Not only did the apostles, the first group of serving ones, pray in this way, but the first group of new converts after the day of Pentecost continued to pray in the same manner. “They were continuing steadfastly in the teaching of the apostles and in the fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in the prayers” (Acts 2:42, lit.). They continued to pray in this way because they saw the example. They were brought to the Lord by a group of serving ones who prayed in this way. Therefore, after they received the Lord, they became the same as those leaders. Those serving ones prayed, and these who were converted through them prayed in the same way. In the first chapter of Acts there are the praying serving ones, and in the second chapter there are the praying converts.
If we are not persons who pray all the time, we could never cause one that we bring to the Lord to pray continually. What kind of person we are determines what kind of person we could beget. Those we bring to the Lord, the new converts, will be a reflection of what we are. Only one who prays all the time could bring others to the Lord and cause them to pray all the time. The point we need to see here is that if the leading brothers in the church are not praying ones, the others in the church will not be praying ones either. No matter how much the leading ones may exhort the saints to pray, their exhorting is in the realm of doctrine and teaching if they do not pray themselves. Their exhorting is not the leading of the flock. In a flock, the first few sheep go ahead in a certain way, and all the others follow in the same way.
In Acts 4:31 there is the demonstration of the power of corporate prayer. “And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spake the word of God with boldness.” By praying they shook the earth, and by praying they received the power. By praying they could speak the word of God with boldness. I am afraid that many times there is a shortage of boldness in the functioning of the dear ones in our meetings. The sisters may try to excuse themselves by saying that they are the weaker ones. But there should be no excuse. All of us need to have adequate prayer so that we will be equipped and enabled to speak forth in the meetings with boldness.
In Acts chapter six we are told that it is not right for the apostles to leave the word of God and prayer to take care of matters related to eating. The apostles told the people again that they would give themselves to prayer (proskarteresomen, the same word as in Acts 1:14). “But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word” (Acts 6:4). They devoted themselves perseveringly to prayer. Here prayer is mentioned before the ministry of the Word, which indicates that the prayer is more important than the ministry of the Word. The power, the life, and the impact of the Word come from the prayer. Therefore, we need to pray before we minister the Word, and we all need to pray before we come to the meeting to prophesy. Without a praying spirit, it is rather hard to have a prophesying spirit.
In Acts chapter ten we need to be impressed that both Peter and Cornelius had a specific hour set aside for prayer, the prayer hour. This matter was mentioned already in Acts 3:1, when Peter and John went to the temple at the hour of prayer. At that time they were not so clear. In the beginning, they did not realize that there was no need for them to go to the physical temple. But later on, in chapter ten Peter was on the housetop, and the housetop became his temple (Acts 10:9). Cornelius prayed within his house, and that house became a temple to him (Acts 10:2-4). Both Peter and Cornelius had specific times, certain hours, for prayer, and they kept the hours of prayer. The vision concerning the Gentiles being brought into the Body was revealed to both sides through prayer. At one end, Cornelius received the vision by prayer, and at the other end, Peter likewise received the vision by prayer. We need to take note that the whole matter was carried out by means of prayer.
There should be many testimonies among us concerning how the Lord has spoken to us through our prayer and how He has joined us together for the service through our prayer. I long to hear such testimonies before the time comes for the moving out to other cities, for the migration. We may hear that the Lord has put together a certain number of families for His move not by their discussion, but by their prayer. Such things have happened among us in the past. Once when I was praying, the Lord spoke something to me concerning a particular brother. At the same time, while that brother was praying, the Lord spoke something to him about me and about both of us. Then, when we came together, we found that the Lord had spoken to each of us in our prayer in the same way. According to this principle, many times the Lord confirms His speaking by speaking the same thing to two persons separately in their prayer.