Acts 1:14 Group Prayer

Acts 1:14 “All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.”

The Book of Acts, the second book written by Luke, a physician, for Theophilus as an accounting of the Acts of the Apostles. And of course one of the first things the Apostles do is decide to find a replacement for Judas. Jesus has told them the Holy Spirit will be with them and they have seen Jesus ascend into heaven.

The Apostles had seen Jesus go and pray on numerous occasions, one of the last things they saw Jesus do was to go into the Garden of Gethsemane and pray; just before the most important moment in the life of Jesus on earth, the most important moment ever! Jesus went to talk to his Father about it, and he prayed. Now as we see in this verses 13 and 14 the first thing the Apostles do after the Ascension is to return to Jerusalem they then;

·       “went to the upper room where they were staying”  And are gathered together to pray, not in a church or out in the open but in an upper room, probably a small crowed room

·       “All of one accord” they were unified

·       “devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the Mother of Jesus, and his brothers” it was not just the Apostles who prayed but the whole community

It would appear from the rest of the chapter that many days and perhaps weeks were spent in prayer deciding who would replace Judas.

What can we take from this? I pray this is an example of why we are here today, gathering and praying as a community, unified and supporting one another in prayer.  And yes every week often praying for the same things. And thanking God through the Holy Spirit for the examples Jesus gave to us to follow.

Self-Noughting/Fifty Cent

Taken from "The Valley of Vision" The Banner of Truth Trust:

Self-Noughting

O Lord,

Help me to approach thee with becoming conception of thy nature, relations and designs.

Thou inhabitest eternity, and my life is nothing before thee;

Thou dwellest in the highest heaven and this cannot contain thee; I live in a house of clay.

Thy power is almighty; I am crushed before the moth.

Thy understanding is infinite; I know nothing as I ought to know.

Thou canst not behold evil; I am vile.

In my ignorance, weakness, fears, depressions, may thy Spirit help my infirmities with supplies of wisdom, strength and comfort.

Let me faithfully study my character, be willing to bring it to light, observe myself in my trials, judge the reality and degree of my grace, consider how I have ensnared or overcome.

Grant that I may never trust my heart, depend upon any past experiences, magnify any present resolutions, but be strong in Jesus: that I may know how to obtain relief from a guilty conscience without feeling reconciled to my imperfections.

Sustain me under my trials and improve them to me; give me grace to rest in thee, and assure me of deliverance.

May I always combine thy majesty with thy mercy, and connect thy goodness with thy greatness.

Then shall my heart always rejoice in praises to thee.

Rapper Fifty Cent recently said on the Oprah network "You should either pray or worry -- don't do both," said the former street kid. "If you pray and then worry," he explained, "How do you think that makes God feel?" (Yahoo News http://news.yahoo.com/50-cent-oprah-either-pray-worry-202800884.html)

You do after all have a jealous God you are praying to. “What’s that got to do with worrying?” you may ask. Fifty Cent is right, either pray and know it is in God’s hands or risk making God feel jealous. Jealous in so much that you pray and trust him with your worries and fears and then decide he may not be capable of handling it. But of course you need to keep worrying because you know it may not turn out well. And you are right it may not turn out well, it might be the worst thing ever.

In Luke 22:44 “And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling to the ground” Jesus prayed about his worry, to the point of sweating blood! However after praying to the Father Jesus accepted his Fathers will. And further as we explored last week Jesus went on to defend it (Mat 26:51-54) As well as in John 18:10 -11 when Simon Peter tried to protect Jesus from the soldiers and chief priests by attacking and cutting off Malchus’s ear Jesus again now defends his inevitable fate. He says to Simon Peter “Put your sword into its sheath; shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me?”

How does Jesus go from sweating drops of blood because of His worry to accepting and defending his fate? He prays and does not worry. He does not do both. He knows how it would make the Father feel. You too can and should pray and leave your worry behind. We have an awesome God.

Today let’s pray knowing His knowledge is infinite while ours is limited.  And then shall our hearts always rejoice in praises to Him.

Psalm 25

Psalm 25 TEACH ME YOUR PATHS

Of David

In you, Lord my God,
I put my trust.

² I trust in you;
do not let me be put to shame,
nor let my enemies triumph over me.
³ No one who hopes in you
will ever be put to shame,
but shame will come on those
who are treacherous without cause.

⁴ Show me your ways, Lord,
teach me your paths.
⁵ Guide me in your truth and teach me,
for you are God my Savior,
and my hope is in you all day long.
⁶ Remember, Lord, your great mercy and love,
for they are from of old

In our first meeting we talked about what prayer, and group prayer is and is not. Last week we talked about how Jesus taught us to pray by example of the Lord’s Prayer. This week I would like to talk about prayer in the Old Testament. After all people were praying to God before Jesus came to teach us about prayer.

 A wonderful example of Old Testament prayer is the Psalms. The Psalms are one of the most significant parts of the Old Testament. The Psalms is the poetry of the Bible, songs of praise and prayer.  Written from the time of Moses until about 500BC, most Psalms were written by David.

 Some of the biggest themes of the Psalms are trusting in God and deliverance from ones enemies and knowledge; knowledge of God and His ways.

  Sometimes I think we forget to pray for knowledge of His ways and for His will. It is easy to ask Him to give us what we want, but much harder, I think, to ask him to give us what He wants.  Which if we have trust in God this is what we should always want anyway. 

Don’t be afraid to pray for what you want but even more so don’t be afraid to pray for and accept God’s will,  even in the face of the inevitable.  Like Jesus in Gethsemane (Mat 26:39) “And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” “Obviously Jesus knows the Scripture, He knows what will happen to him.  He prays anyway, just as we should always pray even if we think we know the inevitable.  Pray for intervention, pray for comfort but again pray for God’s will and trust in Him.

Jesus goes on to not only accept his Fathers will but defend it (Mat 26:51-54) Jesus knows the most horrible thing is about to be put upon him, to be forsaken by his father and to take all the sins of the world(past, present and future) and He accepts and defends the will of the Father. On this day isn’t it great to know the awesome father we all have in our Lord! And this is why we say Amen! And this is why we pray!

Invitation to Prayer Group

2 Corinthians 1:11 You also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many.

As I was walking my postal route one day listening to the Bible through my headphones my thoughts turned to prayer, specifically group prayer. I thought about how some of my prayers had come to pass, and how awesome it felt when they came true. That make me think of the time Madeline had testified about her knee and how God had given her strength, and the time Eric told us how our prayers had helped heal his nephew who is now cancer free. Amen! How awesome is it to know He is personally touching and guiding our lives.

I began to wonder if there was more we could do as a church family to pray and learn about prayer, and to share. I thought it would be awesome to have a separate time set aside like Bible study to come together just for this.

While still on my route I called Pastor and told him my thoughts, I was excited. He seemed interested, and I suggested maybe one of the deacons could lead it, he immediately suggested that I do it. I think he it was on my heart, I was excited about it, and maybe I should consider leading it. We prayed about it, and I continue to pray about it.

Yikes! It had only been a few weeks since I had said my first "Grace" at dinner. However I am really excited about this and I could feel God leading me forward. I've been reading .....a lot. And I have been praying ....a lot.

One of my most recent prayers is that most, or all, of you will come and see, and that we will begin a time where we meet as a church family, and pray. This will, at least, be time spent with your church family and at most a powerful prayer experience lifting up God's will.

We are starting next week, at 9:45 and going till 10:15. When we move to summer hours, we will move to 8:45 and run till 9:15. Come, takepart, and join with your brothers and sisters in prayer. Bring your concerns, bring your prayers and remember…Matthew 18:20 ^“For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”

The Lords Prayer

Most if not all Christians know the Lords Prayer probably by heart. I'm sure many non-Christians know it as well. However when we say we know it what does that mean? Does it mean like a child whose been forced to rehearse their line in the school play? Sure they know the words, and maybe the right inflection, but do they really know they meaning or why they are even saying it? About how many Christians could you say the same sort of thing when it comes to the Lord's Prayer? Are you one of them? I know I was, I knew the Lord's Prayer even before I was a Christian, a result of friends and girlfriends who had been forced to rehearse their lines, but I never knew what it meant. Much like when my Catholic friends would cross themselves I thought it was just some odd ritual.
 I have learned that it is not just some odd ritual, it is the Word of God and should be treated as such and by no means just another ritual. So if we step back and put this prayer graciously given to us what do we learn.
  Approximately halfway through the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus is teaching to "great crowds" (Matt 4:25) about a great multitude of things from lust to divorce to anger and fasting and many other things, in the center of all this is how to pray.(Matt 6:9-13) Which is also known as the Lord's Prayer.
Matthew 6:9-13
New International Version (NIV)

⁹ “This, then, is how you should pray:
“‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
¹⁰ your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
¹¹ Give us today our daily bread.
¹² And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
¹³ And lead us not into temptation,
   but deliver us from the evil one.

Now if we break it down line by line:

"Our Father in heaven..."
God is our Father. This means we can and should come to him with our problems and requests. And being a merciful Father we should not be afraid to ask for anything, He knows what we need.
"..hallowed be your name..."
Holy, sacred, venerated is your name! We pay respect due to God when we pray. He is God Almighty.  Like our earthly father while we can come and ask anything of Him.
"...your kingdom come,..."
All is His!Everything in Heaven and on Earth.  Everything we have, have had and will have comes from and belongs to God. It is His to give or not give as He sees fit.
"...you will be done..."
It is all because of God's will. It is his will that all the stars in the sky shine at night, and the sun shines in the morning. Amen!
"...on earth as it is in heaven."
He rules this world and all the heaven. Forever and everlasting.
""Give us today our daily bread."
He cares for our every need. From putting bread on the table to shifting world events to controlling heavenly bodies. There for nothing is too big or too little when we pray to Him.
"And forgive us our debts,..."
We are sinners, we need to ask Him for forgiveness when we pray.  Recognize, repent and ask Him to forgive your sins which Jesus died for. Ask God to send the Holy Spirit to expose your sins to you.
"...as we also have forgiven our debtors."
We need to forgive those who have sinned against us. Since Jesus is the propitiation for our sins which are forgiven,  should we not forgive others who sin against us?
"And lead us not into temptation,..."
Ask Father God to keep us away from temptation to sin.
"...but deliver us from the evil one."
Ask to keep Satan and all his devils away from us, to not enter our lives.
 
"And when Jesus finished these saying, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he was teaching them as one who had authority and not as scribes." (Matt 6:28-29) Meaning he was not quoting other teachers, he wasn't stumbling or confused in his teaching, he was confident and interesting. Imagine sitting on that hillside listening to the Word of God, every word feeding you and enlightening you. Imagine God telling you how to pray, and then be thankful that He has.
 Glorify God in your prayer, ask for anything, just ask that it be Gods will! Pray for forgiveness, and be thankful for the One who gave it to you!

Gay Marriage

So North Carolina passed a marriage amendment today making marriage between one man and one woman in that state. Now God had already done this some time ago, so I don't see what the big deal is. That being said in America we have separation of church and state, why any state should be sanctioning any one's marriage these days is beyond me. Marriage should be up to the churches, and civil unions should be up to the state. Marriage is a holy union, something set aside by God to be holy. It has nothing to do with rights or taxes or health proxy's, these are man made things.
 There are certainly churches which sanction gay marriage, I don't see how its allowed under the bible, and I will not attend those churches as is of course my right in America. I happen to attend a church which does not sanction gay marriage, which again is my right as an American. Even if I did not have this right, and it seems to be on the horizon that the freedom OF religion is getting more in jeopardy, I would still hold this belief and attend this church.
 Like many sins homosexuality is a sin, while I am not gay I am too a sinner, does this mean I cannot go to church? Of course not. Should the sick not be allowed to go to the hospital? Does this mean the church should allow, endorse or even encourage my sin? Of course not. We try daily with the help of the Holy Spirit to see, repent and turn from our sin.
  God tells us to love each other, and God does love sinners. So yes I do believe homosexuals should have every right under the law as all people of this country should. Call it civil union, call it what ever you would like, but to me marriage will always be according to God's definition.

In the End we Will Be Judged, not by man

Two well known Christians died this week, Chuck Colson and Voice of the Martyrs Senior Editor Tom White. I don't know much about either man and would not try to say too much about either character, or guilt in anything they may or may not have done. However just from news reports and tidbits I have heard throughout the years it seems that one was a good man who died a bad man, and the other was a bad man who became a good man.
  Tom White apparently committed suicide after being accused of molesting a little girl. Chuck Colson was a Nixon heavy hitter who spent some time in jail, and went on to be lifted up by Jesus to start a prison ministry.
  As I said I don't know much about either man, unfortunately I am sure both will be portrayed in the media in the worst possible light,  deserved or not.  Now it is really hard to say about Mr. White "but look at all the good he did' or " he really cared and loved his family" when he apparently did something so heinous as to touch a young girl. No excuse, no reason just too bad he did not ask for the forgiveness that he should have known was there for him. Personally I do believe his punishment should have been harsh, assuming his guilt, but to be a coward to not face up to it just adds to the disgrace.
 Chuck Colson on the other hand  took his disgrace and turned it, humbly, about service for God. "One of the most wonderful things about being a Christian is that I don’t ever get up in the morning and wonder if what I do matters. I live every day to the fullest because I can live it through Christ and I know no matter what I do today, I’m going to do something to advance the Kingdom of God.”— Charles Colson

 Mostly I hope the world will not just sit back and take a "sound bite" look at these men's lives and condemn Christians in general. We Christians know we are sinners, we are far from perfect, which is why we are so thankful for Jesus. Without him we have no hope, yes even for Mr. White there was hope. And in the end I will not judge either of these men for the one who paid for their sins will.  Just as I hope I will not be judged by men for being a Christian according to these men's worst moments.