Does the Bible really say that? Excerpt from my book, 5

Was praying for unbelievers important in the early church?
Praying for sinners is important, but an examination of the New Testament indicates that another type of prayer was more important to the early church.

What is prayer? Aspects of prayer
Perhaps we should start by looking at what prayer is. Let’s face it! “Prayer” usually means “asking God for things we want.” There should be more to prayer than that. In the churches I attend, the most frequent prayers are for the sick, and for bereaved families. This is important. It is asking God for things we want for others, rather than for ourselves, but even that isn’t nearly all that prayer should be. Someone has suggested that there is more than one type of prayer, and that we should use all of these kinds of prayer, on a regular basis, when we communicate with God. The ACTS acronym is useful in remembering that:
Adoration: praising God for what and Who he is.
Examples: 1 Kings 8:22 Solomon stood before Yahweh’s altar in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands toward heaven; 23 and he said, “Yahweh, the God of Israel, there is no God like you, in heaven above, or on earth beneath; who keeps covenant and loving kindness with your servants, who walk before you with all their heart;
Acts 4:24 When they heard it, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and said, “O Lord, you are God, who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and all that is in them; (The church, praying after Peter and John’s release.)

Confession: stating our sins and asking forgiveness.
Examples: Psalm 51:1 Have mercy on me, God, according to your loving kindness.
According to the multitude of your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity.
Cleanse me from my sin. (David, praying for forgiveness about his adultery with Bathsheba.)
1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us the sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Thanksgiving: thanking God for specific things He has done.
Examples: Daniel 2:23 I thank you, and praise you, you God of my fathers, who have given me wisdom and might, and have now made known to me what we desired of you; for you have made known to us the king’s matter.
Matthew 11:25 At that time, Jesus answered, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you hid these things from the wise and understanding, and revealed them to infants.

Supplication: asking for things we want God to do, for others (also known as intercession) or for us.
Examples: Matthew 6:11 Give us today our daily bread.
Mark 14:36 He said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible to you. Please remove this cup from me. However, not what I desire, but what you desire.”
Romans 10:1 Brothers, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God is for Israel, that they may be saved.

(The material above is currently available as a graphic, oriented in landscape mode, so that it may be projected. See here. You are free to use that graphic for any non-commercial use.)

All of the types of prayer above are things we tell God, and we should tell this sort of thing to God. But prayer should be two-way communication. We should listen for God’s voice, and pay attention when He speaks to us, audibly or in our thoughts.

The above is an excerpt from my recently published e-book, Does the Bible Really Say That?, which may be obtained free of charge, or purchased from Amazon for $0.99, which is the lowest price Amazon lets an author set. Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, public domain.

The previous post in this series is here.

Thanks for reading!

Assembling Together - Christians Gathering in Acts

I have previously indicated that the New Testament tells us four different ways that Christians, followers of Christ, should differ from others. One of those ways is that they should want to associate with other believers.

There are a number of occasions where we are told that the early Christians got together, for various reasons. I'm not sure that I have found them all, and I may have misinterpreted some, but here are brief descriptions of several times when the Christians joined together, or when people who were about to become Christians joined together, as found in Acts, and copied from the World English Bible, which is public domain:

1:15a In these days, Peter stood up in the middle of the disciples (and the number of names was about one hundred twenty)

2:1 Now when the day of Pentecost had come, they were all with one accord in one place.

2:46 Day by day, continuing steadfastly with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread at home, they took their food with gladness and singleness of heart, 47 praising God, and having favor with all the people. The Lord added to the assembly day by day those who were being saved.

4:23 Being let go, [from being arrested, Peter and John] . . . came to their own company, and reported all that the chief priests and the elders had said to them. 24a When they heard it, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord,

5:12b They were all with one accord in Solomon’s porch.

6:2 The twelve summoned the multitude of the disciples and said, “It is not appropriate for us to forsake the word of God and serve tables.

9:19 He took food and was strengthened. Saul stayed several days with the disciples who were at Damascus.

10:25 When Peter entered, Cornelius met him, fell down at his feet, and worshiped him. 26 But Peter raised him up, saying, “Stand up! I myself am also a man.” 27 As he talked with him, he went in and found many gathered together.

11:25 Barnabas went out to Tarsus to look for Saul. 26 When he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year they were gathered together with the assembly, and taught many people. The disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.

12:12 Thinking about that, he came to the house of Mary, the mother of John who was called Mark, where many were gathered together and were praying. 

15:12 All the multitude kept silence, and they listened to Barnabas and Paul reporting what signs and wonders God had done among the nations through them.

16:13 On the Sabbath day we went outside of the city by a riverside, where we supposed there was a place of prayer, and we sat down, and spoke to the women who had come together. 14 A certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, one who worshiped God, heard us; whose heart the Lord opened to listen to the things which were spoken by Paul. 15 When she and her household were baptized, she begged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house, and stay.” So she persuaded us.
16a As we were going to prayer, 

17:10 The brothers* immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Beroea. When they arrived, they went into the Jewish synagogue.
11 Now these were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of the mind, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so. 12 Many of them therefore believed; also of the prominent Greek women, and not a few men.

18:1 After these things Paul departed from Athens, and came to Corinth. 2 He found a certain Jew named Aquila, a man of Pontus by race, who had recently come from Italy, with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to depart from Rome. He came to them, 3 and because he practiced the same trade, he lived with them and worked, for by trade they were tent makers. 4 He reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and persuaded Jews and Greeks.

19:1 While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul, having passed through the upper country, came to Ephesus, and found certain disciples. 2 He said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?”
They said to him, “No, we haven’t even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”
3 He said, “Into what then were you baptized?”
They said, “Into John’s baptism.”
4 Paul said, “John indeed baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe in the one who would come after him, that is, in Jesus.”
5 When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 When Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke with other languages and prophesied. 7 They were about twelve men in all. 8 He entered into the synagogue, and spoke boldly for a period of three months, reasoning and persuading about the things concerning God’s Kingdom. 

20:7 On the first day of the week, when the disciples were gathered together to break bread, Paul talked with them, intending to depart on the next day, and continued his speech until midnight.

21:17 When we had come to Jerusalem, the brothers* received us gladly.

28:30 Paul stayed two whole years in his own rented house, and received all who were coming to him, 31 preaching God’s Kingdom, and teaching the things concerning the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness, without hindrance.

*A text note indicates that the word translated as "brothers," could have been translated as "brothers and sisters," or "men and women."

Thanks for reading. Read Acts.

Corporate prayer in Acts

One of the reasons that the early church grew, in spite of persecution, of having to learn to communicate across cultures, and of other obstacles, was that they prayed together.

It wasn't the only reason, of course. Also, I do not wish to downplay the role of private prayer, which is also important, probably more important than group prayer.

I attempted to find all of the cases where the early church prayed as a group, in Acts. I may have missed some, and some of the cases I found are questionable, but here goes. I shall list the reference, with a link to the ESV, and give some idea of the occasion.

1:13-14 The first recorded action of the early church was corporate prayer, apparently repeated often.

1:15-26 When Judas was replaced.

2:1 At Pentecost. (The Bible doesn't say that they were praying, merely that they were gathered together, but perhaps they were praying, as evidenced by the first reference above.)

2:42 One of the four activities of the early church mentioned in this verse is corporate prayer.

4:23-26 After the release of Peter and John.

6:6 After the selection and commissioning of the first deacons. (I found no record of group prayer before they were selected. It may have happened, and not been mentioned.)

12:5-16 When Peter was arrested.

13:2-3 At the commissioning of Paul and Barnabas. Verse 2 says that they were "worshiping the Lord and fasting" when these men were selected (before they were commissioned) probably including prayer, but it doesn't say so specifically.

16:13-14 Paul and his team went to a place that they supposed was used for Sabbath morning group prayer. The Bible doesn't explicitly say that they prayed there, or even that they went there for the purpose of praying. Maybe, maybe not.

16:16 The team was going to the place of prayer, perhaps for the purpose of praying, although we can't be certain of that.

16:25 Paul and Silas prayed together in jail. This is the smallest group possible, and was not a congregation, but I mention it for completeness.

20:36 Paul prayed with the Ephesian elders.

That's eight sure examples of group prayer in Acts, and four more that are possible examples.

I have previously posted on "Prayer in the New Testament," a post not about who the early church prayed with, but what they prayed for. In it, I conclude, and quote scripture to prove it, that the most important thing that the early church prayed for was for each other.

Thanks for reading. God forgive me for not praying more, in groups, and by myself.