Prayer: Session 1

Luke 24:45-49
⁴⁵ Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures, ⁴⁶ And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: ⁴⁷ And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. ⁴⁸ And ye are witnesses of these things. ⁴⁹ And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.

The Early Church was founded on PRAYER

Prior to His ascension to heaven, Jesus told the disciples to stay in Jerusalem until they receive the "Promise of the Father". We know this to be a direct reference to the outpouring of the Holy Ghost on the Day of Pentecost. I believe it would be safe to say we all WANT our own “Day of Pentecost” experience. I would go further to say, you MUST have our own “Day of Pentecost” experience, if you want to make it to Heaven. But I hope that we are not satisfied with a one-time experience but would desire to have a recurrence over and over again. Not only individually, but corporately as a church body.

Acts 1:4
⁴ and, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me.

Acts 1:12-14
¹² Then returned they unto Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is from Jerusalem a sabbath day's journey. ¹³ And when they were come in, they went up into an upper room, where abode both Peter, and James, and John, and Andrew, Philip, and Thomas, Bartholomew, and Matthew, James the son of Alphæus, and Simon Zelotes, and Judas the brother of James. ¹⁴ These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren.

Jesus told them to “tarry”. Their obedience to this command led them to a 10-day long "prayer meeting."

The 10-days is understood based on the timing of the Jewish Feasts and Festivals that were taking place at the same time as Jesus’s Death, Burial, and Resurrection. Jesus was crucified at the time of the Jewish Passover [John 19:14]. We know that 3-days later Jesus resurrected from the grave. [1 Corinthians 15:4]. This then would correspond with the Jewish Feast of First Fruits which occurred 3-days after Passover. Then Acts 1:3 says Jesus showed Himself 40-days with infallible proofs prior to ascending to Heaven. The Feast of Pentecost occurs 50 days after the Feast of First Fruits. So, this is where we get the 10-days.)

And, if we want our own “Pentecost”, we need to understand “how” to receive it.

I believe the reason the Apostles and the other 108 souls received this experience was 1) it was a “promise”, and 2) they understood what Jesus meant when He said “tarry”.

[Textual note: the word “tarry” in the Greek is Καθίσατε (Ka-thi-sa-te). It is used three times in the New Testament. Here, and the other two times are found, once in Matthew, and once in Mark, when Jesus was in the garden of Gethsemane and told the disciples to “tarry” or sit here while I go pray.]

If we want to experience Pentecost, we must be willing to experience Gethsemane.

I guess what I am saying is:

• If we want to be a powerful church, we must first be a praying church.
• If we want to be an effective church, we must first be a praying church.
• If we want to be a growing church, we must first be a praying church.
• If we want to be a loving church, we must first be a praying church.

I could go on for a while with this, so let’s just cut to the chase. Let’s just say it the way Paul said it to the Church in Philippi.

Philippians 4:6
⁶ Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.

Are You Willing To Pray?

If Jesus spoke to you and said,

Matthew 26:38, 40
³⁸ Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me.

⁴⁰ And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour?

If He asked you to pray, just one hour, could you? I mean really pray, not repeating a phrase over and over again but really pray.

Again, if we want to be an effective church, we must be a praying church.

So, with that, let me challenge you with this.

"Bold prayers honor God, and God honors bold prayers. God isn't offended by your biggest dreams or boldest prayers. He is offended by anything less. If your prayers aren't impossible to you, they are insulting to God. Why? Because they don't require divine intervention. But ask God to part the Red Sea or make the sun stand still or float an iron axe head, and God is moved to omnipotent action."

The Circle Maker, page 15, Mark Batterson

Are you willing to pray like this?

Do You believe in a God who can do impossible?

Are you willing to simply ask?

Suggestions/Action Items

Get a prayer journal. It doesn’t have to be fancy (they do have some very nice ones), but really, a simple spiral notebook will work. Just get something that you can sit down and use to write on and in daily.

Set a time and commit yourself to a set time. Be realistic, if you can only do 5 or 10 minutes, that’s okay. If you are an early riser, do it in the AM. If you prefer the graveyard shift, then late at night works. Find what works for you, but I promise you, once you start, and you truly give yourself to prayer, you will find that you ’ll be looking for more time.

Simply begin with this: “What one thing is your Red Sea?” Write it down and pray about it.