Not only is the Lord’s way of prayer the way to carry out the matter of moving out to other cities for the spread of the Lord’s recovery, but it is also the way to take care of such matters as the cleaning of the meeting hall and arranging the chairs for the meeting. For these practical everyday matters, we need much prayer. How good it would be to see so many saints coming into the service in the church here without any arrangement and without any assignment, but coming to serve by praying. How wonderful it would be to have all the service carried out by means of prayer.
To serve by praying, it is necessary for us to serve in our human spirit. This is the number one item. To pray is altogether a matter in the human spirit. Just as seeing is a matter of the eyes, hearing, a matter of the ears, and walking, a matter of the feet, in the same way, praying is a matter of the spirit. To serve by praying means to serve by using our human spirit. The way to use our human spirit, to exercise our spirit, is to pray. To pray is the best way to exercise our spirit. Therefore, to say that we serve by praying is to say that we serve in the spirit.
We do expect that every member would be a functioning member, but we do not like to see the functioning under the assignment of the leading ones. The unique way for us to come together and serve together is the way of prayer. How much prayer we need in our serving together. When we come to arrange the chairs for the meeting, each one of us has to come with much prayer. Then before we begin to take care of the chairs, we need to pray together, to pray very much for the arranging, pray for the seating, pray for our service, pray for everything we are going to do in the church service. There is a great difference between the service that is full of prayer and the service that is done without prayer. These are two entirely different kinds of services; one is a service full of prayer, even with a lot of prayer poured out over the service, and the other, a service that is merely doing many things. There is a great difference between the two.
In the same way, there is a great difference between visiting the saints or visiting the unbelievers with the visitation that is full of prayer and the visitation that has very little prayer. Without prayer, there will be poverty in the service. The riches, even the enriching power in the service, come with much prayer. We need an appetite for prayer. Not only do we need to pray individually, but we need to come together to pray. We should not try to initiate anything, to start anything, or to do anything without adequate prayer. We need to learn to pray adequately.
If we read through the book of Acts, even if we read through this book again and again, we may be surprised that we cannot find one hint that in the early days the apostles and the disciples tried to use any means other than prayer to solve their problems and to carry on their work. The more we read through this book, the more we realize that prayer was the only way, the unique way, for them to meet every situation.
If we look into the verses in Acts related to prayer, we will find many crucial points concerning prayer. The beginning of the Christian service in the whole universe is recorded in the first chapter of Acts, and that beginning was entirely a matter of prayer. The early Christians started the service by praying. “These all were continuing steadfastly with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren” (Acts 1:14, lit.). All the words in the original text of this verse are very meaningful, especially in helping us understand by what way the early disciples prayed. This verse begins with the words “these all,” which indicates that the prayer here was the prayer of a corporate body, not the prayer of individuals. There were one hundred twenty people, including the twelve and the other disciples. It is significant that the sisters are mentioned here, even one of them by name. This prayer in the upper room is corporate prayer, the prayer of a corporate body, not the prayer of individuals.
Two points here are particularly striking. The first is that they were continuing steadfastly in prayer, and the second is that they prayed in one accord. The translation is not adequate to convey the full meaning of the Greek words in this verse. They gave themselves, they devoted themselves, to the matter of prayer with a persevering spirit. They persevered in the matter of prayer. They even gave themselves up to the matter of prayer. Of course, we could realize that what is indicated in this verse is not a matter of praying occasionally within those ten days. I do believe that within those ten days they did nothing but pray. They devoted themselves steadfastly, continually, and perseveringly to the matter of prayer.
I do hope that some of the brothers who are burdened to move out to other cities for the spread of the Lord’s recovery would come together to devote themselves to this kind of persevering prayer for the Lord’s move.
The second striking point is that the early disciples prayed in the way of being in one accord. The Greek word homothumadon here is quite meaningful. It indicates that they all had the same one mind, will, and purpose. They were all one, not only in one spirit to pray in the spirit, but they were in one mind, in one will, and in one purpose. When we come to pray in the church service, we need to come in the way of being in one accord. We may come together to serve, but each one of us may come in the way of having our own mind, our own will, and our own purpose. You have your mind, and I have mine. You have your will, and I have mine. You have your purpose, and I have mine. Then in the prayer we may even fight with one another. In the prayer you fight for your mind, will, and purpose, and I fight for mine. But how could this kind of prayer be prevailing? This kind of prayer could not touch the throne of authority. When we come together to pray, each one of us needs to forget our own mind, will, and purpose. We need to take the mind of Christ, take the will of the Lord, and be burdened for the purpose of God. Then we will be one. We will be one not only in the spirit, but also in the mind, the will, and the purpose.
We may not realize that the Holy Spirit was already with the disciples before the day of Pentecost. However, if the indwelling Spirit were not with the disciples, it would have been impossible for one hundred twenty people to be one in praying for ten days. It is true that they had not yet received the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the outward baptism of the Holy Spirit. But on the day of resurrection, when the Lord breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit,” they received the indwelling Spirit of life (John 20:22). Therefore, here in Acts chapter one, before the day of Pentecost, they were very spiritual. They may not have been powerful, but they were very spiritual. In no other way could one hundred twenty people have been one in their mind, will, and purpose for ten days.
How much we need this kind of prayer among us! The brothers and sisters need to follow the Lord’s leading to come together to pray and to devote themselves continually, perseveringly, to this kind of prayer with one mind, one will, and one purpose. There should not be the activity of a human hand to arrange the practical things for the service, to make assignments; rather, all of the service should come out of this kind of prayer.