Praying Steadfastly Together

Let's go back in time to 1872 to Yokohama Japan. The Christian missionaries have worked for 13 years and there are 10 converts who have been baptized. There are about 30 missionaries working to share the Gospel but not seeing much fruit. The language is being mastered and the scriptures are being translated.

One of the first missionaries Guido Verbeck wrote some time later that these were the years of preparation and promise 1859 - 72 There were notice boards in many public places that people would be paid money if they reported a Japanese Christian. The Christian would be put to death.

Things had to change and change came. In January of 1872 the protestant missionaries in Yokohama united to observe the annual Week of Prayer in the beginning of January. Some of the Japanese students from among those studying under the missionaries attended the meetings. Sections of the book of Acts were read in English in order day after day. For the sake of the Japanese present, the scripture of each day was translated into Japanese. The meetings grew in interest and were continue until the end of February. After the first week some of the Japanese prayed in their own language and their prayers were characterized by intense earnestness; with tears streaming down their faces. They prayed that God would give his Spirit to Japan like He had to the early church.

As a direct result of these prayer meetings, the first Japanese Christian church of the protestant tradition was organized in Yokohama on March 10, 1872. It consisted of nine young men who had participated in the prayer meetings and were baptized on that day, and 2 middle-aged men who had been previously baptized. The church of Japan grew directly out of prayer meetings. It not coincidental that the first years were called years of preparation and promise. We see this in the early church as well.

Jesus told the disciples to wait in Jerusalem for the baptism with Holy Spirit which was promised to them. History tells us that they waited 10 days between the time Jesus went up to heaven in the clouds and the time they were filled with the Holy Spirit.

First they Prayed together.

We want to focus our attention on part of a verse this morning

Acts 1- 14 " They all joined together constantly in prayer. " from this verse we want to focus on two things this morning.
1) giving ourselves to steadfastness in prayer and
2) joining together in one accord.

The disciples were told to wait in Jerusalem for the promise of God to come. (Acts 1:4) They waited in prayer for 10 days after Jesus ascended into heaven before the day of Pentecost. They were obedient as they waited as Christ had commanded them. Lam 3:25,26 Reads "The Lord is good to those who wait for Him. To the person who seeks Him. It is good that he waits silently for the salvation of the Lord."

Much of the secret of the early church lay in that the leaders gave themselves to prayer and preaching the Word. Much time spent with God is the secret of all successful praying. Prayer which is felt as a might force is the result of much time spent with God. Our short prayers owe their power and effectiveness to the long ones that have preceded them. The short prevailing prayer cannot be prayed by one who has not spent time with God in a mightier longer struggle. Jacob's victory of faith could not have been gained without that all night wrestling. God's acquaintance is not made by quick text messages. God does not bestow His gifts on one who does not take time to develop a deep relationship with Him.

We cannot expect God to answer the prayers of the casual church goer who has no time for God except when he is in trouble. If you are not a born again Christian following after God's heart don't expect any answers to prayer. The only prayer God will hear is the prayer of a penitent righteous person. God resists the proud who have not turned over their lives to Him. Once you have made things right before God He can bestow many new blessings upon your life. I Corinthians 2:9

To learn what to ask for takes time and comes through getting to know God. Much time with God alone is the secret of knowing and of influencing God. He blesses and answers the prayer of the righteous man, the person of faith that has taken time to understand the mind of God. God bestows His richest gifts upon those who love and seek God with all their heart. Christ, who is our example, spent many whole nights in prayer. His custom was to pray much.

Luther said: "If I fail to spend two hours in prayer each morning, the devil gets the victory through the day. I have so much business I cannot get on without spending 3 hours daily in prayer." He had a motto: "He that has prayed well had studied well." How is your prayer life? Have you prayed daily this week? Do you set aside time for prayer?

Our text this morning tells us that the apostles gave themselves diligently, steadfastly to prayer. God worked mightily in their midst. If we want to see God work in a mighty way in our community there is one way only to begin and that is to give ourselves to prayer. God is that miracle giver and we must be in communion with Him if we want to see miracles happen in our community.

The second point we want to examine this morning is that of the importance of unity among brothers and sisters in ,the Lord. If there is not unity of purpose within the congregation we might as well close up the church. If we are pulling different ways the church will be pulled apart and God's work will not go forward. Hebrews 12:15. 14 warns us " Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.

The term "of one Accord", "of one mind", or together is only used 12 times in the New Testament. Of these 11 x it is used in the book of Acts. When the early church was described as being of one mind there was great growth and the Lord blessed tremendously. Acts 2:1,.46; 4:25 etc.

There are two verses which give the reason for the need to be unified. The first is Philippians 1:27. This verse says that we must be of one mind so that we can strive together for the faith of the Gospel. We cannot walk our Christian life alone and hope to grow spiritually.

John 17:21 gives a second reason why it is so important that we work together and be of the same mind. We are to demonstrate to the world what the love of Christ means. The world will only believe our message if we are one. We there is conflict in the congregation the word gets out and the unbelievers or weak Christians begin to avoid the church. We need a love which permeates our relationships and pulls us together through every kind of difficulty. I want you to know that I am not saying this because I believe there is a problem between people in the church. I am only declaring what the word of God says. If there is something in your heart this morning, and God is speaking to your heart, be sure that you deal with it before it becomes a problem.

There are a number of verses in the Scriptures which exhort us to be of one mind and work together. 1 Peter 3:8

Even in the church at Philippi all was not well Paul had to tell two ladies in the church to resolve their differences in Phil 4:2

2 Cor 13: 11 sums up much of the reason for being unified

In Summary:

The prayer of one who has not been saved, who has not made that personal commitment of his life to God, can only be the prayer of a penitent heart. God resists the proud who say they do not need him and then expect Him to answer their prayers.

We who have committed our lives to Christ need to commit ourselves in a new way to taking time to be with God. I encourage you to make a decision to spend more time in prayer if you want victories and miracles in your life. Make sure there is no sin in your life to hamper your prayers.

Need for unity. If there is ever conflict in a church, a bitter spirit, or sharp words that have hurt someone else, if you have wronged a brother or sister you are to go to that one and make things right. If someone has hurt you, you are to go to that person and explain the hurt and resolve the problem. If you do not you become a stumbling block for God's work. God cannot work when there is unresolved sin in the church. Look at the story of Achan in Joshua 7.

When we spend time interceding for others, God will do miracles and we will see His glory revealed to others. What greater blessing could we experience?