Today is a day set apart for taking some time as a church family to look back and reflect on the past year and, together, to seek out Jesus’ plans for us in the upcoming year.
We’ve been going through a series learning how God is greater. Greater than any of life’s highs and lows. An intriguing part about God is not only how He is far greater than all, but how He does some of the greatest things through the smallest things.
King Saul was chosen from the smallest tribe of Israel; Benjamin. A giant, Goliath, was defeated by a small, young man named David. Gideon defeated the Midianites and he was the least in his family from the weakest clan in Manasseh. David was the youngest of his family and the least likely to be anointed king.
Jesus said that if we have faith the size of a mustard seed, the smallest of all seeds, nothing would be impossible for us. He also said that whatever we do to serve the needs of the least of these, we do for Him. He taught that whoever is least will be the greatest.
The apostle Paul described himself as the least of the apostles and the least of all of the Lord’s people. Yet he wrote most of the New Testament and I would argue that he also reached more people with the gospel and planted more churches than any of the other apostles of his day as well.
You get the idea.
In chemistry, the purest substance is that which is made up of only one single type of atom. It’s called an element. These elements are the fundamental building blocks, the foundations, from which all other matter is formed.
These elements combine together in different combinations to make compounds which is how all matter that we know of exists. Elements are the smallest building blocks.
Today, we’re getting back to the small things which are the big things to God. We’re getting back to the elemental parts of this amazing thing that Jesus created called church from the book of Acts.
Church Elements.
The first foundational element of church is the most commonly found one; prayer. There are two books that mention prayer the most frequently. In fact, in the New Internation Version translation, they are tied. Those two books are the 150 Psalms and 28 chapters in the book of Acts.
This indicates just how critical of an element that prayer is to the church. This was true at its beginning and it will remain true to the end.
Of course, prayer has always been an essential element of staying connected with God. Even Jesus, God in the flesh, often spent time in prayer to His Heavenly Father.
Luke 5:16
Jesus often withdrew to lonely, remote, wilderness places to pray.
In fact, the one topic that invoked the anger of Jesus more than anything else was the issue of prayer.
John 2:13-17
13 When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 In the temple courts he found people selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. 15 So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. 16 To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!” Matthew 21:13 “It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations,’ but you are making it ‘a den of robbers.’” 17 His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for your house will consume me.”
Jesus was zealous not for the physical house; the temple. He was zealous for the purpose of that house; prayer. Prayer connects us to God and that was the purpose of the temple, this physical house of prayer.
It was a place for people to physically, emotionally, and spiritually draw near to God. It was a place for sacrifices to be made by faith to cover the sin that separates people from Him. It was a place of worship. It was a place of learning God’s word and His ways and to connect with Him personally.
Prayer is simply a conversation with God. One of the scriptures that Jesus quoted was from the prophet Isaiah. Listen to what has been said about us!
Isaiah 56:6-7
6 And foreigners who bind themselves to the Lord
to minister to him,
to love the name of the Lord,
and to be his servants,
all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it
and who hold fast to my covenant –
7 these I will bring to my holy mountain
and give them joy in my house of prayer.
Their burnt offerings and sacrifices
will be accepted on my altar;
for my house will be called
a house of prayer for all nations.”
We cannot underestimate the power of prayer! Prayer fixes our focus and attention and hearts and minds on the Lord. Prayer takes us straight into the throne room of God; into His very Presence!
Prayer brings God’s Presence and His will right to where we are at. Prayer transforms our circumstances. Prayer brings peace and comfort and joy to our souls.
Prayer is a priestly function that anyone can perform!
It is through prayer that we carry our sins, our cares, our burdens, our fears, our frustrations, our disappointments, our successes, our victories, our everything to God.
We do not pray to inform God.
Jesus taught that He already knows what we need before we ask Him.
We do not pray to impress God.
Jesus taught when we pray to not keep babbling on to be heard because of our many or large words.
We do not pray to get attention.
Jesus taught to not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray to be seen by others.
We do not pray to manipulate God.
Jesus taught us to pray that God’s will would be done, not ours.
We pray to connect with God. It is an essential and foundational church element. Jesus is the head of the church and a church that is disconnected from the head cannot survive. It may look a bit like a headless chicken and go on with all kinds of activity for a while, but it cannot endure.
When should we pray?
How should we pray?
Ephesians 6:18 (AMPC)
Pray at all times (on every occasion, in every season) in the Spirit, with all [manner of] prayer and entreaty. To that end keep alert and watch with strong purpose and perseverance, interceding in behalf of all the saints (God’s consecrated people).
Prayer is a church element that cannot be stopped and cannot be taken away from us. We can pray any time any place anywhere. We can pray alone, pray in a group. Pray in our minds, pray out loud. Pray in the Spirit, pray with understanding. We can write prayers, sing prayers, paint prayers, whisper prayers, shout prayers, dance prayers, whisper prayers, grumble prayers.
We can ask for things in prayer, praise in prayer, complain in prayer, rejoice in prayer, cry in prayer, vent in prayer, even rest silently in prayer. We can pray for ourselves, our families, our enemies, our friends, our coworkers, our government, our pets, our homes, our appliances, our world; we can pray for absolutely anyone and anything! It is all God’s and under His authority!
We are to pray at all times, in every season, on every occasion with all kinds of prayers and petitions.
The book of Acts begins just after Jesus’ death and resurrection. He meets with the apostles often and tells them to with in Jerusalem for the gift that the Heavenly Father promised; the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
During that time, all 120 believers joined together constantly in, you guessed it, prayer! (Acts 1:14)
They prayed for clarity on who was to take the place in apostolic ministry in Judas’ place. (Acts 1:24)
They devoted themselves to praying together daily at 3 PM. (Acts 2:42, Acts 3:1)
After threats, they prayed together for boldness to share God’s word. They prayed for God to heal and perform signs and wonders. As they were praying these things, the place was shaken and they were filled again with the Holy Spirit. (Acts 4)
The apostles decided to create a new ministry for Spirit-filled people to serve the practical needs of the people so that they could focus on the word and, you guessed it, prayer! When they were installed into office, the apostles laid their hands on this group of guys and they, you guessed it, prayed over them. (Acts 6)
As the first martyr was getting stoned to death and giving his literal life up because of his stand for Jesus, he prayed. (Acts 7:59)
When Peter and John were sent to Samaria to meet with new Christians who had been water baptized, they laid their hands on them and began to pray and they were filled with the Holy Spirit. (Acts 8:15)
A sorcerer there who had also received Jesus’ salvation offered to pay them so that he could have the same ability to impart the Holy Spirit through the laying on of hands. They rebuked him and taught him that this gift of God cannot be purchased. He asked that they pray for him to be forgiven and not suffer for the bitterness that he was full of holding him captive to sin. (Acts 8)
Jesus came to Ananias in a vision and told him to go meet with a man named Saul from Tarsus because at that very moment, he was praying. He was to lay hands on Saul to restore his sight. (Acts 9)
A woman named Tabitha had just passed away. Peter went up to where her dead body lay, knelt down on his knees and prayed. He told her to get up and she did! (Acts 9)
Cornelius and his whole family were gentiles, but devout, God-fearing people who prayed regularly and generously helped the poor. Peter and Cornelius were both praying and God directed Peter to go share the gospel with them. They joyfully accepted the gospel and while Peter was still preaching to them, they were baptized in the Holy Spirit and began speaking in tongues and praising God. (Acts 10)
King Herod arrested members of the church, killed James, and imprisoned Peter under very heavy guard. The church earnestly prayed for Peter. As a result, an angel came and released Peter in the middle of the night. (Acts 12)
The church in Antioch a few prophets and teachers gathered with Saul and Barnabas and were worshipping. In the middle of worship, the Holy Spirit requested that Saul and Barnabas be set apart and sent out to Seleucia. The prophets and teachers laid hands on the two of them and prayed for them. (Acts 13)
Paul and Barnabas planted several churches and as they traveled back through those places, they appointed elders at each church and prayed for them as they committed to them the people that Jesus entrusted to their leadership. (Acts 14)
Paul and his companions were in Philippi and outside of the city gate looking for a place to pray. There, Paul delivered a slave girl from a spirit possessing here that enabled her to predict the future. Her owners, instead of rejoicing at her freedom, were irate that their income stream had just been stolen.
They had Paul and Silas severely beaten and imprisoned. About midnight in prison, they were praying and singing hymns. The foundations of the prison were shaken and every prison door flew open and every chain loosened. (Acts 16)
Paul was about to leave Ephesus for Jerusalem and knew that he would never see them again. They wept, embraced, and of course, prayed together before he boarded his ship. (Acts 20)
Their ship eventually landed at Tyre to unload some cargo where Paul stayed for a week. He found some believers there and they urged Paul not to go to Jerusalem through the Holy Spirit. He left anyways and they parted ways after kneeling together to pray. (Acts 21)
While Paul was in Jerusalem praying in the temple, Jesus appeared to him in a trance and urged him to leave immediately because the people there would not accept his testimony about Jesus. (Acts 22)
While on trial in Jerusalem, Paul was pleading with King Agrippa to be saved and become a Christian. He told the king that “Short time or long – I pray to God that not only you but all who are listening to me today may become what I am, except for these chains.” (Acts 22)
Still in custody and on his way from Jerusalem to Rome, Paul became shipwrecked and ended up on an island named Malta. The chief official of the island let them stay in his home. His father was sick in bed suffering with a fever and dysentery. Paul placed his hands on him and prayed and healed him. (Acts 28).
Prayer, prayer, prayer. A foundational church element that binds together with everything else in life to bring God’s Presence and God’s will into those lives and situations.
Salvation, baptism in the Holy Spirit, people hearing the gospel, deliverance, guidance and direction, comfort, miraculous provision, promises fulfilled, healing, promotion and commissioning, even the raising of the dead all from the church element of prayer!
God hears our every prayer. Let’s keep that connection open and also listen to and watch for His responses to our prayers. Prayer connects us to God and God’s Presence into our lives.
So, pray! Pray at all times! Pray in every season! Pray on every occasion! Pray with all kinds of prayers! Pray without ceasing, but pray believing! Pray expectantly! Pray!