Learning to Pray Like the Early Church
By David Butts
New Testament Christians were praying Christians. The church was born at a prayer meeting on the day of Pentecost, and the disciples continued to pray as they went on their way proclaiming the good news of Jesus around the world. That really shouldn’t surprise us. The leaders of the church, the apostles, had gone to Jesus earlier and asked Him to teach them to pray. He did. Then He instructed them to teach others what He had taught them. From Jesus, to the apostles, to the first-century Christians, and down through the years to us, believers have taught and practiced prayer.
In the book of Acts, we find that prayer was a core value of the early church. I doubt they used the term “core value” as we often do today, but the Scriptures indicate that prayer had a place in the key priorities of the church. “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer” (Acts 2:42). There we find the core values or priorities of the church:
1. Apostles’ doctrine
2. Fellowship
3. Breaking of bread
4. Prayer.
___________________________________________________
If you have not yet signed up to be notified of each new blog entry, and would like to be,
SIGN UP HERE
____________________________________________________
Is prayer one of the core values of your church? Certainly we all give lip service to its value, but does prayer really find its way into the nuts and bolts of how you “do church”? In all too many congregations, prayer has become only a way of opening and closing meetings and a means of expressing concern for the sick and hurting. In the book of Acts, believers didn’t simply say that they were devoted to prayer; they demonstrated it by their actions.
Corporate prayer was a major emphasis in the early church. The disciples understood the importance and power of praying together. From the day of Pentecost on, they met regularly for the purpose of prayer:
Acts 1:14 – “They all joined together constantly in prayer.”
Acts 2:42 – “They devoted themselves…to prayer.”
Acts 3:1 – “…going up to the temple at the time of prayer…”
Acts 4:24 – “…they raised their voices together in prayer…”
Acts 12:12 – “…where many people had gathered and were praying.”
Acts 13:3 – “…after they had fasted and prayed…”
Acts 20:36 – “…he knelt down with all of them and prayed.”
If New Testament Christians saw the importance of praying together, shouldn’t we do likewise? Most would agree that it’s a good thing for Christians to pray together, but we must move beyond mere intellectual assent and take specific action steps. We must provide good teaching from our pulpits and classrooms concerning the importance and value of corporate prayer. A wide variety of prayer opportunities need to be offered for the church, focusing on many needs and topics. We need to be less anxious about the numbers who attend these prayer meetings. A small gathering of three or four people praying can make a real difference.
As we contrast New Testament praying with contemporary praying, it’s clear that prayer in the book of Acts was not for outward show. We don’t see New Testament Christian leaders coming together to make decisions and opening their discussion with a “word of prayer.” Instead, we see Christian leaders coming together who understood that their primary purpose in assembling was prayer.
Check out some of the passages around the verses I list above. Both direction and amazing power came out of those times of prayer. The same God has the same purpose and desire today: that the ends of the earth might hear the good news of Jesus. And when we, the church today, line our prayers up with the heartbeat of God and ask Him to grant us boldness to fulfill His purposes, we too will see His power poured out in awesome ways upon the church of Jesus Christ.
Note: For further help in developing prayer in your church, we encourage you to join the Church Prayer Leaders Network.
