The church in Acts did two things repeatedly.
They prayed. All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer (Acts 1:14, 24). And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers (Acts 2:42). …they lifted their voices together to God…(Acts 4:24). These they set before the apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands on them (Acts 6:6). So Peter was kept in prison, but earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church (Acts 12:5). When he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John whose other name was Mark, where many were gathered together and were praying (Acts 12:12). Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off (Acts 13:3). And when he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all (Acts 20:36). And kneeling down on the beach, we prayed (Acts 21:5).
They shared the gospel. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance…“we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God” (Acts 2:4-11). But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them (Acts 2:14). …they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead (Acts 4:2). “For we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard” (Acts 4:20). …and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness (Acts 4:31). Now those who were scattered because of the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except Jews. But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who on coming to Antioch spoke to the Hellenists also, preaching the Lord Jesus (Acts 11:19-20).
These two activities were not unrelated. In many cases where prayer is recorded, it was in some way tied to the gospel mission. In chapter 1, they prayed that the Lord would reveal who should take Judas’ place as an apostle, the work of whom would be to spread the Word. In chapter 4, they prayed for boldness to continue speaking the Word in spite of persecution. Even in chapter 6, the prayer to ordain the first deacons was at least indirectly for the sake of the gospel - the deacons were to serve so that the apostles could devote themselves to the ministry of the Word and prayer. In chapter 12, the prayer for Peter was that he would be released from prison so that he could continue to spread the gospel. In chapter 13, the church prayed to commission Paul and Barnabas as missionaries. In other words, the early church was in the habit of praying - together - and when they prayed together, they prayed for the gospel to go forth.
We want to do the same.
These two points of emphasis in the life of Providence Bible Fellowship will converge on Wednesday, September 5 at 6:30pm. Last year we emphasized the importance of prayer. Our annual emphasis this school year is going to be the blessed task of evangelism. On Wednesday, September 5, we want to marry the two concerns by bathing the church in prayer as it pertains to our spreading of the gospel.
We shared this emphasis on evangelism at the most recent members’ quarterly meeting. We also shared that our new format for Wednesday nights will include a whole-church prayer meeting on the first Wednesday night of every month at 6:30pm. We’re asking all members to make this monthly prayer meeting a priority, as prayer must be a vital part of our fellowship in order for us to be a healthy, faithful bride of Christ. The main focus of our first prayer meeting will be that the Lord would make PBF a disciple-making church. We will also enjoy a full time of worship and hear a testimony from one among us with the gift of evangelism. May the Lord hear our prayer and bless the word as we speak it!
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