Acts 4:31 After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.
Does the word ‘after’ sit well with you? Is anyone out there as impatient as I am? Does anyone really want to ‘wait?’ Are we actually more prone to think that we can really provide for ourselves rather than pray and wait and depend on God?
In the early church the people understood the importance of the gathering of the saints and when they came together they did not teach about prayer or have a discussion on prayer, they actually got down on their knees and prayed. “After” they had prayed, the place where they prayed was not the same, it was shaken. The people were not the same, they were no longer under the illusion that they were in control of themselves and their situation, they were filled with or ‘controlled’ by the power of the Holy Spirit. Matt Chandler so accurately said, “when the dillusion of control disappears, men and women are drawn to their knees in prayer.”
“AFTER” that, they could not help but speak boldly the Word of the Lord! That just might be the reason that the Lord added to their number….daily!
So why then do we so freak when God acts in the supernatural. When God breaks our paradigm we must increase our faith!
Great post, Dan. We have kicked off a YEAR OF PRAYER here at Grace Church in Lititz. One full year when we as a church make prayer a main focus. Your post was timely for me to read. I told my church Sunday that if just 1,000 of us at Grace would make it a priority to pray 10 minutes a day – every day in 2010 – that would be a total of 3,650,000 minutes in prayer. That’s the equivalent of more than 60,833 hours of prayer or more than 2,534 complete days of prayer…ALL IN 2010. I can’t wait to see what the AFTER of that might look like. Blesings to you, bro!
Scott,
Thanks! WOW! I will echo your challenge to our people at a special prayer gathering at Gateway TONIGHT! Here are our Stats:
If 250 of us at Gateway would make it a priority to pray 10 minutes a day
– Every day we would pray 2,500 minutes a day
– In 2010 – that would be a total of 912,500 minutes in prayer.
– That’s the equivalent of 15,208 hours of prayer
– or 634 complete days of prayer…ALL IN 2010.
– All because of 10:10 (ten minutes a day in 2010)
Great stuff guys! I want to issue the same challenge to our church. Thinking though…what if everyone in the church was praying for the same 3-5 things for 10 minutes/day for 365 days!
Thanks Mike! I like the Patriot Missile approach to prayer that is specifically targeted, rather than the Scud Missile approach…one that shoots it off and hopes it hits the target! Add the element of 2-3 or more praying about the same thing perhaps creates a warhead on the enemy that when impact occurs knocks the snot out of our adversary!