From the Introduction: When I read the Book of Acts, I am
embarrassed. Why does our brand of Christianity look so insipid
compared to the be-lievers of the First Century? Where has the
power gone? Has God changed, or have we? We've all heard the cop
out that says, "The Book of Acts represents a different
dispensation." What a sad, self-serving attempt to excuse our
current state of spiritual impotence When we read Acts, we should
yearn to experience a return to their brand of Christianity. Yet,
instead of copying them, we seem content with copying other modern
churches that are "growing." But why copy a copy, when you can copy
the original (the Book of Acts)? In Acts, God was saving people
every day. Communities were transformed. People were healed. Demons
were cast out. Miracles were commonplace. Churches sprouted up
across the Roman Empire. Persecution was faced and overcome. What
made them so different? Some say they preached a purer Gospel. I
disagree. Modern Evangelicals preach the same Gospel that was
proclaimed in the First Century. We preach that Jesus was born of a
virgin, lived a sinless life, died an atoning death, and rose
bodily from the grave. We preach that man is a sinner and stands
guilty before God in need of salvation. We preach that God offers
salvation by grace, through faith, in Jesus Christ alone, and the
moment anyone repents of his sin, puts his faith in Jesus, and
calls upon His name, that person is born again. That's the Gospel
they preached, and the Gospel we preach. Our lack of spiritual
power in Christianity today is not due to the sermons we preach or
the songs we sing. Rather, it is due to our lack of prayer. We do
not pray like it matters. Jesus and His earliest followers prayed
like it was important. We pray like it is inconvenient or
inconsequential. Prayer was their priority. It is our postscript.
We plan more than we pray. They prayed more than they planned. We
gather to minister to one another. They gathered to minister to the
Lord in prayer and fasting. Our focus is earthly, horizontal.
Theirs was heavenly, vertical. They were wise enough to "pray the
price." All of this is why I have written this 12-week Bible Study
en-titled, "Pray Like It Matters." I want to demonstrate from
Scripture that every prayer we pray is significant. Through our
prayers, God changes things. One life dedicated to prayer can do
more good than any life dedicated to other so-called "noble,"
worldly causes. An individual follower of Jesus who is committed to
prayer is a fountain of life in a world of death. Likewise, the
local church that becomes a house of prayer will be a spiritual
powerhouse from which God's mighty miracles will flow
exponentially. PRAYER is what modern Christians and churches are
missing - frequent, fervent, faithful prayer Most Christians want
to pray but don't know how. They are unable to carry on a simple,
sustained, satisfying conversation with God. Thus, after a few
minutes in prayer, they run out of things to say, get frustrated,
and give up. Sound familiar? Just as infants must be taught to
talk, Christians must be taught to pray. Once you know how, prayer
will be fulfilling, refreshing, and even fun. A growing number of
Christians today are aware that some-thing must be wrong. They know
there has to be "more" to the Christian life than what they have
experienced. That "more" is found through the discipline of prayer.
These les-sons are a wakeup call for each individual, family, and
church to become a "house of prayer." When we begin to pray like
Jesus and His early followers, then we will witness the power they
experienced. Today, we embark on what could be the greatest
adventure of your life. Before we start, let's pray the prayer of
the early disciples: "Lord, teach us to pray" (Luke 11:1).
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