In this chapter we shall see something concerning the prayer life in the practice of the church life. Strictly speaking, there is no outward charter in the church. Rather, what the church should have is a prayer life. There is a great difference between the way people practice Christian churches today and the record of the churches in the book of Acts. Today people practice to have rules, regulations, creeds, and an outward charter, but in Acts we cannot find such things. The churches did not have outward regulations and rules. What they had was a church life in prayer.
Prayer was the initiation of the church’s existence. The first local church, the first expression of the church, came into being through the prayer of the one hundred twenty for ten days. They did not have written regulations or a charter for an organization. What they had was ten days of prayer. They prayed and prayed until one day something happened, not of themselves, but from God. That was the formation of the first local church. That was the way that the first expression of the Lord’s Body came into being.
After its formation, the early church continued in four things (Acts 2:42). The first is the teaching of the apostles. To keep the teaching of the apostles is to keep the teaching of the Lord, because the teaching of the apostles is the teaching of the Lord. The disciples had to be taught so that they could be transformed in many ways. If we read the first few chapters of Acts, we will see that in the early days, when the church was first formed, all the members of the first expression of the Lord’s Body were brought to the point that they gave up their concepts, their background, and their makeup from the past in order to receive something new. They did this by receiving and keeping the word of the Lord, which was passed on to them through the apostles. There is no hint or trace that they held on to anything from their past. In their living and even in their inner way of life, by the power of the Holy Spirit they gave up their way and everything of the past, and they came to the word of the Lord to receive something new. This is the correct meaning of continuing steadfastly in the teaching of the apostles.
In this way, the disciples were not only saved and forgiven by the Lord; they were truly regenerated, and their regeneration included a certain measure of transformation. They were at least transformed in their way of human life. In their way of conducting themselves, they forgot all that they had in the past and gave up their background. They came to the word, the Lord’s teachings, to take everything in a new way. At that time, they did not take the Lord’s word in the way of theory; rather, they learned the Lord’s word in a practical way. They did not study theology, but they learned how to follow the Lord, how to have a daily life in a new way, and how to have a church life. They were regenerated and transformed to the extent that they gave up everything in the past and took a new way to live, to work, to serve the Lord, and to have the church life.
The second matter in which the disciples continued is the fellowship of the apostles. Fellowship is a communion in the life of the Lord and in the Spirit of the Lord. By this fellowship they became practically one in the Spirit and in life. The word fellowship is a special word, which in Greek includes the meaning of bringing into oneness. Such a oneness can only be in the Spirit, by the Spirit, and in the divine life. The disciples all learned how to give up their old way of human living and even their own life to live by the divine life, the life of the Lord, and to walk in the Holy Spirit. They were taught how to live by the Lord as their life and how to walk in the Holy Spirit. In this Spirit they were brought into oneness practically; this is the real fellowship.
When we read the first four or five chapters of Acts, we can see that the disciples were truly one, not only in the inner life but also in their outward living. They had the fellowship in life practically. This is different from the practice of many of today’s Christians. When many Christians come together to have a meeting, they greet one another nicely and then say goodbye. They are nice to each other, but they do not know each other’s real situation and condition. This is not the real fellowship. The real fellowship is the oneness in the Spirit and in the divine life. The disciples even held their material possessions in common. They gave up their own way of life, and they gave up their own life itself. They took the Lord Jesus as their life, and they took the Holy Spirit for their living. In this way, they were brought to such a point that they could be one practically in their daily living. This is the true meaning of fellowship. Fellowship is not merely to shake hands and greet one another. It is to be brought into oneness in the Spirit, in the divine life, and in the spiritual living.
The third matter in which the disciples continued was the breaking of bread. This was not only to remember the Lord but to exhibit Him, testify of Him, and to testify of the life they had. The Lord’s table is not only a remembrance but also a testimony. We who have been saved and regenerated by the Lord and who are continually living by the Lord come together as an exhibition to show to the entire universe-especially to the principalities, powers, dominions, and authorities in the heavenlies-what kind of life we have and how we are living. We live by Jesus as our life, and the life we have is simply the Lord Christ Himself. He is our life. He is the living bread, and we enjoy Him day by day. Then we come together to remember Him and testify to the whole universe.
The fourth and last item of the early church life is the life of prayer. The disciples had no weapons, no charter, and no worldly wisdom or power. What they had was a living God, and they brought all things to this living God; they brought all their problems to this living Lord. This is the real meaning of their prayer. The church life in the early days was a life of prayer. If we compare this to today’s Christianity, we will see a difference. In today’s Christianity there are many teachings, human ways, organizations, charters, regulations, rules, material things, and other matters, but there is very little prayer. If we are going to practice the real church life, we must learn how to pray in a practical, prevailing, living, and fresh way. Moreover, we must learn how to help others to pray and make every member of the church a praying member.
Many times someone asks me how a member of the church can be a functioning member. If we expect a member of the church to be a functioning member, we must help him or her to learn how to pray. There is no other way. A praying member is a functioning member, but if a member does not have a prayer life, he can never be a functioning member. We must learn to pray, and we must learn how to help others to pray.
If we are going to have a real church life, we must learn how to have a prayer life and even pray with fasting. What I feel most deeply in these days is the lack of prayer in the church. I would almost rather give up the time for speaking these messages and use all our time for prayer. We must learn to pray, and we must learn how to pray in a corporate way, as the church coming together, as a part of the church life. This is a vital, much needed matter today.
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