Prayer || Towards Strength Ep. 4

All right, guys, so we are in the final week of Towards Strength. We've been looking at these practices of the early church that they were devoted to. The apostles' teaching, the fellowship, the breaking of bread. And we come this week to the prayer or the prayers that they were devoted to, as it says in the Greek. And what we're talking about here is, I think, something we all understand, right? This rhythm of wanting to talk to God, to spend time with God. And I've been convicted in the past few years. I think prayer is something that we very often talk about, but we don't always understand. A few years ago, I was thinking, I pray, but I don't know that anyone ever taught me. Am I doing this right? Am I actually talking and spending time with God like I ought to? But it's clear in Acts, right? The church was very devoted to prayer. There are over 30 instances where we read that the church or believers were praying over different things. So as you guys have looked through and studied the book of Acts, what have you seen, Derek, about prayer? How did the early church practice it? What did they pray about? Yeah. Well, a couple of things I noticed right off the bat is that, well, again, because so many of them were eyewitnesses to Jesus and what he had done, they clearly understood who the leader of the church was. They understood where their wisdom came from, where decisions need to be made. Even as they're praying for the people within their church about different things, about things that they're facing, they knew who their king was and who they needed to be communing with. Then again, at the same time, I think that they developed this rhythm where, in all things, that was their strategy, was to lean on that, to lean on prayer, to lean on God.

It's convicting to me, right, because there's a lot of times where that's probably the second or third thing on my list after, like, hey, now that we've decided this, now let me pray about it. It's like, well, probably should be doing the other first. Yeah, that's kind of what I see, too, is there is this natural inclination to pray before anything else. It's kind of woven into every decision that they make. You see them praying over Judas's successor, right, or making important decisions within the church. There wasn't a decision that they made without praying. You kind of hinted at this, Derek, but they walked with Jesus, and Jesus prayed to his father. They would see Jesus model prayer in every aspect of his life. Now Jesus is gone. He is in heaven. They're like, okay, next best thing is the Holy Spirit, which Jesus left for us. I feel like it would just be so natural to them to think, okay, let's ask the Holy Spirit. Let's ask God the Father how to make this decision. Again, that convicts me, too, because how many times do we not go to prayer first? I think we see in Acts that it was just like breathing to them. They would just automatically pray for things. It is so amazing when you flip through Acts, and you see at every turning point, right, they're praying to God about it, and they're trying to seek out his wisdom, whether it's Acts chapter one. Like you said, they're trying to find Judas' successor. When they're choosing deacons in Acts chapter six, they're praying. When the church in Antioch sends out Paul and Barnabas at first, they are saturated in prayer, and they see it. God is leading us and guiding us in this act of prayer. So obviously we know, we kind of instinctively know, I think that prayer ought to be important

to us. The New Testament is filled with it and tells us to pray. So in fact, Ephesians 6, 18, Paul tells us to pray in the spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere. That word persistent is the same word that's here in Acts 2, 42 is devoted. Put your strength towards prayer. So Paul reiterates this. This is what we're supposed to do. So why is prayer important, beyond just assuming it's important? Why is it important? Why, Sarah, is it something that we ought to practice? Gosh, that's such a big question. Why is prayer important? I almost want to be like, because it is, but it's more than that. I think that if we're talking about in the context of Acts, when you say that they had everything in common, they're sharing things, those things might not have been provided for them. And so I just think of, okay, if somebody's in need, yes, they would gather and rally with other believers, but I think they would also pray about it. Our God is a provider, and I just see them being so intentional with prayer. I think that's really what's convicting my heart, is every decision, every single moment, they're wrapping it back to prayer, and I think it's more than getting something from God, right? It's creating that intimacy with Him, and again, they would have walked so closely with Jesus, and so I think they're just so used to having Jesus with them, that they want to continue that relationship. with prayer, and that's how you develop that, right? Like we always talk about prayer being a relationship, and so many times we treat it as a transaction, you know, but it really is a relationship and building intimacy with our God. Yeah, well that word intimacy is perfect because

what's almost hard to believe is that the creator of the universe would love us individually. Like he has the capability to do that, which is so mind-blowing, and at the same time, like as his children, as he invites us to be a part of his family, like he wants to have that relationship with us, and prayer is one of the main ways that we're able to develop that relationship, and actually he's the one developing it as we step into it, and so many times like I think about my prayers being transactional, you know, but even as I've been going back through the psalms a little bit and reading what King David wrote or the Sons of Korah, like there were just so many times when it's almost like they start into these psalms praising God and talking about their circumstances, and then almost end up just like basking in the joy and the comfort of knowing like the living God, and like that should blow our mind, and I think like the encouragement from the early church would be, well, those people, those disciples, then they literally believed they were talking to the God of the universe, and I look at my own life and think, man, do I feel like my prayer is just like a mentally written-out letter that I'm mailing, and hopefully he's going to respond back someday, or do I believe he's actually hearing me in that moment? I think it's Jared Wilson who says something to that same sort of effect where it's, if we really believed what we say prayer is, that it's talking to the living God of the universe, we would never stop because we would recognize like, hey, he has made himself available to us. Why would we not talk to him with every moment that we have? So we've been talking and focusing throughout this series on these disciplines as both individual and corporate practices, like the individual practice of prayer, the corporate practice of prayer, but as you look at this discipline of prayer, how it kind of touches all the other disciplines, you know, we see apostles teaching, how's the apostles teaching, how does fellowship, how do all of those things inform and change the way we pray both individually and corporately? I think for individually prayer, we don't think of it as being communal sometimes, like I think we think of it as like the transition point in worship. Like we were talking about this earlier of like, we worship, we pray, and then when there's a speaker or preaching. How'd the preacher get up there while we were praying? Right, we did a prayer. And so I think we tie that corporate prayer just to those moments, which I think hurts us individually, because then we only see the big players on a stage praying. And it's a comparison game, right? Of like, oh, I don't sound like him, so I'm never going to pray out loud. But again,

I think if we're doing this communal kind of living together, like the early church, this is an aspect of that. And I think that's a really kind of dangerous territory that we've stepped into to where we're so scared to pray out loud. But that prayer is powerful, right? There's something about singing out loud over our spirit. There's something really powerful about praying out loud. But we only see like, again, sometimes people from a stage praying out loud. And it's okay to be messy. Like, I think it's kind of the same thing of fellowship here, right? Like, your prayer is not going to be this eloquent thing all the time. Like, if we're believing, like Jared Wilson says, like that we're talking to a living God, He doesn't care. He just wants to form a relationship with us, right? And we can pray with other people who are all in this together. And so I think for myself individually, I just think that we have to remember like the communal aspect of it, because I personally don't think about that a lot. That's good. Yeah, I think maybe a challenge or an encouragement for all of us would be, especially in today's day and age, of like, when is the last time that you prayed out loud for someone? You know, when is the last time that you've done that? And I really, I firmly believe that that is not just reserved for ordained pastors or people that work in the church. I think that's for all of God's children to do for others and for other brothers and sisters. Because man, not only, like, if you think about like our workplaces or our homes or our families or our neighborhoods, like how many times, like who are the people in our lives that not only are starving for encouragement, right? But if they're starving for encouragement, when is the last time you think someone has actually prayed for them, right? And so sometimes I think we think about like, man, like what can I contribute to God's kingdom? Well, as your neighbor is sharing about this hard thing with their dad or their spouse or their kid, just generally... offer, like, hey, can I pray for you right now? Can I pray for you right now? And I think that's one of those things that, gosh, and we've talked about this in the study, is a contribution we can make to the church of like, man, I'm going to do this, and we shouldn't be afraid to do that, because we may be insecure about what we say when we start praying and maybe feel uncomfortable by that, but I think when we step in and we're faithful, even short prayers are pleasing to God, especially when it comes from a genuine place. For sure. Yeah, you make me think, you know, I think some of, maybe the most significant kingdom work over the years has been done by, like, the old people who are faithfully praying over people in their congregation and just going

before God with all these requests and, you know, lifting other people up. So when you guys think about what we pray for, what are some biblical prayers, what are some things that can guide us as we think about what we talk to God about? Yeah, I mean, I think we all know the Lord's prayer, right? And so Jesus, the disciples ask Jesus, like, teach us how to pray when He gives them an example of, okay, like, here are the things that you should be praying for. And it's interesting, because you were talking about this, Derek, but there's only one little part about Jesus, or the Lord being a provider. And so sometimes I think we care so much more about our circumstances than being with Him in His presence. And so I have to think to myself, like, am I praying for just my wish list from God and being like, okay, see you, bye, talk to you later, and not actually sitting in His presence and caring about His character and getting to know Him? And so many of our prayers are that transactional piece. But I just think even for myself, when's the last time I just thanked the Lord for who He is, or wanted to know more about His character? Because if prayer is that intimate relationship with Him, then I'm not going to learn a lot about Him if I'm just, like Derek said, throwing my wish list to Him and be like, okay, see you, bye, you know, the next time I pray. But I just, yeah, I think about, do I care more about my circumstances or His presence? Like, when you said that, that was so convicting for me personally. It makes me think about my kids are of the age now where if they come and start talking to me, I know, like, well, they're going to ask for something. Like, they don't ever just come in without any motive. It's like, oh, well, what do you want? So Derek, what were you about to say? Yeah, Tim Keller has this quote, and he said that, it is remarkable that in all of his writings, Paul's prayers for his friends contain no appeal for changes in their circumstances. It is certain that they lived in the midst of many dangers and hardships. They faced persecution, death from disease, oppression by powerful forces, and separation from loved ones. No doubt their existence was far less secure than ours is today. Yet in these prayers, you see not one petition for a better emperor, protection from armies, or even bread for the next meal. Paul sees this fuller knowledge of God as a more critical thing to receive than a change of circumstances. That's good. So as we kind of wrap up this study, put a bow on everything, as you guys look at these four practices, the apostles' teaching, the fellowship, the breaking of bread, and prayer, what has, what has stuck out to you guys in this study? Like why, why are these four things

worth devoting ourselves to? Yeah, I think, I think I desire so much to live like they did, you know, I, but I think we don't step into it because it is messy and it requires other people seeing our brokenness and our vulnerabilities, right? Like a lot of vulnerabilities within all of these things that we've talked about, but we've touched on this a little bit. It's not about some secret sauce, right? We're not like uncovering new truths here. Like these have existed for a long time and it's not about doing more because I think so many times when we're trying to grow ourselves spiritually or within our faith, we want to like add things to our lives, but for this, it's just about living differently and living communally with other people. And yeah, it's really scary, but I think we all have that in us because again, we were created in the image of God and He's a communal God. So that desire for community is within us, but we have to be brave to step into it and it's going to look a little different because we do live in this super hyper self-focused society. But I think if we're going to live lives that are going to satisfy us, this is what we have to work towards. Yeah, and that satisfaction, that fulfillment is something that whether we want to admit it or not, all of us are going after, right? So there's so many self-help books. There are different ways that we try to either alter our body or our looks or our minds or our careers or our families or Instagram or Facebook or whatever it may be, we try to manipulate all these things thinking that like, hey, this is going to be the thing that will fulfill me. And I think what I continue to learn is that the path towards fulfillment is this narrative. path of following Jesus. And it's not this wide path, it's this narrow path that Scripture speaks about, that is placing your faith in Christ and allowing Him to be King and Lord over every area of your life, and reorienting your heart and your desires and your entire life, your day-to-day around the things that He's called us to, like the Apostles teaching, and to fellowship, and to worship, and breaking of bread, and prayer. And if you are looking for the thing that is gonna fulfill you, it is not found in anything other than Christ and His Church. That's a good word. You know, I think along with you guys, I think we're so driven by wanting a checklist, right? Like, oh, if I want to get more spiritually strong, then these are the things I need to do, and check all these boxes. But what I see as we've gone through these is that it's not, you

know, it's not so much about what we do, it's about who we are, right? He's not calling us into a way of doing, but a way of living and a lifestyle. That it's about living in community, it's about living with these as priorities. And I just hope that as we go forward, as we continue to grow in our own relationship with Christ, that He will lead us towards those things that will lead us towards strength.