28th
27th
26th
24th
Stone Walls Give Way
~ But while Peter was in prison, the church prayed very earnestly for him.
Acts 12:5
When we pray consistently we will receive an entrance into God's will of which we would otherwise know nothing. We will receive blessing above all we ask or think. The teaching and power of the Holy Spirit are unalterably linked to prayer.
The power that the Church's prayer has is shown not only as the apostles pray but also as the Christian community does. In Acts 12 Peter is in prison awaiting execution. The death of James has roused the Church to a sense of great danger; the thought of losing Peter, too, wakened all their energies. They went to prayer.
Prayer was effective; Peter was delivered. When he came to the house of Mary he found "many were gathered for prayer" (Acts 12:12). Double chains, soldiers, and the iron gate--all gave way before the power from heaven that prayer brought to his rescue. The power of the Roman Empire was nothing in the presence of the power that the Church wielded in prayer.
Those Christians stood in close and living relationship with their Lord. They knew well that the words "I have been given complete authority" and "Be sure of this: I am with you always" were absolutely true. They had faith in His promise to hear them whatever they asked. They prayed in the assurance that the powers of heaven not only could work on earth but also that they would work at the Church's request on its behalf.
23rd
A Higher Gift
~ Your prayers and gifts to the poor have not gone unnoticed by God.
Acts 10:4
At Samaria Philip had preached with great blessing and many believed. But the Holy Spirit had not yet fallen on them. The apostles sent Peter and John to pray for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit.
The power for such prayer was a higher gift than preaching. It was the work of men who had been in closest contact with the Lord. Of all the gifts of the early Church, there is none more needed than the gift of prayer. This power is given to those who say, "We will give ourselves to prayer."
The outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the house of Cornelius provides another testimony to the interdependence of prayer and the Spirit. Peter went up to pray on the housetop. He saw heaven opened and there came a vision that revealed the cleansing of the Gentiles. Then came the message of the men from Cornelius, a man who "prayed regularly" and had heard from an angel, "Your prayers. . .have not gone unnoticed by God." Then the voice of the Spirit was heard saying, "Go with them" (Acts 10:20).
It is a praying Peter to whom the will of God is revealed and who is brought into contact with a praying and prepared company of hearers. In answer to all this prayer comes blessing beyond all expectation and the Holy Spirit is poured out upon the Gentiles.
22nd
Spiritual Roots
~ After this prayer, the building where they were meeting shook, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit.
Acts 4:31
Definite, determined prayer is what we need. Peter and John had been threatened with punishment. When they returned to their friends, they lifted up their voices to God with one accord. When they prayed, "the building where they were meeting shook. . . . They preached God's message with boldness."
It is as if the story of Pentecost is repeated (the prayer, the filling with the Spirit, the speakign God's Word with boldness), in order to imprint permanently on the Church that it is prayer that lies at the root of the spiritual life and power of the Church. The degree with which God gives His Spirit is determined by our asking.
Later people complained about the neglect of the Grecian Jews in the distribution of alms. The apostles propsed the appointment of deacons to serve the tables. "Then we can spend our time in prayer and preaching and teaching the word" (Acts 6:4). There is nothing in honest business that prevents fellowship with God. Least of all should ministereing to the poor hinder the spiritual life. And yet the apostles felt it would hinder their ministry of prayer and the Word.
What does this teach? Maintenance of the spirit of prayer is possible in many kinds of work, but it is not enough for those who are the leaders of the Church. They need to communicate with the King and keep the heavenly world in clear focus for the maintenance of their own spiritual life and also for those around them.
21st
Ministration of the Spirit of Prayer
~ If you singful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him.
Luke 11:13
Jesus said: "Keep on asking, and you will be given what you ask for." God's giving is inseparably connected with our asking. He applied this principle especially to the Holy Spirit. As surely as a father gives bread to his child, so God gives the Holy Spirit to those who ask. The whole ministration of the Spirit is ruled by the one great law: God must give, we must ask. When the Holy Spirit was poured out at Pentacost, it was in answer to prayer.
Along with our confession of the lacek of prayer, we also need an understanding of the place prayer occupies in God's plan of redemption. Nowhere is this clearer than in the first half of the Acts. The outpouring of the Holy Spirit at the birth of the Church is the true measure of the presences of the Spirit.
The Spirit came in answer to prayer. "They met together continually for prayer." Then there follows, "On the day of Pentecost, seven weeks after Jesus' resurrection, the believers were meeting together in one place. And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit . . . Those who believed. . .were. . . added to the church-about three thousand in all" (Acts 1:14; 2:1, 4; 2:41).
The Holy Spirit had been promised by Christ. He sat down on His throne and received the Spirit from the Father. But one more thing was needed: the ten days of united, continued supplication of the disciples.
20th
Health for the Soul
~ He was amazed to see that no one intervened to help the oppressed.
Isaiah 59:16
How can our lack of prayer be transformed into a blessing? How can it be changed into the path where evil may be conquered? How can our relationship with the Father become one of continual prayer?
We must begin by going to God's Word to study the place God intends for prayer to have in the life of His child. A fresh understanding of what prayer is and what our prayers can be will free us from our wrong attitudes concerning the absolute necessity of continual prayer.
We need insight into how reasonable this divine appointment is. We need to be convinced of how it fits in with God's love and our happiness. Then we will be freed from the false impression of prayer being an arbitrary demand. We will yield to it and rejoice in it as the only way for the blessing of heaven to come to earth. It will no longer be a task and burden of self-effort and strain. As simple as breathing is in the physical life, so will praying be in the Christian life that is led by the Spirit.
Our failure in the prayer life is a result of our failure in the Spirit life. Any thought of praying more and of praying effectively will be in vain unless we are brought into closer intimacy with our Lord. His life of prayer on earth and of intercession in heaven is breathed into us in the measure that our surrender and our faith allow.
19th
Finding the Root Cause
~ And God will generously provide all your need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others.
2 Corinthians 9:8
I met a clergyman who used the expression "the distraction of business." It was one of the greatest difficulties he had to deal with. Every day he had to visit four different offices in his town. In addition, his predecessor left him the responsibility of several committees where he was expected to do all the work. Everything conspired to keep him from prayer.
Various difficulties make a full prayer life almost impossible. But thank God the things which are impossible with men are possible with God! God's call to prayer need not be a burden nor a cause of guilt. He means for it to be a joy. Through prayer He can give us strength for all we do and bring down His power to work through us in the lives of others.
Let us confess the sin that shames us an dthen confront it in the name of our Redeemer. The same light that shows us our sin and condemns us for it will show us the way out of it. Deficiency in our Christian life is the root cause of unfaithfulness in prayer. God will use this discovery to bring us both the power to pray that we long for and also the joy of a new and healthy life, of which prayer is the spontaneous expression.
18th
Time for Prayer
~ Yet no one calls on your name or pleads with you for mercy.
Isaiah 64:7
At a ministerial meeting the superintendent of a large district said: "I rise in the morning and have half an hour with God. I am occupied all day with numerous engagements. Not many minutes elapse without my breathing a prayer for guidance. After work I speak to God of the day's work. But I know little of the intense prayer of which Scripture speaks."
There are earnest Christians who have just enough prayer to maintain their spiritual position but not enough to grow spiritually. Seeking to fight of temptation is a defensive attitude rather than an assertive one which reaches for higher attainment. The scriptural teaching to cry out day and night in prayer must, to some degree, become our experience if we are to be intercessors.
A man said to me, "I see the importance of much prayer, and yet my life hardly allows time for it. Am I to give up? How can I accomplish what I desire?"
I admitted that the difficulty was universal and quoted a Dutch proverb: "What is heaviest must weigh heaviest." The most important must have the first place. The law of God is unchangeable. In our communication with heaven, we only get as we give. Unless we are willing to pay the price--to sacrifice time and attention and seemingly necessary tasks for the skae of the heavenly gifts--we cannot expect much power from heaven in our work.
17th
The Lack of Prayer
~ And yet the reason you don't have what you want is that you don't ask God for it.
James 4:2
Recently I attended several conventions at which prayer was often the subject of conversation. A businessman said that the spirit of intercession is what the Chruch of our day needs. Everywhere people confessed, "We pray to little!" Yet there seemed to be a fear that, because of pressure from work and the force of habit, it was almost impossible to hope for change. Such thinking can only hinder our own joy and our power in God's service.
Dr. Whyte of Edinburgh said that, as a young minister, he thought any time left over from pastoral visitation ought to be spent with his books. He wanted to feed his people with the very best he could prepare. But now he had learned that prayer was more important than study. He felt as if it were almost too late to regain what he had lost and urged us to pray more. What a solemn confession and warning: We pray too little!
Is the call of God for our time and attention more important than our work? If God is waiting to meet us and to give us power from heaven for His work, it is short-sighted to put other work in His place. If there is to be a significant experience of God's presence, there must be more definite and persevering prayer.
16th
The Love That Suffers
~ Live a life filled with love for others, following the example of Christ, who loved you and gave himself as a sacrifice to take away your sins.
Ephesians 5:2
It is strange that love, which is the source of the greatest happiness, should also be the cause of the most intense suffering. Suffering always follows when love seeks to save the object of its love. It is only by suffering that love can gain its end and so attain the highest happiness.
Even the almighty power of God's love could not achieve its purpose without suffering. By suffering, Christ bore the sins of the whole world. Love in the midst of suffering manifested the greatest glory and attained its end perfectly.
Love worthy of the name manifests itself in a life of continual self-sacrifice. Love gives strength to endure, whatever the circumstances. Loving others may mean tears, heartache, and much perserving in prayer; but love overcomes all obstacles.
Do you long to know the love of Christ in all its fullness? Then yield yourself to Him. Think of yourself as a channel through which the highest love can reach its aim. Begin to suffer with and intercede for those around you. Eventually you will realize what this life of love is: to live wholly for the welfare and happiness of others.
15th
The Power of God's Word
~ The very words I have spoken to you are spirit and life.
John 6:63
Frequently the question is asked: Wy do God's children often fail to realize the great value and absolute necessity of loving each other? One answer is unbelief. Without faith there can be no thought of the power of love within us. True faith acknowledges God's loving care for us and His power to work wonders in our hearts.
It is necessary to be deeply convicted of our total inability to produce this love on our own. We must have a burning desire to receive this heavenly love into our hearts--a love that is holy and can conquer sin and unbelief. When we gain an insight into what God's Word is--a living power in our hearts--we will be filled with the love of God by the Holy Spirit, living and working within us.
Are we ready to acknowledge our deep sinfulness and yield our hearts unreservedly for this love to take possession of us? Are we ready to take time in God's presence in the confidence that His Word will work in us as a seed of new life? If so, then we will love Jesus and each other with a love like God's love for us.
