Devoted to Prayer (1) Acts 2:42; Luke 11

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Devoted to Prayer

Acts 2:42

Introduction: The text is especially talking about collective prayer. These Christians came together to pray. There is a danger in how we read this. We can think in a “traditional” sense and see all four of the activities by these early Christians as something required, like something a church puts on its “worship service schedule – “Okay, we need to “schedule” some times to be devoted to the apostles’ teaching, devoted to fellowship, devoted to the Lord’s Supper, and devoted to prayer.”
That is definitely not how Luke intended these words. Remember, this is a letter. Luke is reporting to Theophilus what Christians did as a natural outcome of hearing and believing the gospel message that their King has returned and has delivered them from bondage! Just like there is something special about singing together, studying together, and taking the Supper together, so there is also a special importance to praying together.

  1. Devoted to Prayer
    1. Prayer in Acts Illustrates the Devotion
      1. 1:14 “All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer…”
      2. 6:4 “But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”
      3. 12:5 “So Peter was kept in prison, but earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church.”
      4. 14:23 “And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting…”
      5. 9:11 “Rise and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul, for behold, he is praying…”
      6. 10:30 “And Cornelius said, ‘Four days ago, about this hour, I was praying in my house at the ninth hour…’”
      7. 13:3 “then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off.”
      8. 16:25 “About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them…”
    2. There are two obvious messages in this repetition. First, God is with his people, responsive to his people, and the King who is guiding all things according to his will. Second, his people are completely dependent on him for their lives and the work that he has called them to do. Burning in their minds are the last words of Jesus before leaving the earth: “Behold, I am with you even to the end of the age.”

Three Reasons Jesus Taught We Ought to Pray

It is interesting to consider that when Jesus talked about prayer, there were three principles he talked about most:

  • The Father’s desire that we pray
  • The Father’s ability and desire to answer our prayers
  • The importance of prayer if the Father is going to act 
  1. The Father’s Desire That We Pray (Luke 11:1-13)
    1. It should be remarkable to us that these Jewish disciples, who had been praying people all their lives (3rd, 6th, 9th hour), realized that they needed to be taught how to pray. What do we say? Just do it! Jesus answers by first giving a picture of what prayer should look like. We can make the mistake of just thinking Jesus is teaching them the content of prayer. In other words, “Say this.” That has been a common mistake.
    2. But consider, when Jesus tells us the content, he is sending a strong message about what is needed. Paul defined prayer in Romans 10:1, “My heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved.” What is prayer? It is the heart’s desire expressed. That being said, when Jesus gives the content of what is needed in prayer, he is telling us what our heart’s desire should be. And here’s the problem, I can answer that question easily with the last three requests of the prayer. My heart’s desire is forgiveness, food, and keeping me from temptation. We think about that a lot. But is my heart’s desire for God’s name to honored, God’s kingship received in the heart’s of men, and God’s will be done? We can all give verbal assent, but is that my overriding, number one desire above all else? 
    3. But that is not all. What is most remarkable is that Jesus answers the question, “Lord, teach us to pray,” with a parable stressing God’s desire and availability to hear his children pray. 
    4. Consider how this will teach us to pray: the parable begins with the analogy of a “friend” who is bothered at midnight to give bread to his friend. But when Jesus gives the application, he switches from friend to “Father and children.” Oh, that is far, far different. I am not bothered by my children or grandchildren making a request of me, I want them to bother me! I am beside myself with joy when they “bother” me.
    5. Therefore, when Jesus teaches the disciples to pray, he stresses the Father’s desire, willingness, and even urgency to hear and respond! He is our Father, eager to hear from his children! The conclusion we should come to is, if I really can grasp the Father’s desire, it would immediately change my life of prayer. There will be an excitement and an urgency that translates into frustration when obligations in life hinder my quiet time with God.
  2. The Father’s Ability and Desire to Answer Our Prayers
    1. “What Father, when his son asks for a fish, would instead give him a serpent?” … How much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
    2. Why do we not see the Father this way? Why are we not confident in his desire to answer?
      1. The story of Zechariah, the father of John, should expose our unbelief. How many years ago had he and Elizabeth prayed, and how many years since they gave up on their prayers? 40? So long ago that Zechariah doesn’t even believe the words of the angel.
      2. Zechariah’s problem is our problem. If we do not see the prayer answered immediately, we think it has not been answered or heard. And even worse, when the answer isn’t immediate or if it comes in a form that is the way God’s desires to answer (not in our way), we forget we even prayed about it and therefore still do not recognize the answer.
      3. It is critical for us to understand: God heard and God will answer. Jesus said, if we ask for a fish, will he give us a serpent? The opposite is also true. If we ask for a serpent, which we sometimes do, will he not give us a fish! Indeed. 
      4. In verse 13, Jesus makes a bold assertion: “If you who are evil, know how to give good gifts…” I like how he smacks us right in the face – you who are evil. In other words, you people are about as spiritually lame as it gets, and you know how to give a good gift. Well, your Father is absolute perfection in every way, how much more will he give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him? (The Holy Spirit represents every beautiful GOOD that can be given.
    3. Now, what’s the question? Teach us how to pray. Well, if that doesn’t teach us how to continually lay ourselves before the throne of God, what could possibly help us?
  3. The Importance of Praying if We Expect the Father to Act
    1. In Mark 6:5, when Jesus came back to his hometown in Nazareth, Mark records, “And he could do no mighty work there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them. And he marveled because of  their unbelief.” 
    2. The unbelief of the people of Nazareth was the reason Jesus “could do no mighty work.” Obviously, that does not mean Jesus was unable to do a mighty work, but that there was an important reason why he could not. The problem was, they weren’t going to believe no matter what he did.
    3. There is a similarity here with prayer, and this is the part of prayer that has often troubled me. Is it true that the Father is not going to act if we do not pray? Certainly that cannot be said of all things. The books of Esther and Ezekiel teaches the primary message that even when there is little faith, God will act on his own behalf. 
    4. But on the other hand, it is clear that without prayer, there is much that God will not do:
      1. “Don’t ask, and it will not be given to you”
      2. “Don’t seek, and you will not find”
      3. “Don’t knock, and it will not be given to you”
    5. Therefore, there are three principles we must plant squarely in our minds:
      1. First, what happened when Israel did not consult the Lord? What happened when they thought their success was based on their own strength, wisdom, or wealth? It was always failure. When we are not constantly seeking the Lord, relying on the Lord, and make supplications to the Lord, it is the same as Israel boasting in themselves and their own abilities. When we succeed without turning to the Lord, it produces an idolatrous heart within us. Just like an atheist would say, “why do I need the Lord? I’ve done fine without him.” Indeed, we can become practical atheists.
      2. Second, the Lord cautions against this independent thought in Deuteronomy 8:11-18. Whatever we do, it is by the strength of the Lord. As Paul said to the Corinthians, “What do you have that you did not receive” (1 Cor. 4:7).
      3. Third, why would God send us opportunities with those who are lost if we do not ask? If we do not have a heart to love the people in the world that God loves and went to the cross to save, then giving us the opportunity would not only be useless, but very possibly dangerous. If we do not have the love of the Father as displayed in the parable of lost sons, why would God ever bring us people to teach? His heart is to be our heart.

Conclusion: Two questions: (1) are you devoted to prayer? (2) are we as a church devoted to prayer? It is important and necessary that we pray. If we do not, if we neglect it, if our desires are elsewhere, how do we expect to receive anything from the Lord? How much have we missed out on because we did not ask?

Berry Kercheville

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