INTRO
Ever since moving to the valley, my eyes have been drawn to the mountains and the river. There’s days in the summer months when I ride my bike to Elizabeth Park, and gaze at the river’s powerful flow. It’s fascinating for me to watch the river at different stages. Sometimes it looks shallow enough to cross without danger. Yet, other times — like now — if we try to step into the river’s endless surge; we’d be swept away to distant shores.
We all know, this spring, we’re witnessing the blessings of God’s abundance from his storehouses above. The rains keep coming, and coming, and coming; and the melt of the snow upon our mountain peaks has been slowed by the cooler temperatures. As a result, the river has been flowing high—bringing rich life to all the communities in its path.
There’s a few of us who believe God is about to melt the hearts of our valley with his grace, and send an abundance with the likes of which Northern Idaho has never seen. With this, we believe God is calling the church to pray in the power of his Spirit for the river of God to surge through our lives.
The other day as I was meditating upon the scripture, a couple of things filled me senses with the freshness of pine nettles in the cool, evening breeze. I was reading Acts:1-2, and it hit me — the early church, on the day Jesus ascended into heaven, went back to the Upper Room and prayed continuously for ten days. Like a rush to my spirit, I felt a strong urge to call the area pastors into ten days of community prayer. And it’s happening! I’m not saying this to brag; but with humility, God’s calling us to a time or prayerful action.
Thursday morning, a bunch of us gathered and prayed for God to bond the church in prayer, and to unite us in spirit and truth. We believe God is going to come supernaturally; still, we believe that God’s not going to flow in supernatural ways, unless we first pray as a community. Let me to ya why this is so important.
It’s important because there’s power in prayer when brothers and sisters stand together for the will of God to be done on earth — as it is in heaven. For what we’re seeing now in the natural, will happen as well in the supernatural, if we unite — like at no other time in our past. 1 Corinthians 15:46 says what comes first in the natural, will come later in the supernatural.
I have to tell ya, these prayer times have been amazing and refreshing. Yesterday, as we prayed, God gave one pastor a picture of a riverbed being filled by a bubbling brook from below. God said these words to him, “Your prayers are filling the riverbed.” As we prayed, the pastor continued to see the riverbed filling with water, and life coming alive on its banks.
Dear friends, community prayer is a powerful thing —more powerful than our minds can comprehend. God says, “…where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.” This morning, we are gathered together with far more than three. Let us be united in spirit, and hear why community prayer is such a powerful thing, and how God is calling us at American Lutheran to time of public prayer. Okay let’s move along and dig in. Please turn to Acts chapter one. Let’s start out by reading VV 1-5. READ ACTS 1:1-5.
WHY WAIT
In verse four, Luke records Jesus words, telling his disciples to stay at “home base” until the Holy Spirit comes. He said, “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait….” You know, I don’t know what it was like for them, but I know our culture hates waiting. We want to put our kayaks into the water and go down river, and get to where we want to go, even if the river is low.
The analogy is true in our personal lives, as well as in the church. But God doesn’t want us to “put in” and push ahead of him — for we might get caught up on the rocks and miss the blessings he has for us and others. If we only wait in the riverbed and stand ready with our canoes, God’s Holy Spirit’s will flow down from above, and fill the riverbed, so we float upon his stream safely, speedily, and to go where he wants us to go.
Ironically though, if we’re not standing in the river when it does rise, then we’ll miss being a part of God’s flow. God is not only saying “wait; “but he’s saying, “Wait and be ready in — or right by —the river.” Funny thing is about waiting in the river — waiting requires doing. We just can’t stand around daydreaming, picking our proverbial noses, and looking around. Waiting requires praying and preparing. Let’s keep reading Acts 1:9–11 to see what I mean. READ ACTS 1:9–11.
WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT?
Have you ever noticed before what these two messengers said to disciples? It’s like they were saying, “What are you looking at. He’ll come again. But, for now, go back, wait, prepare, and do as Jesus commanded you to do.” The same can be said for us.
I’m going to pick on a friend of mine for a second. I love him, dearly. Yet, I tell ya, about five times each day he posts something on Facebook about this or that in the news, and how it points to second coming of Christ. It’s good to look for the signs of the second coming, and we’re called to keep watch. Yet, keeping our eyes fixated upon the sky isn’t productive if that’s all we’re doing. Maybe my friend could better utilize the time God’s giving him by praying, and helping others get to the river of God.
I only pick on my friend because he’s not alone. Millions of Americans are in the same boat — (no pun intended) — I’ll admit, I’ve been one of them. Like countless others, I hope and pray Jesus is coming again, soon. Yet, God doesn’t want us to stand around, looking skyward. Wishing, hoping, and standing around doesn’t produce action, and it doesn’t save souls.
Praying in the riverbed is action. Going and bringing others to the riverbed, and helping them prepare, is action. And, praying for the river to rise, is action. Notice — I twice mentioned prayer; because prayer must proceed all that we do, and continue, while we do. And that, dear friends, is what the disciples went back to the Upper Room to do. Let’s keep reading — VV. 12–14. READ VV. 12–14
ALL GATHERED… FOR TEN DAYS… AND PRAYED PRAYING (CONTINUOUSLY)
The scripture says the disciples obeyed Jesus and the two men dressed in white, and went back to Jerusalem. Now, Jerusalem wasn’t home to most of these men and women. Most of them were from the area around Galilean sea. Yet, Jerusalem had become their home away from home — their spiritual home base —so to speak. They were close to the temple, and they were there for the time between the Passover Feast, and the Festival of Shavout.
Shavout —or Pentecost (meaning fifty days) — is a festival celebrating the wheat harvest. However, it is also the day, as passed down through oral tradition, that Moses received the Law from God on Mount Sinai. As with maybe a million others, the disciples were on pilgrimage in the city, and staying put for the feast of Pentecost. They were doing as told, and patiently waited for the coming of the Promised Holy Spirit.
While they waited, however, they prepared for the coming of the day when God would again empower his called out ones with power from on high — just as God empowered Moses — to proclaim God’s salvation message for all people. And isn’t it just amazing that in Jerusalem during those days, hundreds of thousands just happened to be there in order to hear the good news? But that day was still ten days away. So as scripture says, the disciples went into the Upper Room and prayed.
Look at verse fourteen one more time. It says, “They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers. Verse fifteen says (look at the part in parentheses) that about 120 were gathered in the Upper Room. That’s a lot of people — that’s church. And they did as a church is a called to do —at least as much as they could do without being empowered by the Spirit of God — they prayed continuously, and they discerned.
Of verse fourteen, The New American Standard Bible says, “These all with one mind were continually devoting themselves to prayer.” The English Standard Bible says, “All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer.” No matter how it’s worded, the language says about 120 were united together in continuous devotion and prayer.
The original Greek is pretty specific. It says, with a continuous, ongoing action, all of these — meaning the whole assembly — all the called out ones — the ecclesia — the church if you will — ALL OF THEM — were constantly devoted to praying together.
Praying for what, the Bible doesn’t specifically say. But I have to believe that they specifically prayed for the coming of the Promised One — the Holy Spirit of God to baptize them with fire from above. Jesus had said to them (as recorded in vv 4-5) that the Holy Spirit would come upon them in “a matter of days.” There’s a message in there for us.
We are called to pray for God’s Spirit to come and baptize us with fire, with so much of God and his power, that like Moses — like Peter and the early Church — that the Spirit of God will reign down upon and ignite us so that thousands can come to salvation in Jesus Christ. However, we need to ask ourselves, why should God want to use a church that standing around, looking skyward, and afraid of being baptized by the Holy Spirit with fire? He doesn’t!
God is calling us to action, and that action starts with us a community of like-minded believers praying continuously in the Spirit for the supernatural to materialize as it has in the natural. God is calling us to go to his river, bring others there, stand there and make ready, and pray while God fills the river — so we can carry his message downstream.
A CALL TO 7 DAYS OF PRAYER
Dear friends, God is calling upon me to lead you in seven days of prayer, starting today. God wants us to come together and pray for his spiritual, river to rise. The area pastors and I are going to keep gathering every day until next Sunday and pray as a community of believers. But so must we as called-out community of believers gather for the next seven days as a community to pray.
We are the called out ones. We have been saved by God already; but thousands in our valley do not know God; and it breaks my heart. Does it break your heart too? Or, are you comfortable with only your salvation? A time is coming when God is going to supernaturally flow into this valley, and all of Northern Idaho, and bring an abundance of spiritual growth. That starts now, with a call to prayer in the church. Here’s how we need to act.
For the next seven days — at noon and again at 6 pm — I’m calling upon you to gather here in the sanctuary —at one of these two times — and pray as a community for God’s supernatural flow. We don’t have to pray a long time; but we do need to pray together —not just in our individual homes behind closed doors, but as a community —just as 120 joined together in the Upper Room— to constantly pray for the Holy Spirit of God to come and do the supernatural within our midst.
You’ll notice on the front of your bulletin cover of a matchbook. In asking you to think about us as a book of matches, ready and willing to allow God to light us, and create a fire of light of heat for all to see and to be enflamed in the power of His Holy Spirit. If the match is not lit, then there cannot be fire. If there is no fire, people cannot be drawn to the light, and to the warmth of Jesus Christ.
Come this week and pray each day. It’s not too hard, it can be done. Let us be as those who are willing to allow God to spark us, unite us, enflame us, and to pour the fuel of His Holy Spirit upon us next Sunday, so that we can encourage others to come to Jesus, and also be known as the called out ones who flow in the river of God. Amen, let us pray.
