Developing Your Prayer LifeIhe Atụ

Addicted to Prayer

Acts 2:42 reveals a great deal about the Early Church. It reads:

“And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.”

In the last devotional, we looked at the phrase “continued steadfastly” in the Greek language. It means to persevere consistently, and it depicts intense focus, hard work, and constant diligence and effort that never lets up. It can even carry the idea of an addiction.

This phrase “continued steadfastly” could be translated as, “And they were intensely focused, working very hard, consistently diligent, and investing effort that never lets up.” But what was the focus of their intense work and “addiction?”

The focus of the Early Church was the apostles’ doctrine — the Word of God — fellowship, the breaking of bread, and prayer. Remember, the apostles learned everything about their ministries from Jesus Himself. They were called His “disciples,” and the word “disciples” described a student who was wholly submitted to the authority of his master. The student’s job was to monitor everything his master did and replicate it in his own personal life.

For three years, the disciples walked with Jesus, observing His every action. They learned to replicate what they saw Jesus do in their own lives. They preached like He preached, cast out demons like He cast out demons, healed people the way He healed people, and prayed the way He prayed. Their addiction to prayer was learned from watching Jesus! And all that they learned, they in turn taught to the Early Church.

These early believers were obeying God’s command in Jeremiah 33:3. The Early Church called out to the Lord in prayer, and as a result, He answered them and invaded their world. They experienced the manifestation of the power of God, and if you pray as the Early Church did, you will experience that very same power invading your world!

Study Questions:

• Think about how often prayer is mentioned throughout the Bible and find examples where God acted as a response to the prayers of His people. Do you believe the work of God can be hindered if the Church does not pray?