Devoted to ... the prayers (Acts 2:42)

The tenth mark of a healthy church

Myself, John and Edwin had a marvellous time in Cork a couple of months ago when we went to hear a pastor called Mark Dever.  Mark is the pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church, in Washington D. C..

Mark is one of these larger-than-life figures who is incredibly knowledgeable and brilliantly gifted.  He is also a man with very strong in his opinions.  We loved Mark and learned a lot.

Mark wrote a book entitled, ‘Nine Marks of a Healthy Church.’  Which includes an emphasis on things like expositional teaching, a biblical understanding of conversion and biblical church discipline. 

I heard Mark a couple of weeks later at the Irish Baptist Pastors’ Conference.  Again, he was excellent.

At Irish Pastors’ Conference I was browsing the bookstall when I heard one guy ask Mark a probing question.  ‘What would you say to those who criticise the nine marks book for not including prayer as one of the marks of a healthy church?’  I suspect I saw a little irritation on Mark’s face, who responded that prayer lay behind each of the nine marks.

I was tempted to call this sermon ‘The Tenth Mark of a Healthy Church.’

A house of prayer for the nations

We are looking at the church in Acts to help us think of our vision for Limerick Baptist Church.  Last time I said that the goal of our church should be to display the beauty of Jesus.  This, I said, was most effectively done when a diverse group of people love each other well in Christ.  ‘They devoted themselves to the fellowship’ (Acts 2:42). 

Now we see that they also devoted themselves to ‘the prayers.’ 

I want us to fulfil our calling to be a house of prayer for the nations (Is. 56:7, Jer. 7:11, Mk. 11:17, Mt. 21:13).  This ‘house’ is no longer a building, like the temple in the Old Testament, but a people, a household, a family.  ‘You also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ’ (1 Pt. 2:5). 

Prayer is to be central to who we are as a church.

They devoted themselves to … the prayers

I just want to make a few comments on our reading from Acts before presenting five challenges.

‘They’ devoted themselves to the prayers.  They prayed together.  When Jesus taught the disciples to pray He began ‘our’ Father.  Look at the beautiful picture of Paul praying while under house arrest with those in Rome.  He writes to the Colossian Christians saying ‘since the day we heard about you we have not stopped praying for you’ (Col. 1:9).  Imagine those men huddled together praying for Christians in Colossae.  Paul and his helpers prayed together.  We don’t have a prayer life if we never pray on our own.  We don’t have a complete prayer life if we don’t pray regularly with others.

They ‘devoted’ themselves to the prayers.  As Eoin pointed out when he led a couple of weeks ago, being ‘devoted’ means to ‘steadfastly continue.’  Don’t lose heart.  Prayer can be a struggle.  We are living in a world filled with distractions and our attention spans are shrinking.  But our church will sparkle as we learn to pray well.

They devoted themselves to ‘the’ prayers.  Perhaps they observed the Jewish pattern of praying morning, noon and evening.  They set aside times to pray together.  They may have incorporated the Lord’s prayer, which by the second century was prescribed for use three times a day.  We need to have set aside prayer times, not only as a church, but as individuals.

Prayer is the lifeblood of the church

Acts is full of prayer.  ‘They joined together constantly in prayer’ as they waited for Pentecost (1:14).  They prayed before making decisions, like choosing the replacement of Judas (1:24).  They prayed when they were under pressure, and the Holy Spirit filled them so that they could speak the word of God with courage (4:31).  Deacons were appointed so that the apostles could devote themselves to the word and prayer (6:4).  They prayed over the deacons they appointed (6:6).  It was during a time of worshipping and fasting when the Holy Spirit guided their multi-ethnic leaders to set aside Paul and Barnabas for a missionary journey (13:1-2).  Prayer needs to be the lifeblood of our church. 

Prayer and the gospel

Let me briefly outline the gospel in terms of prayer.  Humankind was created for intimacy with God—to walk and talk with Him in a garden.  But we turned our backs on Him and wanted to be our own gods.  Therefore, the conversation became strained.  By nature we are now enemies of God.  Our hearts are naturally resistant to His love.  While many people pray, they tend to pray to a vague deity who simply exists to meet their selfish desires.

Jesus stepped into our world as a praying man.  He depended on His Father.  He taught us how to pray.  Yet as He died for our guilt it was as if His prayer was not answered.  ‘My God, my God why do you forsake me?’  God is under no obligation to listen to people who do not follow Him.  Yet as followers of Jesus we are invited to ‘approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace in our time of need (Heb. 4:16).

Prayer is the great privilege of the Christian.  In fact, prayer is the air we breath to live the Christian life!       

5 Challenges to become a praying church

To help us become a praying church I want to give five challenges.

Increase the time of prayer during our meetings:

‘If local churches were to bow down before God every Sunday for ten or twenty or thirty minutes, what might God be free to do?’ (John Stott). 

My confidence in prayer during the service was damaged when I asked a teenager what she thought of church.  She said the prayers of intersession were boring.  But we don’t come to church to be entertained, but to encourage each other to love and good deeds (Heb. 10:24).  As a house of prayer for the nations, prayer is a serious responsibility.

I would challenge those who lead the services to aim at fifteen minutes of praying during our meeting.  That’s not all in one lump of prayer, but spread out.  I would also say that we need to be careful not to quench the Holy Spirit by putting a time on how long we pray for.

Over the last couple of years, it seems like the times of intersessions have deepened.  It is clear that those who have been asked to pray are not simply praying off the top of their heads but have thought and prepared to led us in this part of our time together.

Change the direction of the meeting: 

We tend to work towards the sermon and finish quickly after the sermon.  However, we should respond to the preaching in prayer.  Teaching can fuel our prayers.  Prayer is possibly the most important thing we do as we gather.  We need to aim to start the sermon earlier and leave more time after the sermon to pray.

It can be hard to get out of the house in the morning, and it might be especially difficult to get here early if you have young children.  But I would love to see people gathering in the hall at 10:15 to pray for half an hour before we begin to welcome people. 

I also long for the day when it becomes quite natural for people to go to the prayer room after the service and receive the prayer they need to face the trials we all face.

Restore the Lord’s Prayer: 

When the disciples asked Jesus saying, ‘teach us to pray’, He gave us a model prayer.  That prayer should shape the way we pray.  I also think it is valuable to pray this prayer together.  I think that we should pray it from the screen so that those who are new to the faith don’t feel left out.  I also like praying it from the screen as I have often left out bits as I have led this prayer.

Last week I was preaching in another church.  The person who was leading led us in a Puritan prayer from a book called ‘The Valley of Vision’.  It was lovely!  When we did the Rooted course one of the things that people loved was to study church history.  It is wonderful to remind ourselves that we are a part of a family that has a long history.  While we do not pray to the saints of old, we can pray with the saints of old.  I think that we should also seek to find prayers from other lands so that we can pray globally.

Pray better during the week: 

In evangelical churches the tradition used to be that of a midweek prayer meeting.  In the later part of the last century these were replaced with home groups.  Small groups are good, and we encourage everyone to be a part of one.  But they need to be seen as prayer groups more than study groups.

Church’s like ours put a good emphasis on teaching.  But there can be a temptation to rush prayer in our small groups.  I am probably the most guilty of this.  I often let the study time run on and then just have us rap up in prayer. 

I would suggest that we work to make the prayer time the main part of our small groups.  Also, don’t just pray for the needs of those in your group but also the mission of this church and the mission global church.  Perhaps you could do things like having one person set aside to give updates on the persecuted church or outreach to the Muslim world.

If you haven’t attended one of the prayer evenings that Amy and Conor have been running I really would encourage you.  They will really encourage you.  This is something we want to grow and become a core part of who we are.

Be real and vulnerable:

Praying with people involves an atmosphere of grace.  We are called to confess our sins to each other, and then we get the beauty of assuring each other of God’s forgiveness.  We need to pray with people for help with those sins that seem to beset us.  But we will never feel safe to pray with people who seem always to be criticising.  Develop true friendship with gracious and loving people that you can pray with honestly and who can maintain your trust.

Conclusion

Over the last few years God has blessed us with growth.  We are at a point when I believe we are being challenged to take the next step.  But what does that next step involve?  I think that there are three things we need to do: define, refine and replicate.

Define:  Who are we as a church?  What are our values?  What do we think are the ingredients of a healthy church?  This series is a part of the defining process.  It is also a part of the refining process.

Refine:  How can we grow in health?  Where are we weak?  What do we need to do better?  This morning we are being challenged to answer the call to be a house of prayer for the nations.

Replicate:  The Association of Baptist Churches in Ireland sees itself as a church-planting network.  Once we have decided on who we should be as a church then we want to spread by establishing like-minded fellowships.  This will need to involve a lot of prayer.  We need to ask God to close certain doors and open others.  We need sanctified common sense that is bathed in prayer as we examine such questions as: Where is the greatest need?  Where do we already have people located?  How can we establish churches that are intimate and local?

So far, the mission statement we are working on looks like this: ‘Limerick Baptist Church seeks to reflect the beauty of Jesus as a diverse community of Christians love each other well and serve Him as a house of prayer for the nations.’