The Church Devoted to Prayer
Powerful, Unifying, & Pleasing

I made my way down the narrow aisle and found my seat on the last row of the plane. I sat down beside an older gentleman wearing a pinstriped suit and tie: the travel attire of the greatest generation. Once the plane reached altitude, I took out my laptop and began applying the final coats of lacquer to my sermon notes for the next morning. After a few minutes of listening to me wood-pecking away at my keyboard, the gentleman leaned over and asked, “What are you working on?” “Oh,” I stammered, “this is my sermon for tomorrow morning. I’m a pastor.” His brow furrowed, “Really! What’s your church like?”

“What’s your church like?” The stranger’s question was surprisingly tricky to answer on the spot. What would you have said? Maybe the better question is: What should the church be like? Luke answers that very question in the book of Acts by articulating three hallmarks of the apostolic church: “And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers” (Acts 2:4). The church was devoted, that means “doggedly committed to” and “persevering in,” the faithful preaching and teaching of the Word of God, vibrant fellowship and selfless community, and, perhaps the most overlooked ingredient in the not-so-secret sauce of the apostolic church was her decided commitment to prayer. But why should the church be devoted to prayer? Three obvious answers come to mind.

Prayer is Powerful

Christians are not, in themselves, a powerful or impressive people. We aren’t popular or in vogue. We are spiritually sick and in need of a physician, sinners in need of a Savior. We are foolish in the eyes of the world, bona fide members of the “losers club,” but in heaven’s eyes, we are more than conquers through the empty cross and tomb of Jesus Christ. Finite, frail, and fallible, we are utterly dependent upon the Lord our God for all things. “In Him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:8). Well did the hymn writer teach us to sing, “I need Thee, o, I need Thee; every hour I need Thee.”

The Lord has kindly appointed prayer as the instrument of divine intervention. Prayer is our celestial S-O-S beacon! Jesus promised His disciples, “If two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven” (Matt. 18:19). James, the Lord’s brother, explained, “the prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working” (Jas. 5:16). Joshua’s prayers stopped the sun in the sky. Elijah’s prayers caused rain to fall. Daniel’s prayers stopped the mouths of lions in the den. Jonah’s prayers made the fish spit him out of his watery tomb as Jesus’s prayer brought Lazarus up from the grave. Do you pine for spiritual victory? Do you long for help and healing? Do you hope to see the church filled and the lost saved? Does your heart ache for the state of your family, your nation, your culture? Then let us be devoted to prayer, because prayer is powerful!

Prayer is Unifying

Prayer mysteriously and powerfully welds our hearts together as a people. The 19^th century Presbyterian, J.W. Alexander wrote, “There is no way in which we can more surely increase mutual love than by praying for one another… Dissension or coldness cannot abide between those who bear each other to God’s throne in supplication… Often has the tenderness of a half-dying attachment been renewed and made young again, when the parties have found themselves kneeling before the mercy seat.” Do we desire our churches to be of one heart and mind: namely, the glory of Jesus Christ and the salvation of sinners? Do we wish for love and friendship to perfume the air of our worship and fellowship? Do we want to be free from dissension, rivalries, and division? Then let us be devoted to prayer, because prayer is unifying! 

Prayer is Pleasing

B.M. Palmer called prayer the “language of worship,” and “the prostration of the soul in humility before God.” Few things are more pleasing to Christ than a church of ransomed sinners, His own blood-bought bride, calling to Him in prayer. In Revelation, John saw the prayers of the saints rising before the throne in heaven as sweet incense (Rev. 5:8). Therefore, Paul encouraged the church in Rome saying, “May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 15:5, 6). Take up your instrument of prayer and join the symphony. Let us be devoted to prayer because prayer is pleasing to the Lord.

A church truly gripped by the grace of God and the gift of prayer will be a church on its knees. God help us to be such people and such a people. God help us to be devoted to prayer.