Daily Devotionals: (Feb. 9th) “With One Accord in Prayer”

The New Testament Church: Learning from the first disciples of Christianity

Reading: “These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication.” Acts 1:14

My Irish accent has caused certain problems as I minister in Greenville, South Carolina. Each week as I lead the congregation in prayer I usually say, “Let us unite our hearts in prayer.” Some keen listeners thought I was saying, “Let us knit our hearts in prayer.” They liked the thought of that. However, after many months one of them asked why I had changed to saying “unite” instead of “knit.” I informed the person that I had never been saying “knit” it was just the Irish accent that made it sound like that to their American ears.

Unite or knit, the point is the same: let’s be in agreement in prayer. This was the pattern for the early disciples; they were “with one accord in prayer.” The word accord comes from two Greek words, which mean to “rush along” or to be “in unison.” There is in this word the idea of an orchestra, where a number of notes are sounded which, while different, harmonize in pitch and tone.

When we apply that to the church it is obvious that there was spiritual agreement or harmony among the saints of God. All of these believers wanted the same thing. They all wanted to see their Lord glorified and the gospel taken to the nations. They were not in the prayer meeting with different desires, conflicting interests, or opposing concerns. They were not at odds with God or with each other. They were united.

If there is one thing we should fear in church life, it is a church at war with itself. A church full of suspicion and grudges, where believers verbally and emotionally bite and devour each other will be powerless. The Lord commands a blessing where there is unity (Psalm 133).

Daily Devotionals: (Feb. 8th) The Prayer Meeting

The New Testament Church: Learning from the first disciples of Christianity

Reading: “These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication.” Acts 1:14

When I was a young believer, I decided before God that I would attend the public prayer meeting in my church on alternate Wednesday evenings. In my immaturity I reckoned this every-other-week arrangement with God was a fair deal. However, when the first ”off” night came, I was miserable and quickly realized that I had made a mistake—I should have been at the prayer meeting! I thought of the first disciples when they returned from the Mount of Olives: they made their way immediately to an upper room to pray. This was a place to meet with their risen Lord! The assembly for prayer became a priority for them—they had a heart to pray.

First, they had a heart to pray because they were conscious of their dependence upon God. The disciples had just been given a commission that was humanly impossible. They knew their limitations—the fear, failures, and faults of the past—and they needed to pray.

Secondly, they had a heart to pray because they had a genuine desire for the blessing. To put it simply, they longed to know the power that Christ had spoken about! When they heard him speak of the promised Holy Ghost, a burden for Him arose within their hearts.

Thirdly, they had a heart to pray because they believed the promise of God. Christ had spoken of something that had never happened before. While the Holy Spirit was active previously, the outpouring of the Spirit was something else. Christ had promised these men a fullness of power that up until now had not been experienced—and they believed Him. They had heard the promise of Christ and they went to plead that promise in prayer.

Prayer is important for the church. Let’s stop making selfish excuses to be absent, and let us, like the early church, assemble with the saints for prayer. To do otherwise evidences spiritual independence, lack of desire, and unbelief.