BUILDING THE CHURCH THROUGH PRAYER: Part 2

We are considering how God has chosen to build His church through prayer. We need to first answer the basic question: “What is prayer?” Let me provide some key principles to define prayer more clearly.

• Prayer must never be an afterthought. It should never be given mere “lip service.”
• Prayer is communication with God and is foundational to the believer’s relationship with him.
• Prayer is the strategy for receiving a God-given vision and for developing a Spirit-driven strategy. God is not obligated to bless man’s plans—especially if He was not consulted in creating them. However, He loves to bless His people when they are obedient to the plans He has given them.
• Prayer is an expression of dependence and an acknowledgment of who is really God in our lives.
• Prayer is a demonstration of faith in a God who does the impossible.

Let’s not be content with what we can build with our own strength. Let’s not just have a church that prays but let’s become a praying church. Do we desire to see the gospel impact our communities and God move in our churches? Let’s pray.

BUILDING THE CHURCH THROUGH PRAYER: Part 1

Years ago a pastor from England named Charles Spurgeon saw his church grow from a handful of people to over 6,000. He noted something important in this experience. He stated: “the prayer meeting ought to be very precious to us, and to be cherished very much by us as a Church, for to it we owe everything. When our little chapel was all but empty; was it not a well-known fact that the prayer meeting was always full? And when the Church increased, and the place was not large enough, it was the prayer meeting that did it all."

Nowhere does the value of the church praying emerge more clearly than in the book of Acts with the ministry of the early church. Acts demonstrates a church that works. The book of Acts is more than a history of the early church. It is the chronology of the prayer-based activity of the first multiplying church network.

It’s important to see the ways God built the early church through prayer. When reading Acts, prayer constantly appears on the scene as the mission unfolds. Note how prayer is a part of these occasions:

1. The church is born in an extended prayer meeting (“devoting themselves to prayer” Acts 1:13,14)
2. Prayer is a part of choosing leadership. (“And they prayed and said, ‘You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which one” Acts 1:24-25).
3. Prayer results from the Spirit’s empowering. As the Holy Spirit fills believers, they immediately gather in homes to pray (“and they devoted themselves…to prayer” Acts 2:4, 42-47).
4. On the way to prayer, a man is healed and revival breaks out (Acts 3:1-10).
5. An external crisis drives the church to prayer (Acts 4:27-31).
6. An internal conflict leads the apostles to prioritize their time of prayer together (Acts 6:1-6).
7. Prayer is prominent as persecution begins and Christians are scattered (Acts 8:1-2).
8. Prayer is vital to bringing the gospel to the Gentiles (Acts 11:14-18).
9. Prayer is instrumental in Peter’s escape from prison (Acts 12:1-9).
10. Prayer gives birth to the first missionary journey (Acts 13:1-3).
11. Prayer is instrumental in Paul’s second missionary journey (Acts 16:6-10).

With these examples in mind, let’s make prayer a primary activity in our life together. We must build our lives and our churches with a rich and fervent prayer life.