of all Christians who have ever lived have been convertedsince 1990!

What does that look like? In Nepal, just 2000 Christians were known in 1990; ten years later that

number had grown to half a million. Cambodia claimed only 600 believers in 1990; there is areported 60,000 today. In Korea during the 20th Century, the country advanced from being 2%Christian to about 40% Christian today. East Africa is experiencing one of the greatest

movements of God in history. In Uganda alone, HIV/AIDS once claimed the lives of one-third ofthe population. The World Health Organization predicted the complete collapse of the Ugandan

economy by the year 2000.

But revival has come to that country. With the salvation of many has come a transformation inmorals, so that AIDS is down to 5%. So great is this revival that one church alone went from 7 in

attendance to an average of 2000 in just two weeks! Currently, that same church as amembership of 22,000 and has planted 150 other churches.

In almost every quarter of the globe, Christianity is advancingexcept for four primary areas:

North America, Japan, Australia, and Western Europe. Guess what one of the commondenominators is everywhere Christianity marches forward? Christians spend time in prayer

together. Track what God is doing in Korea, in China, in India, in Eastern Africa, and you willfind behind the scenes prayer meetings.


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I know what youre thinking. Our prayer meetings dont seem to convey that sort of power. Andyoure right. Over the next several weeks, you will see some strategic shifts in how we spend our

time on Wednesdays and when our Prayer Teams get together. But as we progress in thatdirection, you be the change thats needed.

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Jan 1When the Church Prays