The first Christians spent the better part of three years observing Jesus’ practice of prayer. They heard him teach about prayer. Years later when they instinctively gather for prayer over and over and over, they demonstrate for us their commitment to do what Jesus did and taught.
In Acts 4, as we saw in the previous post, two leaders of the apostles, Peter and John, were imprisoned by the religious leaders in Jerusalem for preached the story of Jesus. After being freed, the apostles gathered with the other Christians and had a prayer meeting. In Acts 4, verse 29, here is the amazing conclusion of their prayer meeting:
“‘Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.’” After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.”
It’s the same series of events we saw in Acts chapters 1 and 2 in this post. Gathering for prayer leads to the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. Is a pattern emerging? We’ve seen it twice now. The first Christians gathered for prayer, they demonstrate they are committed to prayer, and then they are filled with the Holy Spirit. Let’s keep observing.
Now jump ahead to Acts 12:5. Likely years have passed. Peter is imprisoned in Jerusalem again, and in verse 5 we read, “So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him.” Even though years have passed the church is still a group of people who meet together for prayer.
Notice the timing of this. In verse 6 we learn it is nighttime, and Peter is asleep. Maybe he’s like me, falling asleep on the sofa every night by 9:30. We don’t know, of course, what time it is. It could be early in the night, it could be middle of the night. Do you see what this means? The Christians have gathered for prayer at night. They are committed to prayer.
What happens as they pray? Another outpouring. This time the outpouring is an angel who miraculously frees Peter. In verse 12, we learn that “[Peter] went to the house of Mary the mother of John, also called Mark, where many people had gathered and were praying.” There was rejoicing at how God answered prayer.
Now scan ahead to Acts 13. The scene has changed. We’re not in Israel anymore. We’re 300 miles north of Jerusalem, in the ancient Syrian city of Antioch. Enough time has gone by that the church is growing to non-Jewish areas. The Christians have the caught the vision to carry the message of the Kingdom of Jesus, and now they are commissioning Barnabas and Saul to go on their first missionary journey. Notice how this commissioning happens, in Acts 13, verses 2-3,
“While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, ‘Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.’ So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off.”
The Christians met together for fasting and prayer, and through that the Spirit directed them, and they launched missionaries into ministry.
Jump ahead to Acts 14:23, where we learn that prayer and fasting happens again in the church, this time for the selection of elders, leaders. (The apostles in Jerusalem had prayed and commissioned leaders previously in Acts 6.) Prayer was essential to selection of leaders and launching of ministries.
There were many other reasons the earliest Christians gathered for prayer. Consider how the following passages give us a sense of how much those Christians valued gathering for prayer together.
In jail in Philippi after having been beaten, what do Paul and Silas do? In Acts 16:25, we read they are praying and singing.
A few chapters later in Acts 20:36, when Paul has his final meeting with the Ephesians elders, he kneels down with them and together they pray.
In Acts 21:5 Paul says goodbye to the Christians in Tyre; on the beach they all kneel down and pray.
The enduring practice of the earliest Christians was gathering for prayer. It was essential to their meeting together. They didn’t just demonstrate praying together, they also taught it. We’ll look at what they taught about prayer in the next post.
Engaging Scripture 