Look throughout the Bible and you will see how God moves powerfully through His children when they devote themselves to prayer. We witness it at the beginning of Acts as God birthed the church and we’ve seen it as He has miraculously answered the prayers of those who dared to boldly pray throughout our church history.
One such prayer was that of William Tyndale and his short and direct prayer, “Lord, open the King of England’s eyes!” Tyndale, a scholar in both Hebrew and Greek, translated the Bible and believed God’s Word should be accessible in English to everyone in England from the royal king to the common servant. He believed people should read the Bible for themselves and let God’s Word speak directly to them rather than depend on a priest to tell them what it said. Eventually, Tyndale was sentenced to death for his views but right before he died, he prayed that simple prayer for all to hear who were gathered around him. Though he did die that day, his prayer did not die with him. Over time Tyndale’s prayer was answered. The king did change his mind and, eventually, almost every home in England had a Bible that was translated into English.
Like Tyndale, the early church in Acts was devoted to God’s Word and to prayer. It was a simple church. It didn’t have a large building to meet in but rather met in people’s homes. It didn’t have a large budget to put on seeker-friendly outreach programs but instead, the new Christians reached out to those who were already in their lives and lived in their communities. The early church didn’t even have a concert-worthy worship team, yet the people sang and worshiped God in their homes—maybe even singing a little off tune from time to time. And yet despite all that this church didn’t have by our modern-day standards what it did have was a group of people who were devoted to a few simple “activities.” These average, normal people devoted themselves to four activities:
- They took learning about God seriously.
- They intentionally carved out time in their day to spend with other believers.
- They purposefully ate meals together.
- They prayed together.
God used those simple, everyday people with their common, everyday activities and He blessed His church and it grew. In one day alone, 3,000 people became Christians and from there it spread like wildfire and went out into the world.
As I read and reflect on that early church in Acts I wonder what could God do through our generation if we went back to our roots, back to those four simple activities…what could He do in this generation if we devoted ourselves like those early trailblazers with their passionate prayers?
That’s the heart and passion behind this study: to pursue and petition God with our prayers as the early church did. Like them, we must be devoted to prayer. We must put it all on the line and expect God to answer our prayers because He will. It may not always be in our time frame or in the way we expect, but He will answer.
So, like the early church in Acts, let’s devote ourselves to prayer. Let’s start today by making prayer a priority in our lives and a daily habit on our calendar.
“The prayer of a righteous person has great effectiveness.” James 5:16
Dear Lord,
Teach us your ways. Give us eyes to see others the way You see them. Help us to love others with Your unfailing love. Give us hands that are eager to serve You and feet that follow in Your footsteps. Give us minds to understand Your Word and an undivided heart that loves You. Enable us to love what You love and hate what You hate. Help us to be strong and bold while also being loving and kind. Fill us with the Holy Spirit and empower us to do Your will. May we live for Your glory and not ours. Help us to remember our days are numbered and to make each one count. Our time here is short compared to eternity with You. May we keep our eyes on You as we run the race You have set before us! Help us to love You more with each passing day!
