Prayer and The Ministry of The Word
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We all know that there was a powerful move of God which happened in the Book of Acts. Most of us agree that we have not quite seen anything happen like that since... with all the powerful signs and wonders. I have often considered, "why not?"
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Acts 6:2-4 The disciples said to the multitude, "It is not desirable that we should leave the Word of God serve tables. Therefore, brethren, seek out among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business; But we will give ourselves continually to prayer and the the ministry of the Word."
There are two things that the bible points out were the primary focus points of the Apostles: 1) Prayer and 2) The Ministry of the Word. These two things were the top priority of the very first Apostles. From the very beginning of the church, the "top dogs," the great Apostles (Peter, James, John, and the others) recognized that they needed to give themselves continually to two things... prayer and the ministry of the Word. All the other things, even ministry things, even good ministry things, including certain tasks must not (or ought not) take away from these two things.*
But I, personally, don't find it strange that the Apostles would focus their attention on prayer and the ministry of the Word, but I guess I could say that this may have been nothing more than a Christian cliché to me…"yeah, yeah, I know, I know... prayer and the bible, prayer and the bible... we all know we need that, duh!!" But I don’t think I ever stopped to consider if this could be the very thing which invited God to move as powerfully as He did in the book of Acts.
Prayer and The Ministry of The Word!
It was very important to the Apostles to devote themselves to the Word of God. From the very beginning there was such an emphasis on The Word. The “ministry of the Word” is not a new ministry. This is not something that the “faith movement” came up with. This is not something that American bible scholars came up with. The Word of God has been a focal point in our faith since the very beginning. God said to Joshua immediately following the very first written Scriptures, “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous and then you will have good success.” God was telling Joshua to focus and meditate on the Word. In Acts, we see the Apostles doing exactly that. They gave themselves continually to the Word of God.
Consider this: The Holy Spirit was just poured out for the very first time. The church was experiencing and operating in the power of the Holy Spirit. But notice that the ministry of the Holy Spirit did not remove the importance of the ministry of the Word... to the studying, preaching, and teaching of the Word.
Acts 8:4 …those who were scattered (Christians) went everywhere preaching the Word.
Acts 8:5 Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them. And the multitudes heeded the things spoken by Philip, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did.
We can see in these two verses that the Word was being preached. But we also see something else happening! The multitudes saw miracles! But notice that miracles accompanied the Word of God being preached. This is exactly what Mark 16:20 says, “And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the Word through the accompanying signs.”
But it gets even better…
Acts 8:14-15, 17 Now when the Apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the Word of God, they sent Peter and John to them, who, when they had come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit…then they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.
We can see a powerful result happen out of this… the Holy Spirit was poured out on the Samaritans. I’m not sure you can get better results than that!!! The powerful Holy Spirit was being poured out on people and activated in their life. This is the promise of the Father! Yet notice what the two ingredients were which led up to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit: The ministry of the Word and prayer. And guess what the two priority focus points of the Apostles were? The ministry of the Word and prayer.
Here’s another example…
Acts 10:44 While Peter was still speaking these words (he was preaching), the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the Word.
What was preached? The Word was preached. And the result was that the Holy Spirit fell upon the Gentiles when the ministry of the Word went forth. Don’t underestimate the power of the Word. Don’t underestimate the power of God that comes out of the ministry of the Word! Even the Holy Spirit flows out of the ministry of the Word!
It seems to me that the Apostles knew what they needed to spend their time and focus on. And we obviously see that they were effective in the ministry and saw the power of God move. They obviously understood some things.
______________
God says the following about Himself in Malachi 3:6, “I Am the Lord, I do not change.”
James 1:17 confirms it, “The Father, with whom there is no variation not even a shadow of turning.”
Hebrews 13:8 says, “Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday, today, and forever.”
Since God truly does not change, and since we all know that people do change, I have a feeling that the buck stops with us.
We talk about wanting a powerful move of God like what happened in Acts, but are we sowing the same seeds that the Apostles sowed? The bible says in Hebrews 6:12, “Imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.” Well… we see that the Apostles inherited a mighty move of God. Let’s imitate them! What did they do? Well for starters, they devoted themselves to prayer and to the ministry of the Word.
And this is what we see, they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and devoted themselves CONTINUALLY (non-stop) to prayer and to the ministry of the Word. They put their effort in those things FIRST and then they were able to reap a harvest of a move of God.
Think of this: Even with all the signs and wonders that were constantly flowing out of their ministry, the apostles never lost sight on focusing on prayer and on the Word. The bible says that signs and wonders will accompany the Word of God being preached…and when the apostles began to see the signs and wonders happen in their ministry, they did not start viewing "the signs and wonders" as their ministry focus points. Rather, they kept their focus on prayer and the Word... and to the preaching and teaching of the Word. They did not lose focus, and we see throughout the book of Acts that they remained preaching and teaching the Word.** They did not change their approach and their focus to start focusing on the results of their ministry!
We all know that there was a powerful move of God which happened in the Book of Acts. Most of us agree that we have not quite seen anything happen like that since... with all the powerful signs and wonders. I have often considered, "why not?"
___________________
Acts 6:2-4 The disciples said to the multitude, "It is not desirable that we should leave the Word of God serve tables. Therefore, brethren, seek out among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business; But we will give ourselves continually to prayer and the the ministry of the Word."
There are two things that the bible points out were the primary focus points of the Apostles: 1) Prayer and 2) The Ministry of the Word. These two things were the top priority of the very first Apostles. From the very beginning of the church, the "top dogs," the great Apostles (Peter, James, John, and the others) recognized that they needed to give themselves continually to two things... prayer and the ministry of the Word. All the other things, even ministry things, even good ministry things, including certain tasks must not (or ought not) take away from these two things.*
But I, personally, don't find it strange that the Apostles would focus their attention on prayer and the ministry of the Word, but I guess I could say that this may have been nothing more than a Christian cliché to me…"yeah, yeah, I know, I know... prayer and the bible, prayer and the bible... we all know we need that, duh!!" But I don’t think I ever stopped to consider if this could be the very thing which invited God to move as powerfully as He did in the book of Acts.
Prayer and The Ministry of The Word!
It was very important to the Apostles to devote themselves to the Word of God. From the very beginning there was such an emphasis on The Word. The “ministry of the Word” is not a new ministry. This is not something that the “faith movement” came up with. This is not something that American bible scholars came up with. The Word of God has been a focal point in our faith since the very beginning. God said to Joshua immediately following the very first written Scriptures, “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous and then you will have good success.” God was telling Joshua to focus and meditate on the Word. In Acts, we see the Apostles doing exactly that. They gave themselves continually to the Word of God.
Consider this: The Holy Spirit was just poured out for the very first time. The church was experiencing and operating in the power of the Holy Spirit. But notice that the ministry of the Holy Spirit did not remove the importance of the ministry of the Word... to the studying, preaching, and teaching of the Word.
Acts 8:4 …those who were scattered (Christians) went everywhere preaching the Word.
Acts 8:5 Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them. And the multitudes heeded the things spoken by Philip, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did.
We can see in these two verses that the Word was being preached. But we also see something else happening! The multitudes saw miracles! But notice that miracles accompanied the Word of God being preached. This is exactly what Mark 16:20 says, “And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the Word through the accompanying signs.”
But it gets even better…
Acts 8:14-15, 17 Now when the Apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the Word of God, they sent Peter and John to them, who, when they had come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit…then they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.
We can see a powerful result happen out of this… the Holy Spirit was poured out on the Samaritans. I’m not sure you can get better results than that!!! The powerful Holy Spirit was being poured out on people and activated in their life. This is the promise of the Father! Yet notice what the two ingredients were which led up to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit: The ministry of the Word and prayer. And guess what the two priority focus points of the Apostles were? The ministry of the Word and prayer.
Here’s another example…
Acts 10:44 While Peter was still speaking these words (he was preaching), the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the Word.
What was preached? The Word was preached. And the result was that the Holy Spirit fell upon the Gentiles when the ministry of the Word went forth. Don’t underestimate the power of the Word. Don’t underestimate the power of God that comes out of the ministry of the Word! Even the Holy Spirit flows out of the ministry of the Word!
It seems to me that the Apostles knew what they needed to spend their time and focus on. And we obviously see that they were effective in the ministry and saw the power of God move. They obviously understood some things.
______________
God says the following about Himself in Malachi 3:6, “I Am the Lord, I do not change.”
James 1:17 confirms it, “The Father, with whom there is no variation not even a shadow of turning.”
Hebrews 13:8 says, “Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday, today, and forever.”
Since God truly does not change, and since we all know that people do change, I have a feeling that the buck stops with us.
We talk about wanting a powerful move of God like what happened in Acts, but are we sowing the same seeds that the Apostles sowed? The bible says in Hebrews 6:12, “Imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.” Well… we see that the Apostles inherited a mighty move of God. Let’s imitate them! What did they do? Well for starters, they devoted themselves to prayer and to the ministry of the Word.
And this is what we see, they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and devoted themselves CONTINUALLY (non-stop) to prayer and to the ministry of the Word. They put their effort in those things FIRST and then they were able to reap a harvest of a move of God.
Think of this: Even with all the signs and wonders that were constantly flowing out of their ministry, the apostles never lost sight on focusing on prayer and on the Word. The bible says that signs and wonders will accompany the Word of God being preached…and when the apostles began to see the signs and wonders happen in their ministry, they did not start viewing "the signs and wonders" as their ministry focus points. Rather, they kept their focus on prayer and the Word... and to the preaching and teaching of the Word. They did not lose focus, and we see throughout the book of Acts that they remained preaching and teaching the Word.** They did not change their approach and their focus to start focusing on the results of their ministry!
......
Prayer and The Ministry of the Word!
_______________________
Father, Your Word says to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises… and I see that the Apostles inherited the promise of the Spirit along with the accompanying signs and wonders. The bible points out what they did… they gave themselves continually to prayer and the ministry of the Word and they saw amazing results in the ministry. They did not lose sight on the preaching and teaching of the Word of God. I won’t either. Amen.
_______________________
Father, Your Word says to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises… and I see that the Apostles inherited the promise of the Spirit along with the accompanying signs and wonders. The bible points out what they did… they gave themselves continually to prayer and the ministry of the Word and they saw amazing results in the ministry. They did not lose sight on the preaching and teaching of the Word of God. I won’t either. Amen.
_______________________
Footnotes
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*(However, this does not at all negate the importance of ministry tasks. Notice that the Apostles did in fact recognize that the tasks needed to be done. But rather than having the "tasks" consume their focus and energy, they appointed "support staff" to take care of those things. But that is not the focus of this journal entry. We are focusing on what the early church leaders, the great Apostles, focused their energy and time toward).
....
**(2:14-39; 6:4; 7:1-50; 8:4, 5-6, 12, 14-15; 9:20; 10:44-48; 12:5; 13:5, 12, 44, 49; 15:35; 16:10; 17:1-2; 19:8; and I’m sure there are others)
**(2:14-39; 6:4; 7:1-50; 8:4, 5-6, 12, 14-15; 9:20; 10:44-48; 12:5; 13:5, 12, 44, 49; 15:35; 16:10; 17:1-2; 19:8; and I’m sure there are others)
posted by Tristan @ 8:32 PM
