For A Time Such As ThisSample

"For A Time, Such As This"  by Rocky Fleming

DAY THREE

“Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common. And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all.”  (Acts 4:32-33 ESV)

I’d like to point out some key points in this scripture, as it relates to our prayers. Focus on this fact that the people “were of one heart and soul” and “they had everything in common.”  In this day of individualism, it is hard to grasp how significant it is.  Unfortunately, cult leaders have perverted the thought about having “everything in common” as a means to control people and take them down a destructive path.  Because of this we are scared away from the thought of it, and miss the true treasure it speaks of.

When this account was being seen and experienced in the early Church there was a reason that their community was tight and had all things in common.  A big reason is because they were persecuted and excluded from the mainstream religious world, they lived in.  They had to pull together for survival.  As the Church expanded the living together part and bringing all properties and resources to be laid at the feet of the Apostles for distribution became less practiced.  But the true understanding, the truth of holding all things in common beyond food distribution and such, the truth that you and I must understand, is that the one thing that pulls us together and we have in common is Jesus Christ.  What we have in common in Him is that we are all desperately lost without Him.  We were all sinners bound for hell until He intervened and saved us by His grace.  None of us deserve this.  We have this in common.  The fact that our eternal soul is saved, secured and is re-formed for serving Him is common among us, though we may serve Him in different ways than others.  The most important aspects of our heart and soul are on common ground with those of us who are true believers and followers of Jesus Christ.  Since this is the case, and it leads to something amazing, then don’t you think the Body of Christ, the Church, should strive to have one heart and soul with each other?

Through the years I have questioned why some people have more dynamic prayers being answered than others.  As I’ve looked at these people, I’ve seen individuals who have a simple, but pure faith.  Their prayers are simple.  They pray with love and a deep appreciation to simply come before the King of Kings.  They are seen as prayer warriors.  But I see them as prayer models.  What lies at the heart of these people?  I see a pure heart and soul that is common with them.

What do I mean by a pure heart and soul?  Let’s start by understanding the soul of a person.  Watchman Nee in his writings from Spiritual Man states:

“Everything included in man’s personality, that is, every element that constitutes him a man, is a part of the soul. His intellect, mind, ideals, love, stimulations, judgment, will, etc., are all parts of the soul.”

In other words, our soul is our unique being.  Our soul is eternal just as our spirit is. We will be identifiable in heaven by our soul.  People will recognize others they’ve known in this life and know them in heaven because of our soul.  We will be individuals in heaven as we are in this life.  But we will all have this in common.  We will be there because of the grace of God and the atonement of Jesus Christ.

Our heart is the place where compassion and understanding are formed.  The heart is our center of emotions and affection.  The heart is life-giving and complex. It is seen as a symbol of love.  But it is more accurately seen as the condition of a person’s spiritual health.  A good or bad heart generally classifies a person as being good or bad.  So, our spiritual heart is something we need to protect, but as well, give away to others if we have a good heart.

Now let’s connect this information to our prayer life.  Let’s focus on the cause and effect of good hearts and souls unified because of what we have in common with Jesus Christ.  Look at the effect:

“And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all.”

I know God’s grace to me in indescribable.  I can’t get over it.   But to experience “great grace” as spoken here blows me away.  Even though it is hard to grasp a greater grace than I’ve experienced I think we are being told that there is even more than we’ve experienced, and it is waiting for us to appropriate it.   I think we are in just such a time that we need to go to God’s throne room and take this greater grace that He is extending to us.  Let us pray with one heart and soul and ask our King to send a revival to His Church... and to let it begin in you and me.