A weekly column of the Robison Street Church of Christ, 301 Robison Street. Send your questions to P.O. Box 846, Edna, Texas 77957.
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Devoted to the Prayers
“And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.” (Acts 2:42, ESV)
Over the past few weeks, we have been looking at the importance of prayer in the early church. Prayer is, at its most basic level, talking to God. There are so many passages that show us how important this was to Jesus. And in following His example, the early Christian engaged in frequent prayer.
Notice the reading of Acts 2:42 again. Luke says the Christians “devoted” themselves to worship. This wasn’t something done haphazardly or accidentally. This was intentional focus on their relationship with God and with one another.
It required them to spend time together and to listen to one another to direct their prayers, not just individually, but together as a church family. What we see is that prayer was an integral part of the life of church. Whenever the saints came together, they prayed together (Acts 1:14; 2:42). They prayed about their work together (Acts 13:2-3; 6:6; 14:23). They prayed about persecution and trials (Acts 4:24; 12:5, 12; 20:36). It connected them to the Lord but also to one another so they could go out and do the Lord’s work in expanding the Kingdom of God.
So, it is no wonder we find prayer stressed in the apostles’ doctrine for the life of the church (Col. 4:2; Rom. 12:12; Eph. 6:18; 1 Thess. 5:17; 1Tim. 2:1; 1 Pet. 4:7). They prayed about the spread of the gospel. For the sick among them. For those that were caught up in sin. For those that labored among them in the gospel. Aren’t those still needed today? If the prayer of one righteous person is powerful, then how powerful are the prayers of a community of faithful believers (Jas. 5:16; Acts 4:31)? Are you devoted to prayer?
– Phillip Stuckey – [email protected] “Come and see. Come and hear the good news of the Gospel. We meet at the corner of Robison and Church Streets on Sunday at 9:30 AM for Bible classes for all ages and 10:30 AM for worship and again at 6:00 PM for worship. We also meet on Wednesday at 7:00 PM for Bible classes for all ages.”
