“And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.”
—Acts 2:42
OUR TEXT TEACHES, that the early church was devoted to prayer. On the Lord’s Day, as believers came together for worship, they united in prayer to the Lord as members of one spiritual body. Scripture continually exhorts Christians to be a people devoted to prayer. Romans 12:12, “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.” Colossians 4:2, “Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.” And we are admonished in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 to “Pray without ceasing.” Clearly, the Scriptures teach that a church filled with the Spirit of Christ is a church that prays together on the Lord’s Day, and the members are also faithful in their daily private prayers. Are you devoted to prayer? We need to be mindful of our prayer life. We need to deliberately set aside a time of prayer. Try waking up 15 minutes earlier in the morning and devote that time specifically to prayer –get a new, God-glorifying routine going in your life. You may need to find another Christian to pray with so you can keep one another accountable.
PRAY THAT THE Holy Spirit will more and more equip every believer in general and every member particularly in your local congregation to be diligent in proclaiming the Apostles’ doctrine and promoting Christian fellowship so that the church will be a healthy, thriving, Christ proclaiming church. Make this a part of your daily prayers. This is the way the church lived after Pentecost, and this is the portrait that Jesus Christ sets before us as a church filled with the Holy Spirit. Oh, how we need the filling of the Holy Spirit today! How well do we reflect the church spoken of in our text? Do we show forth the same desire for the Apostles’ doctrine? Do we reflect the early church in our desire for the Word, worship, and fellowship with other believers?
IT’S IMPORTANT FOR us to examine ourselves in the congregation and determine where we need to change our lives and our attitudes. And if we are honest, when we compare the church today to that in our text, we can see we fall very short. The church is not always at the center of our lives. A lot of other things have filled the center and pushed the church off to the side. But the calling for the church remains the same in all ages because the Spirit was poured out into the hearts of all believers at Pentecost. But are we living in the reality of Pentecost? How do we compare in the use of our gifts and talents? Is our focus on the church of Jesus Christ and the cause of the Kingdom or are we pouring our time, talents, and treasures into other areas that are unimportant or less important?
JESUS CHRIST MUST be our first love lest we hear the awful words heard by the church at Ephesus in Revelation 2:4-5, “Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place; unless you repent.” When Christ is primary in our lives we will be focused upon the Apostles’ doctrine (Scripture), fellowship, the breaking of bread, and prayers, and then we will see growth as the Lord daily adds to the church as many as should be saved. This is the portrait of the Spirit-filled church described in our text.
Friday Devotional: May 30, 2025
In Christ,
Pastor S. Henry
