“They all joined together constantly in prayer...” Acts 1:14
“Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day,” Acts 2:41
When he went to the Brooklyn Tabernacle, it was a ramshackle building with only a handful attending. They were outnumbered by the muggers, transvestites, drug addicts, and more in their neighborhood. They did not have enough money to pay the preacher who had a second congregation in New Jersey. Jim Cymbala was ill-equipped, under-educated, and overwhelmed by his own inadequacy.
In his search for answers, the Lord impressed deep within his soul that God would be with them in power, if he and the church learned to call on the Lord to supply their needs. In desperation, he put aside his planned message and called on the church to pray. The prayer meeting, not the Sunday worship, became the focal point for the Brooklyn Tabernacle. They began to see God work in their sin sick world. People were accepting Christ. Gang members became leaders for the Lord. Transvestites gave up walking the streets for ministry and marriage.
Today, the Brooklyn Tabernacle hosts 10,000 worshipers and a grammy award winning choir that has traveled the world. They’ve also started other churches in New York. It all began when a handful of people humbly admitted how desperately they needed God’s help and prayed fervently.
They experienced a little bit of what happened in the Book of Acts. In Acts 1:14, the early church “all joined together constantly in prayer.” The word translated “together” literally means “with one mind or passion.” The word translated “constantly” means “resolute, sometimes obstinate, persistence.” Everything we said about persistence as a prayer key applies here. In Acts 2, the church received the power of the Holy Spirit. They prayed for ten days, preached for ten minutes, and 3000 were saved.
The first church needed to pray with one mind, with one passion, with resolute, obstinate persistence. They needed the Holy Spirit’s power.
We need to pray with one mind, with one passion, with resolute, obstinate persistence. We need the Holy Spirit’s power. If First Baptist, Everman, prayed like the first church prayed, he will empower us as he empowered the first church. Bro. Jim’s invitations would look like Peter’s invitation.
Peter Marshall, who served as chaplain of the Senate for 47 years, prayed one day on that floor, “Lord, forgive us for thinking that prayer is a waste of time and help us to see that without prayer our work is a waste of time.”
God is not dead. He has not changed. When we pray as the first church prayed, God will empower us as he empowered the first church.
Martin Luther said, “The one concern of the devil is to keep Christians from praying. He fears nothing from prayerless studies, prayerless work, and prayerless religion. He laughs at our toil, mocks at our wisdom, but trembles when we pray.”
Satan should fear the average Baptist church. He should fear our church.
In many Bibles, Acts is called the Acts of the Apostles. I often think of it as the Acts of the Holy Spirit. Much of it could be called the Acts of the Praying Church. Again and again, the church prays and God uses them to reach 3000, 5000, multitudes. God adds to the church DAILY those who are being saved.
In Belfast, Ireland, in the 1930’s, a church that ran about 200 experienced revival. Between 12 and 20 people were saved every night. 6:00 every morning found 50 people in the church praying for an hour. It was not singing, Bible study, and prayer, as much as the teacher in me wishes Bible study was the key to revival. They prayed.
J. Edwin Orr described one of these prayer meetings. The prayers were short, simple, to the point. Someone prayed for God to reach her wayward son who had gotten into bad company. There was a chorus of “amens” and “yes, Lords.” One prayed, “Lord, bless the poor woman down the street, the one with the black eye. I’ll try to bring her tonight.” Someone prayed for God to bring conviction and conversion to the man who gave her the black eye.
An hour of prayer like this every morning preceded the 12 to 20 souls saved every night. Orr continued describing this prayer meeting.
“A second year theological student was in the meeting, and these brief, humble prayers ill-suited his idea of homiletics. He decided to show the folks how to pray, and soon was launched upon an oration with introduction, excellent paragraphing, and a theme running throughout the prayer.
“‘We thank Thee, Heavenly Father, that in spite of the disobedience of our first parents, the seed of the woman didst bruise the serpent’s head, and Thy plan didst triumph. We thank Thee, that in spite of the wickedness of the antediluvian world, Thou didst shut the family of Noah in the ark to preserve Thy seed, and Thy plan didst triumph....’
“The theological student prayed on about Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and the children if Israel, and Moses. He was traveling with great velocity through the book of Second Kings when the minister interrupted him. ‘Open your eyes, man,’ he said. ‘You’re not praying. You’re preaching a sermon.’
“We returned to the profitable intercession and sincere petition and we saw the answers come.”
Years later, J. Edwin Orr would begin studying the history of revivals. He would become the world’s authority on the history of revivals.
In 1952, he went to Sao Paulo, Brazil, where 81 churches began weekly prayer meetings for revival. Each meeting was dominated by a few monopolizing the time with long prayers. He told them about the church in Belfast and their prayer meeting. He told them about the short, simple prayers and the “amens” and “yes, Lords.” He told about the second year theological student.
The prayer meetings in Brazil began to emphasize short, simple, sincere prayers. More people prayed in each of the prayer meetings. God began to work. Revival did come. Evangelical Christians in Brazil grew from two million to over five million in five years.
In The Fervent Prayer: The Worldwide Impact of the Great Awakening of 1858, J. Edwin Orr wrote, “The main marks of an Evangelical Awakening are always some repetition of the phenomena of the Acts of the Apostles...”
The first mark is prayer. The next two are preaching and personal witnessing. We remember Peter preaching in Acts 2, but we often overlook 2:4. “All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.” Everyone present could hear the gospel in their own language. The 120 who had been praying were all witnessing when Peter preached.
When we pray as the early church prayed, God will empower us as he empowered the early church. Not only will Bro. Jim’s invitation look like Peter’s invitation, but also God will use us in unexpected ways.
Do you remember the person in Belfast who prayed for the woman down the street, the one with the black eye? He continued praying, “I’ll try to bring her tonight.”
I can’t help but wonder if he intended to say that when he began praying. I have had the experience of praying with some fervency and being surprised at the last sentence I prayed. I wonder if he planned on stopping before saying, “I’ll try to bring her tonight.” He may have realized during his prayer that this was God’s will for him. When we pray as the early church prayed, God will use us in unexpected ways.
When the first church prayed with one mind, with one passion, with resolute, obstinate persistence, critics complained that they turned the world upside down. It’s about time we did the same to our world.
...
We will now take prayer requests, but don’t think we are getting out so early. After taking requests, we will talk a little bit about conversational prayer and then pray. Prayer requests or praises?.
...
All my life, church prayer meetings have been one or more monologues of prayer.
When Will Rogers sat on stage reading a newspaper and making comments, he did all the talking. That was a monologue. For those who don’t remember Will Rogers, a monologue is how Jay Leno and David Letterman start their show, one man doing all the talking.
A dialogue is when two or more people take turns talking about something. It’s the way people generally talk with their friends, it’s a conversation.
Let’s suppose that Linda and Margie each want to plant an herb garden. Naturally, they will want Denny and Alan to share in the fun. When they talk about planting their herb garden, would you expect Linda to talk for five minutes about plant selection, Denny to talk for five minutes about bed preparation, Alan to talk for five minutes about which herbs grow well together and which should grow separately, and Margie to talk for five minutes about recipes using herbs?
That would be a series of monologues, not a conversation.
What would be more likely would be for Linda to want to plant rosemary, Margie to comment about how she likes to use rosemary when cooking chicken, Alan to say how he likes for Margie to use rosemary when cooking chicken, Denny to wonder aloud about why, when they tried to grow rosemary before, they had problems with it, and Alan to suggest that they make sure they plant it in an area with good drainage or consider planting it is a raised bed.
That would be a dialogue, taking turns talking about rosemary, contributing to the conversation. Then they would naturally move on to another subject. Maybe Denny would said he also likes when Linda adds basil to her homemade tomato soup. Everyone would have a chance to talk about basil.
All my life, church prayer meetings have been more like the monologues than the dialogue. The prayers were offered to God one of three ways. The prayer requests were saved until the end and one person prayed for all of them, or a few people prayed, or people formed groups to pray.
There are some advantages and disadvantages to praying in groups. One person at a time is still praying in each group, but more total people are praying. That’s a good thing. Unfortunately, some people stay away from prayer meeting because they don’t want to feel pressured to pray aloud.
Ideally, during monologues of prayer, everyone else is listening and praying in agreement. If I am in the prayer meeting, that may not be true. During a long prayer, no matter how eloquent, my mind may wander. If I am one of several people praying, I’m planning my prayer while the people ahead of me are praying. If, after I have planned something to say, someone else prays about what I had planned, I’m never sure if I should repeat the subject or think of something “new” to say. I may even be mildly annoyed if the first person prays about everything before the rest of us have a chance. After praying, I may realize I forgot to say something or I may think of something new to say.
Conversational prayer is a dialogue with God, not a monologue to God.
We know that Audrea has had a rough time. If you were to pray for her, what would you pray? [wait for answers]... Thank God she still has a smile on her face... Pray that she will continue healing well from the last surgery... Thank God she can enjoy real food without pain... That the growth hormone will work... That the transplant will go well.
Conversational prayer is as easy as making these requests. Now let’s suppose that instead of asking for requests on Audrea’s behalf, we brought her up in prayer. “Father, thank you that Audrea has remained faithful during the challenges she has suffered. Please continue to help her.”
A second or two after I stop, someone else can pray, “Thank you, God, that she still has a smile on her face.”
Another person may share that sentiment and pray, “Lord, when I see her smile, it makes me more joyful. Thank you, Lord.”
Then someone can pray, “Thank you that the last surgery went better. Thank you that she can enjoy solid food without pain.”
Finally, someone can pray, “Please strengthen her body and prepare her for a successful transplant.”
It would also be appropriate for several “amens” and “yes, Lords” to be voiced.
After a short silence, when it seems everyone who wants has prayed, someone can offer a new prayer. “Lord, help J. T. with his recovery,” and others can pray for him and his wife, Beverly.
That is a dialogue. It’s conversational prayer. It’s a simple process:
A subject is brought up for prayer.
Anyone who wants to can say a short, simple prayer. One or two sentences is ideal but stay on the subject.
If you think of something else you want to pray about the subject, pray again after someone else has had a chance to pray.
Short silences are OK. They may encourage more timid or thoughtful people to pray a sentence or two. They do give us a chance to listen to God.
When everyone has had a chance to pray, introduce a new subject as the Holy Spirit leads.
Pray in normal, informal tones and vocabulary. People who are not willing to pray long prayers may be willing to pray a sentence or two, as long as they don’t think they need to speak in “Shakespearean” English.
In the course of a prayer meeting, some people may pray aloud once or twice, some may pray aloud six or ten times, and some may just pray silently, but the ones who pray silently can pray with the dialogue more easily than they can a monologue. No one is pressure to pray aloud.
I am going to sit down. [Sit] Now, instead of Mark at the front, think of Jesus standing there. He said where two or three are gathered in his name, he is there. I’m sure that means at least two or three. I don’t believe he leaves when the fourth person comes to prayer meeting.
Think of Jesus standing at the front. Now, close your eyes, but keep thinking of Jesus being here with us. Jesus said, “I and the Father are one.” The Father is here with us.
Let’s talk directly to God, just a sentence or two at a time. Let’s talk with God about one subject at a time. If two or three or ten people want to say something to God about that subject, everyone can.
“Lord, thank you for the privilege of prayer and the freedom to pray...”
