All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.

 Acts 1:14

Though we tend to view prayer as an individual activity, this isn’t exactly God’s design. Yes, we can and should pray on our own. But as we will see in today’s devotional, there is power in praying with other people. After Jesus died and then rose from the grave, he left his people—the Church—on earth to continue his mission of reuniting the lost to God. There must have been a steep learning curve as they went from following Jesus around everywhere to now carrying on his mission without him physically present. 

How were they able to do this? Luke tells us that one of the distinguishing characteristics of the earliest church was that they “devoted themselves to prayer” (Acts 1:14, 2:42). The references are plural. Certainly they each had their own individual prayer lives, but as they gathered together to figure out what God wanted them to do, they prayed with each other. Actually, they devoted themselves to this type of prayer. This is not an insignificant detail. When the first Christians set out to carry on the mission, they were known for their devotion to praying together. 

With one accord – Greek: ὁμοθυμαδόν homothumadon – “with one mind.” The word denotes the entire harmony of their views and feelings. There were no schisms, no divided interests, no discordant purposes. This is a beautiful picture of devotion, and a specimen of what social worship ought now to be, and a beautiful illustration of Psalm 133:1-3. The apostles felt that they had one great object; and their deep grief at the loss of their master, and their doubts and perplexities, led them, as all afflictions ought to lead us, to the throne of grace. In prayer and supplication – These words are nearly synonymous, and are often interchanged. They express here petitions to God for blessings, and prayer to avert impending evils. Bible Hib

At every critical juncture, all through the remarkable record of the early church, there is the power of prayer. United, passionate, believing prayer.

The Early Church

The early church in Jerusalem was devoted to prayer right from the very start. After the ascension of Jesus, the first 120 believers gathered together in an upper room and poured out their hearts to God. They were devoted to prayer because they were dedicated to and desperate for God. What does God do? He pours out his Holy Spirit upon them and births the church. He gathers a large crowd, anoints a now transformed Peter to preach, and saves 3,000 people. And the church was off and running, transforming the Roman Empire.

This continues throughout the book of Acts. The church moves from a small group of Jewish believers to sweep through the Roman Empire and become a large, international, multilingual, and multiethnic body of believers empowered by the Holy Spirit. And behind it all was one fact: the church was devoted to prayer. At every critical juncture, all through the remarkable record of the early church, there is the power of prayer. United, passionate, believing prayer.

When God’s people band together and devote themselves to prayer, things happen. God shows up. The Spirit comes in power. Christ is exalted. The lost get saved. The sick get healed. Lives become transformed. Breakthroughs happen. All because of prayer. When we are devoted to God and desperate for God, we will become committed to prayer. God uses people who pray. God uses churches that pray. Prayer is the real work of ministry.

Who do you pray with? We should never underestimate the power of prayer. In the same way, we should never underestimate the power of many people praying together with a common purpose. 

The good news is God cares about you He always has, and He always will.

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