TOPIC:“There's a Christian Way for the Church to Pray”
by Rev. Dr. Reg Dunlap
TEXT:Acts 12:1-17
“Peter, therefore, was kept in prison; but prayer was made without
ceasing by the church unto God for him” (12:5)
Alan Redpath, former pastor of Moody Church, in his book, Victorious Praying, wrote the following in the preface: “There seems to be a tendency for many Christians to imagine that a Church can be conducted and led in the same way of a business concern. Publicity, sales talk, propaganda, and a big front are all essentials in business; but the Church of Jesus Christ can only be led in blessing and power by men,” and I might inject, by women too, “who have been humbled and broken at the cross.” And then he goes on the write these important words: “and who, through many experiences of their own failure and nothingness, have learned an utter dependence upon God, and have been taught by the Holy Spirit to lay hold of Him at the Throne of Grace.”
Now right here lies the basic problem of many churches. People who believe that the Church is nothing more than an organization which is run like a business. The more the people, the higher the profit. The ministry is only a trade by which a man makes a living. What a warped view of the Church.
Get this down and don't ever forget it. You can't carry on the work of the Church after the fashion of the American businessman. It won't work. The Church of Jesus Christ is not an organization, but an organism with life within itself. And such a Church must be governed and guided by people who have been taught by the Holy Spirit to lay hold of God at the throne of grace. They must know how to pray, when to pray and what to pray for.
Sure there are those in the Church who take a fancy of praying in public, desiring to impress people with their lofty words and pious talk, but to completely counterbalance this situation, there are always others who go beyond the mere formality of prayer right into the living reality of it. Such was true of the early Church in Jerusalem. They used prayer as a powerful exercise and as a great force for God. Think again of the words of the text as rendered by the New English Bible: “So Peter was kept in prison under constant watch, while the church kept praying fervently for him to God.” I say to you, it's time for the church of Jesus Christ to begin to pray the Christian way.
I.
Consider, to begin with, the OCCASION as to why we find the Church praying. The early Church at Jerusalem was now facing a grave crisis. It seems that Herod Agrippa, grandson of Herod the Great, with . . .