Prayer Meeting
Acts 1: 14
Many think prayer is a waste of time, but without the ministry of prayer, our work is a waste of time.
The thermometer of any church is its prayer meeting.
You can do more than pray - but only after you have prayed. You can do more than pray after you have prayed, but you cannot do more than pray until you have prayed.
Satan trembles when he sees,
The weakest saint on his knees.
Satan trembles when we pray because he knows that prayer is the means of obtaining things from God.
More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of. It is beyond our ability to actually measure the power of prayer. The Bible says in Ephesians 3:20 that God "is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think." You can’t pray beyond God’s ability.
The early church is found time and time again in prayer.
Every problem the early church encountered, there was but one response - PRAYER. They were confident in the ability of prayer. See Acts 4:17,18, 23, 24 and Acts
12:1-5, 6,7.
Satan might wall them up, but He could not roof them in.
There was a black preacher who had just finished preaching his candidate sermon and closed out the services of the Lord’s day pleading with God of the things that he
thought the Lord should grant. After the services a deacon approached the janitor and asked him what he thought of that prayer. "Why that man asked de Laud for things that the other preacher did not even know de Laud had."
All too often we pray when we there is nothing else to we can do, but Jesus want us to pray before we do anything at all.
Prayer does not fit us for the greater works: prayer is the greater work.
Prayer is not an escape from responsibility, but rather it is our response to God’s ability.
A. The early church brought to God
their frustrations in prayer
B. The early church brought to God
their feelings in prayer
C. The early church brought to God
their foes in prayer
D. The early church brought to God
their friends in prayer
F. The early church brought to God
their failures in prayer
G. The early church brought to God
their future in prayer
The early church prayed for 10 days and preached for 10 minutes and 3, 000 souls were saved; the church today prays for10 minutes and preaches for 10 weeks, and we are ecstatic if one souls is saved.
How can we look for a Pentecost if we never met with one accord, in one place, to wait upon the Lord? C. H. Spurgeon once said, “We shall never see much change for the better in our churches in general til the prayer-meeting occupies a higher place in the esteem of Christians.”
Isaiah 59:16 states that God “wondered that there was no intercessor.” If God wondered then how great must be God’s wonder today. How few there are many us who know what prevailing prayer is.
The secret of all failure is our failure in secret prayer.
Nothing of eternal importance is accomplished apart from prayer!
The early church was born out of prayer.
I. The people that were attending (13-14)
Prayer was for all. They all felt the need to pray.
There were no big shots there. None of these had ever been to college, they were not educated or ordained, but they knew the need for prayer.
A. Church leaders were there.
B. Church ladies were there.
Mary is humbly praying with them. They are not praying to her.
The early church was prayer conscious; the modern church is pleasure conscious. Prayer manifest that we know our weakness and our needs.
They all recognized that they must meet God in the holy place before they could minister effectively in the marketplace.
C. Church laymen were there.
II. The procedure that was adopted
A. They prayed audibly
Not stated here but it is implied here.
See Matthew 18:19,20. Corporate prayer brings great blessing! They had to pray audibly if everyone was in one accord - in agreement and unity.
B. They prayed persistently
“continued”
Something happens when the church prays persistently.
C. They prayed unitedly
“with one accord”
Not a dissenting voice was heard.
D. They prayed fervently
James 5:16
They prayed.
III. The power that was attained
There was power to witnesses for the Lord. When Peter stood up to preach after this prayer meeting, 3,000 thousands souls were saved.
I cannot help but think that if one hundred and twenty believers could again pray for ten days with one accord, once more the mighty power of God would be seen and heard.
LITTLE PRAYER, LITTLE POWER; MUCH PRAYER MUCH POWER.
The story is told about some young students who came for the first time to the Metropolitan Tabernacle, the church were C. H. Spurgeon preached. The sanctuary, as always was full so Spurgeon asked them if they would like to see the heating apparatus of the church down in the basement. The students initially balked, but Spurgeon insisted. Together they proceeded to the basement where Spurgeon kicked open the door and the students observed 700 souls on their knees asking God to bless the service upstairs with great power. "Gentlemen," said Spurgeon, "This is the heating apparatus of this church."
When asked about his success, Spurgeon said, "My people pray for me." How many preachers can say the same today?
Conclusion:
You can tell how popular a church is by who comes on Sunday morning.
You can tell how popular the pastor or evangelist is by who comes on Sunday night. However, you can tell how popular Jesus is by who comes to the prayer meeting.
Here in the early verses in the Book of Acts we find a risen Lord whose life is made available through the coming of the Spirit, and who will come again in power and great glory, but with whom we are always in instant communication by means of prayer. These elements are what enable any group of Christians to have an impact upon and to exercise a vital revolutionary force upon the age in which they live.
