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Christ's Disciples in Prayer
by Francisco Cruz Navarette A.) Christ Jesus Had Ascended When the Lord had gone up to heaven, His disciples' lives became quite different than before, for they will no longer be with His physical presence and leadership; for the Holy Spirit will be their unseen guide and source of power. Prior to this event, the disciples had already received the Great Commission (Mat.28:18-20) and now were waiting for the promised descension of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8). What is next for them? Being informed about the kingdom of God and Christ's return, they were together gathered at the upper room in 'one accord' - praying. B.) The Disciples' Prayers in Acts In Acts, chapter 2, the promised Holy Spirit had already descended (2:2-4) and afterwards the apostle Peter preached his first sermoun in public with the core message- the crucified and resurrected Jesus Christ, who is the Saviour and Lord of all, (Acts 2:14-41) which resulted in the salvation of about three thousand souls (2:41), and one of the factors in the endurance of the disciples' ministry through the Holy Spirit was their dependence in God by prayer. According to a Bible software1, we have the following number of occurrences of the disciples' prayers and variations of it in the Book of Acts: a.) pray; six occurrences b.) prayer; seven occurrences c.) praying; two occurrences d.) prayed; seventeen occurrences Having a total of thirty-two (32) prayer occurrences, along with these, below are some selected verses with a short description of the disciples' prayer activities and ministries: 1. In the upper room, praying in one accord were the eleven apostles with the women disciples, Acts 1:14 2. The first converts, gathering together in fellowship with prayers, Acts 2:42. 3. The apostles Peter and John inside the temple praying before they met a lame man, whom they healed afterwards, Acts 3:1. 4. The early church solving a problem, with the decision to continue in the ministry by praying and preaching the word of God, Acts 6:4. 5. The appointed men for service were prayed for by the apostles, Acts 6:6. 6. The apostles Peter and John prayed for the new believers from Samaria, Acts 8:15. 7. The Lord instructed Ananias to go to Saul of Tarsus, who was at Judas' house, and he was praying, Acts 9:11. 8. The apostle Peter informing a centurion named Cornelius, that his prayer is heard by God, Acts 10:31. 9. Unceasing prayer was made by the church for the apostle Peter, who was at that time being imprisoned, Acts 12:5. 10. Fasting and prayer by the disciples before sending out the first missionaries, led by Paul and Silas, Acts 13:3. 11. Prayer by a riverside on a Sabbath day by Paul with Luke narrating, before they preached the gospel to the women there, Acts 16:13. 12. Midnight prayer by Paul and Silas imprisoned at Philippi, a city of Macedonia, Acts 16:25. 13. Paul and the Ephesian church prayed together before he left, ship-bounded towards Jerusalem, Acts 20:36. 14. Paul with Luke narrating, about to board in a ship, prayed on the shore with the disciples from Tyre, Acts 21:5 15. Paul with the ship's crew in a shipwreck, prayed by thanksgiving before taking a meal, Acts 27:35. As we may observe from Luke's account of the Book of Acts, the early church demonstrated that prayer is a dominant factor in their activities, depended upon God through the ministry of the Holy Spirit to them. They understood that without prayer their spiritual lives and ministries would be weak and barren. C.) Our Prayers We are now living in a time when certain gaps exist between us and the first-century believers. In the Book of Acts we read their 'then and there' situations while in us exist the 'here and now' matters. Whatever proportion of our difference from them in time, culture, society, events and languages; as past and present time believers in the Lord Jesus Christ the principles of living taught us by the Bible and our motives in ministries or services to God remain unchanged, even gaps exist. The environment and the ruling authorities will be different as time passes by but believers of every generation pray to the same Father in heaven through the mediatory work of the Son of God and by the guidance and sustenance of the Holy Spirit. All of what God has wrought and provided through the centuries to His redeemed people are of His abundant grace, mercy and faithfulness. A sample list of prayer matters of present-time believers could be of the following, though considered incomplete: a. Prayer for and with fellow believers; for one another and prayer fellowships. b. Prayer for unbelievers; friends and relatives, neighbors, etc. c. Prayer for the government and authorities; local and national. d. Prayer for various church ministries and missions, evangelism and outreaches. e. Prayer for personal enemies and hostile people; persecutors, mockers. f. Prayer for personal matters and own family. So, it is our prayer life that helps us to keep going as we follow and abide in the Lord Jesus Christ, just as it did to His early disciples who depended continually upon the Holy Spirit's power and guidance in their lives and ministries. When our Lord was doing His earthly ministry, prayer was His source of fellowship and strength by constantly communicating with His Father in heaven, the same was with His early disciples and we too, as present time disciples are expected to, for a believer is spiritually weak in the absence or neglect of prayer. The apostle Paul instructed the church at Thessalonica to pray constantly, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus, (1Thessalonians 5:17). We may at times experience personal lapses in communicating with God, but this can be checked and can be corrected. If we are harbouring any unconfessed sin, we must deal with it immediately; confess it and ask forgiveness to Him, (1John 1:9; Psalms 66:18). As we live in a consistent prayer life, we are showing our sincere submission to the Lord and we are demonstrating our willingness to do His will and purposes in our lives and services to Him. ________________________________________ References: 1(Bible software: e-Sword, version 10.4.0, copyright 2000-2104, Rick Meyers) I am Francisco Cruz Navarette, from the Philippines. married, with a 4-year old adopted daughter.I have worked as an engineer and now almost retired, found an opportunity to share with you my life in following the Lord by writing through your website and I am very thankful to the Lord and to you. Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com |