God's plan of redemption - explained

Study 12. They devoted themselves to prayer

Having established that the early church members devoted themselves to the fellowship and to the Apostle's teaching we see that they all shared in the activities of the early church and in the preparation of them - including laying the foundation of prayer before, during and after a major outreach or healing event.

So what do you think they prayed?

1 Timothy chapter 2 verses 1 to 4 urges that we pray the following: "First of all, then, I urge that requests, prayers, intercessions, and thanks giving be offered on behalf of all people.

Kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. Such prayer for all is good and welcomed before God our Saviour, since he wants all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth." If we do that then we will be doing something that started as long ago as the days of Moses.

In Exodus chapter 17 verses 8 to 13 we read: "Amalek came and attacked Israel in Rephidim. So Moses said to Joshua, "Choose some of our men and go out, fight against Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand." So Joshua fought against Amalek just as Moses had instructed him; and Moses and Aaron with Hur went up to the top of the hill.

Whenever Moses would raise his hands, then Israel prevailed, but whenever he would rest his hands, Amalek prevailed. When the hands of Moses became heavy, they took a stone and put it under him, and Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on one side and one on the other, and so his hands were steady until the sun went down, so Joshua destroyed Amalek and his army with the sword."

Do you understand the biblical spiritual principle here? If we lift up and support our leaders in prayer every day then seemingly from this scripture the church will see more and more victory and the enemy will be soundly defeated on many occasions. We should pray for everyone in the church each day also if you have time.

One easy way of doing this is to write out a list of all the men in the church and another list for all the ladies. The person at the bottom of the list should pray for the person at the top of the list and that person should pray for the person who's name is listed immediately below theirs, that way everybody will be covered in prayer each day, even if it starts off with only five minutes it will truly make a difference.

The Apostles would have taught that when we pray we should always be led by The Holy Spirit and pray only those things that are on His heart and agenda, that way we can be sure that our prayers will be answered provided we do not hold unforgiveness against anyone or bare iniquity (sinful thoughts) in our hearts.

The Apostles would also have taught about binding and loosing (Matthew chapter 12 v 29 and 18 v 18) and the importance of accompanying spiritual warfare prayer with fasting, thus greatly enhancing the effectiveness of the prayer in Jesus name and ensuring victory once more as we pray the heart of God.

Also, because the people coming over to Christianity were mostly formerly Jews they would have an understanding of the biblical teaching on fasting which can be seen in Malachi chapter 3 verses 10 and 11 which speak of the blessings that come upon those who obey this biblical principle.

"Bring the entire tithe into the storehouse so that there may be food in my temple. Test me in this matter, says the Lord who rules over all, to see if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until there is no room for it all. Then I will stop the plague from ruining your crops, and the vine will not lose its fruit before harvest," says the Lord who rules over all."

To summarise this for today The Lord is promising that if we are faithful to bring in the full tithe to the storehouse (the church) then He will ensure that the enemy will not destroy the fruit of our labour neither shall the fruitfulness of our labour come about before due season otherwise it may be ruined.

If we are to do anything worthwhile in life then there will always be the necessity for commitment, or as scripture puts it about Jesus we will have to set our faces like flint in order to see the task through to its conclusion. This means not only total commitment to what God has called you to do but the willingness to make sacrifices.

Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice, and His commitment to seeing through to the end the job that Father had given Him to do is an example to us as to how we should be every bit as faithful to the calling that God has on the lives of each one of us. It is not being in the public eye that counts but doing what you are called to do faithfully.

They were faithful to attend the meetings of the fellowship both in the homes of others and to meeting in the temple once a week. Hebrews chapter 10 verses 24 and 25 read as follows: "Let us take thought of how to spur one another on to love and good works, not abandoning our own meetings, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging each other, and even more so because you see the day drawing near."

If you set a bad example in these things you may find that you will have a very negative effect on your fellow members of the church and it is more than possible that you may even cause them to drift into backsliding through becoming so negative and discouraged.

We are all accountable to one another not just the Minister/Pastor and the other leaders of the church, we must not be like Adam and Eve were when their sin was exposed, we should learn to take responsibility for our own actions and the consequences of them.

In Numbers chapter 13 verses 26 to 33 those sent to reconnoitre the Promised Land of Canaan brought back a report that was very discouraging and frightening. As a result of their lack of faith the entire generation was lost in the wilderness and everyone of them except Joshua and Caleb failed to enter into the land of promise.

"They came back to Moses, Aaron and to the whole community of the Israelites in the wilderness of Paran at Kadesh. They reported to the whole community and showed the fruit of the land. They told Moses,"We went to the land where you sent us. It is indeed flowing with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. But the inhabitants are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large. Moreover we saw the descendants of Anak there. The Amalekites live in the land of the Negev; the Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live by the sea and along the banks of the Jordan."

These people failed to get into the land God had promised on oath to give them because of lack of trust (faith) in God and negativity. In speaking the way they did to the community the returned spies discouraged the whole community of Israel and they never entered the land that was intended to be theirs.

We must be careful what we say because not only are we answerable to God for every word, we can whether we realise it or not actually be doing the devil's work for him by discouraging your brothers and sisters in Christ and making things even more difficult for them to come into the good things that God had planned for them.

Earlier God was ready to destroy the whole community (except for Moses, Joshua and Caleb) because they were constantly criticising those whom God had called out to be the leaders of the community. As a result of this the entire clan of Korah was wiped out when the earth literally opened up and swallowed each one of them alive down to Sheol.

Let us ensure that what we speak is positive, faithfulness and encouragement. If we do then we shall see each one of our brothers and sisters in Christ coming into all the good things that God has for each one of them. These are the reasons that the early church was so dynamically successful, we can share in their success today if only we will use "the keys of the kingdom" that have been given to us also.