Exploring the Book of Acts: Leadership as ServanthoodPrøve

Prioritising Prayer

The book of Acts repeatedly shows the apostles in prayer meetings with other believers. After receiving Jesus’ promise of the Holy Spirit, the apostles united with the other believers in persistent and unified prayer (Acts 1:14). When the growing church in Jerusalem needed administrative leadership, the apostles appointed others so that they could continue to devote themselves to prayer and the ministry of the word (Acts 6:4). After his miraculous escape from prison, Peter went straight to a prayer meeting in the home of John Mark’s mother (Acts 12:12). It was in the context of a prayer meeting with the leaders of the church in Antioch that Barnabas and Saul were called as missionaries (Acts 13:1-3). The most detailed account of one of these prayer meetings is found in Acts 4:23-31.

Read Acts 4:23-31 and then consider:

1. After Peter and John were interrogated and threatened by the temple leaders, they immediately reported to their friends the warning they had received to stop speaking in the name of Jesus. Imagine yourself in the prayer meeting that followed their report. What might you have felt and thought as you united with other believers in prayer?
2. What were the various elements of their prayer? What does it reveal about how they viewed the conflict with temple leadership?
3. How did praying together during a crisis help the believers? How might it have helped Peter and John?
4. Praying with others was central to the ministry of apostles. Yet in many modern-day churches, the ministry of prayer is left to an intercessors team. How does the model of the apostles challenge your priorities?