Pray First
The book of Acts chronicles the history of the early church. It lives out Christ’s words to the apostles prior to his ascension into heaven when he says, “But you will receive power when the holy spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all of Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Now when they heard this did the apostles immediately begin witnessing to the masses? No, they went to a quiet room and, “…with one accord they devoted themselves to prayer…”
Often, prayer is the last thing we do. We try to “fix” anything that is broken by our own hands, we rejoice in good news with others, and we go about our business in our own way, yet we only come to prayer when all else has failed. The apostles and the early church did it the opposite way-they prayed first!
Recently a group of Junior-High and high school students from Birmingham came to spend a long weekend working in the village. As they broke into groups for various projects, they pulled two chairs together on the front porch of Thor’s house in the neighborhood. All day, while the kids and adults worked, people took turns filling those chairs to pray. They prayed first, together, with one accord. They bathed the work in prayer.
There are always chairs on Thor’s front porch and it is always available for someone to sit in and pray – pray for the ministry, for the staff, for the neighborhood, the school, the children, the church, for comfort, for peace, for joy. Take a friend, your discipleship group, your K-group, your family and sit on the front porch and “with one accord” lift your prayers to the Lord. Pray first!