Pray

We often think of the day of Pentecost as the kick-start of God's Church. The Holy Spirit was poured out on the disciples in the form of fiery tongues. They spoke in tongues, proclaiming Jesus as the Messiah. Thousands of people became disciples. We like to think of the miraculous signs showing the power of the Holy Spirit. But do we pause to think about the communication people had with God. Do we think about prayer?

Before the Spirit was poured out on the disciples and then thousands of people, the disciples were already talking to God in prayer. Their conversations were around God's plan in general and about their specific part of that plan. Before the Spirit gave them the "go ahead," they gathered together in a room an prayed.

They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers. (Acts 1:14 NIV)

After the Spirit was poured out on the disciples, they preached and thousands responded to the Gospel message. They were baptized and received the Holy Spirit as well. Then it tells us what they did next. It included, you guessed it, prayer.

They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. (Acts 2:42 NIV)

Prayer was so important to Jesus that hey would get up early in the morning and go off into the wilderness so he would be uninterrupted in his prayer. Prayer was so important to the apostles that it defined a part of their schedule in a normal day.

One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer--at three in the afternoon. (Acts 3:1 NIV)

After being captured and told not to preach the Gospel anymore, Peter and John were released from custody. They went back to a place the believers were gathering and they prayed.

After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly. (Acts 4:31 NIV)

They continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. The church continued to grow. Money started to pour in at this point. Widows and orphans were being cared for and the church continued to grow. When problems in the church arose because food wasn't being distributed fairly to those in need, the apostles reminded themselves of the importance of prayer.

So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, "It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. Brothers and sisters, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word." (Acts 6:2-4 NIV)

Prayer connects us to God. Prayer gets us in sync with God's will. Prayer is the lifeblood of our life and ministry because through prayer God flows God's will into our lives. God's Spirit gives life and breath and everything else. This Spirit flows into and through us through prayer.

They presented these men to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them. So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith. (Acts 6:6-7 NIV)

So how about you? Do you pray? Do you give God a list of things you want God to do, or do you allow God to speak to you as well. Does God's Spirit flow into and through you through prayer?