Heavenly Father I praise You for Your Word which gives a clear roadmap on how to follow You. I praise You for the disciples and the first churches in Israel and beyond which demonstrates how a church should look. I praise You for the gift of salvation from Your mercy and grace. I praise You for sanctification and the power of the Holy Spirit working in my life. I praise You for using me, a broken man who is old and does not think well anymore, yet You lead me each day to pray with conviction and faith.
Holy Spirit, God’s word says, because of the faithfulness of Luke to write, “They continued steadfastly in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in breaking of bread and in the prayers. Fear came to every soul. And many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. All who believed were together and had all things in common….And continuing daily with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.” [Acts 2:42-44 &46-47] Holy Spirit I see that these people were nothing special yet You began Your church on the foundation of their faith and prayers. These people fully committed to You. I also noticed that the Lord brought into the churches people who had just became saved, not into the church to be saved.
Holy Spirit I know pray the second part of wisdom in understanding how a church should be built and grow, “So the twelve called the multitude of disciples together and said, ‘It is not reasonable for us to leave the word of God and serve tables. Brothers, look among yourselves for seven men who are known to be full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we will appoint over this duty. But we will give ourselves continually to prayer and the ministry of the word. And what was said pleased the whole multitude and they chose Stephen, who was a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Procorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolas, a proselyte from Antioch, whom they presented before the apostles. And when they had prayed, they placed their hands on them. So the word of God spread, and the number of disciples grew rapidly in Jerusalem, and a great number of the priests were obedient to the faith.” [Acts 6:2-7]
Holy Spirit help churches to understand this lesson, the apostles and the people picked seven people who were known for being filled with the Holy Spirit and wisdom to take care of the serving and hospitality of the church. Help us to be this discerning, and like the first church help us to seek first by praying and allowing You to lead and direct us to the correct people. Many have forgotten how important that this is and just fill positions with new believers which is not how it is supposed to be done. If the apostles and the rest of the people would not have taken the time to pray for, pray over and lay hands on these first seven we would never have learned about Stephen who would be the first martyr to create a spark of light in a man called Saul who would become Paul and would be the apostle to the gentiles and his letters make up a good portion of the New Testament that we learn from today. Am I praying over people to find the correct people to serve in my church? Am I praying in unity with others and then praying with laying hands on them to support them in prayer so that I may just help another Stephen rise up and bless the church? Am I willing to follow God’s plan instead of man’s wisdom or just filling a need with the first to come along? Do we pray and stand in agreement over those we let serve and give them support with our prayers and with our hands? Do we humble ourselves to work under these individuals and trust the Holy Spirit to lead them in how to serve, how to make our church run smoother?
Finally, Holy Spirit help me and my spiritual brothers and sisters join with unity in prayer so that we can see wonders and signs done in our churches and communities once again. Help us to step out of our comfort zone and pray with fervor, humility, wisdom and faith so that we pray with in the will of God and bring change that has not been seen before. Help us to pray and fast in unity so that we pray in the right pastors, bishops, servers and worship leaders for our churches. Help us to change our world by bowing down on our knees in full submission to an Omnipotent God who has plans for our places of worship and our church body to do much more than we could ever conceive. Come now Lord Jesus and be with us when we pray. Amen. 7 people