Building a great church through prayer

Building a great church through prayer Acts 2:42 And they continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. NKJV Two things characterized the church in Acts when problems came praying and preaching! Praying preceded preaching! Prayer as a lifestyle is the most frequent picture of the church in the book of Acts, yet without a doubt, the most difficult thing to do in Acts 2:42 is prayer! Real people in Acts had real problems solved with real prayer. In Acts 1:14, there were 120 in the Upper Room praying; in Acts 4:31, the house shook when they prayed; in Acts 6:4, the apostles ministry in prayer is mentioned; in Acts 13:3, the first missionary journey began with prayer! Prayer, then preaching - this is the plan of Acts! We all understand that God s work must be done God s way under God s power! This means prayer. Preachers and churches today are failing at prayer! We have token ritual prayers but not agonized prayers. It is estimated that the average Christian prays five to seven minutes a day: 5-7 minutes a day when the kingdom of heaven can be had for the asking. Jesus is as powerful today as ever before. He is as anxious for men to be saved as ever before. His arm is not shortened that it cannot save, but He cannot stretch forth His arm unless we pray more. All failure in the spiritual life and in Christian work is due to our defective or insufficient prayer. Unless we pray right we cannot live right or serve right. People always make time to do what they want to do. People make time to do what they think will improve their lives. But in our busy lives of the 21 st century, in-depth Bible study, prayer, and church are out of date. Other things are more important. It s no wonder the work of the church is so difficult. Churches want to build a great church on leftovers It takes a great commitment to the great commandment and the great commission to build a great church! The church will never evangelize the world without prayer. The church will never do much of anything until it learns to pray. Preachers must preach prayer! Before they preach prayer they must practice prayer. Praying preachers make praying churches! Prayer is the first thing, the second thing, the third thing necessary to a minister. Pray, then my dear brother; pray, pray, pray. Edward Payson No man is greater than his prayer life. The preacher who is not praying is playing; people who aren t praying are straying! I. Our desperate need John 14:12-14: I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father. You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father. Yes, ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it! NLT The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit collectively are the greatest personality in the universe Almighty God. If there is anything we need to do as Christians, it is to learn how to pray to this Almighty God. 1

The Christian who can pray can do anything. Why? Because prayer can do anything that God can do, and God can do anything. Our desperate need in these days is to link our lives with the omnipotent God who has called upon us and told us to pray. There isn t a failure in our lives that isn t prayer failure. We don t have a sin in our lives but what prayer could have prevented. We don t have a genuine need that fervent, believing prayer offered in the name of Jesus cannot meet. We can be sure of this The secret of all failure is our failure in secret prayer! The Kneeling Christian We need to learn how to pray to the Father, through the Son, with the help of the Holy Spirit. But we must learn to pray right. We must: Approach - Hebrews 4:16 So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most. NLT Acknowledge - Psalm 51:1-4: Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness; according to the multitude of Your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against You, You only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Your sight NKJV Ask - Matthew 7:7-8: Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. NKJV James 4:2 says the issue is not unanswered prayer but unprayed prayer! you don t have what you want because you don t ask God for it. NLT II. Prayer brings revival Have you ever seen anyone unconscious? An unconscious person will usually have vital signs but is not aware of anything that is occurring they need revived/resuscitated. The same thing is true for many people spiritually they are unconscious, completely out of touch with God, in desperate need of revival! When revival occurs, a person is brought back from the edge of destruction, brought back to spiritual life. That s what we need today that s why one of our highest priorities should be praying for a true spiritual revival to take place today! Like the Israelites of old, we are in trouble! It is no secret that our world, our nation, our churches, our families, and many individuals are in desperate need of spiritual healing, times of refreshing, for a true spiritual revival. However, no great revival has ever taken place without much prayer. History is silent about revivals that did not begin with prayer. Edwin Orr In 2 Chronicles 7:14, God gives us His covenant of revival - what we must do in order for God to send a true spiritual revival to our lives/church/community! 2 Chronicles 7:14 If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. NKJV 2

If my people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves... There is something naturally humble in true prayer because it recognizes that the answers are not in ourselves - they are in God. God promises something special to humble, praying people. Isaiah 57:15 The high and lofty one who lives in eternity, the Holy One, says this: I live in the high and holy place with those whose spirits are contrite and humble. I restore the crushed spirit of the humble and revive the courage of those with repentant hearts. NLT James 4:6-10: God opposes the proud but favors the humble. So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world. Let there be tears for what you have done. Let there be sorrow and deep grief. Let there be sadness instead of laughter, and gloom instead of joy. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor. NLT...and pray... Every time in the history of the church revival has come, it has followed extensive prayer and the seeking of God s face by some of His children: Every great movement of God can be traced to a kneeling figure. D.L. Moody When we study the history of God s work on earth, we will always find faithful praying saints, who in the privacy of their hearts cried out to God over and over, pleading for God to revive His people - for a true spiritual revival to take place first in their own lives, then in their family s lives, their fellow church member s lives, their community/nation/world. Psalm 119:88 Revive me according to Your lovingkindness, so that I may keep the testimony of Your mouth. NKJV Habakkuk 3:2 O Lord, revive Your work in the midst of the years! In the midst of the years make it known; in wrath remember mercy. NKJV Psalm 85:4-7: Restore us, O God of our salvation, and cause Your anger toward us to cease. Will You be angry with us forever? Will You prolong Your anger to all generations? Will You not revive us again, that Your people may rejoice in You? Show us Your mercy, Lord, and grant us Your salvation. NKJV Lamentations 5:21 Turn us back to you O Lord, and we will be restored, renew our days as of old... NKJV...and seek My face... To seek God s face means far more than occasionally praying and occasionally mentioning revival in our occasional casual prayers. He wants His people to hunger and thirst for His righteousness and His mighty working. Seeking and finding God involves repeated and prolonged prayer: Jeremiah 29:12-13: In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. NLT Psalm 88:1-2: O Lord, God of my salvation, I cry out to you by day. I come to you at night. Now hear my prayer; listen to my cry. NLT Psalm 102:1-2: Lord, hear my prayer! Listen to my plea! Don t turn away from me in my time of distress. Bend down to listen, and answer me quickly when I call to you. NLT Psalm 102:17 He will listen to the prayers of the destitute. He will not reject their pleas. NLT Psalm 141:1 - O Lord, I am calling to you. Please hurry! Listen when I cry to you for help! NLT 3

Psalm 143:1 - Hear my prayer, O Lord; listen to my plea! Answer me because you are faithful and righteous. NLT Psalm 145:18-19: The Lord is close to all who call on him, yes, to all who call on him in truth. He grants the desires of those who fear him; he hears their cries for help and rescues them. NLT Ephesians 6:18 Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere. NLT 1 Thessalonians 5:17 - Pray without ceasing. NKJV...and turn from their wicked ways... Anything that grieves God, whether things we do or things we fail to do, will hinder our prayers and our efforts to obey God. Jesus never saves us in our sins, he saves us from our sins. No one says to the doctor, Make me well, but I d like to keep my fever. How can a man be saved from his sins while he clings to his sins? What is salvation - deliverance from sin! We need to repent and obey instantly - this is what prepares the way for revival and what keeps us faithful to God. It isn t enough to merely turn our hearts to God we must also turn our lives over to God we must turn from our wicked ways! Acts 3:19 Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord. NKJV 2 Timothy 2:19 Let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity. NKJV James 1:21 - So get rid of (lay aside) all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the word God has planted in your hearts, for it has the power to save your souls. NLT Revival begins with each one of us individually, which affects our families, our church, and our community. As sure as God is in heaven, when we fulfill His conditions, God will forgive us of our sins, give gracious healing to our souls, bless our church, and give the increase! III. The greatest prayer The greatest prayer is for others Intercessory prayers! The best kind of friend is a praying friend! Let intercession create in us a longing for souls of those around us, a bearing of the burden of their sin and need, a pleading for them. Brad Harrub To make intercession for men is the most powerful and practical way in which we can express our love for them. John Calvin All great soul-winners have been men of much and mighty prayer, and all great revivals have been preceded and carried out by persevering, prevailing knee-work in the closet. Samuel Logan Brengle Intercession is truly universal work for the Christian. No place is closed to intercessory prayer. No continent - no nation - no organization - no city - no office. There is no power on earth that can keep intercession out. Richard Halverson 4

Time spent in prayer will yield more than that given to work. Prayer alone gives work its worth and its success. Prayer opens the way for God Himself to do His work in us and through us. Let our chief work as God s messengers be intercession; in it we secure the presence and power of God to go with us. Andrew Murray Talking to men for God is a great thing, but talking to God for men is greater still. E.M. Bounds History belongs to the intercessors! Walter Wink Satan asked for Peter; Jesus prayed for Peter (Luke 22). Paul prayed for the spiritual welfare of the elders, deacons, members, daily, by name. Colossians 1:3 We always pray for you NLT Colossians 1:9-11: So we have not stopped praying for you since we first heard about you. We ask God to give you complete knowledge of his will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding. Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better. We also pray that you will be strengthened with all his glorious power so you will have all the endurance and patience you need. NLT IV. Day by day What should faithful Christians remember so we won t find ourselves in need of being revived? That we must be renewed day by day! Just on Sunday isn t good enough! That is why so many people who call themselves Christians are spiritually unconscious. Ephesians 4:23 let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. NLT Romans 12:2 let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think NLT 2 Corinthians 4:16 That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. NLT Being renewed day by day means meditating on God s word and praying and obeying God every day. If you realize you are falling, that you are drifting away from God, that you are sliding into unconsciousness, then pray the prayer of David: Psalm 143:11 Revive me, O Lord, for Your name s sake! For Your righteousness sake bring my soul out of trouble. NKJV V. Conclusion Acts 2 is a philosophy of preaching, a manual on church growth. Four things are revealed in Acts 2:42 and lived in Acts 2:43-46 - apostolic doctrine, fellowship, breaking of bread, and prayer. These four things built the model church then - it will build ours today! Acts 2:42 makes Acts 2:47! This is so simple yet so neglected. It s time to get back to the basics! 5