Rev. E. Anderson
Prayer – a lifestyle
Here is a choice comment made with regard to Paul just after his conversion and as he was waiting for the cure to the blindness that was a consequence of his encounter with the Lord. Ananias is told by the divine messenger of him – Behold he prayeth’ – Acts 9: This was to be more or less the subsequent life style of this great apostle. He saw it as a powerful means of a relationship with God and a means by which the extraordinary was wrought through his life and ministry.
From the onset of his Christian life and experience he was to discover that was a spiritual dynamic that was to effectually impact him, his relationship with Christ and what he was to accomplish.
- AT CONVERSION THROUGH PRAYER HE WAS SEEKING TO DISCOVER WHAT CHRIST’S PURPOSE WAS FOR HIS LIFE – Acts 9: 6
What a way to commence one’s Christian life, asking the Lord as to what His desire and design is for it! Commencing in prayer like this reveals a perfect surrender of the will and the readiness to be submissive to the Lord as to what He requires. The question indicates the fact that it was a genuine request coming from his heart and this was to be the bent of his being throughout his Christian career. Birthed in him was this great longing to fit in with whatever was planned. This should be characteristic of every believer and leader within Christendom on a regular basis. Daily and in all situations this prayer should regulate life and service.
2. IN THE LOCAL CHURCH PROGRAMME THERE WAS A COMMITMENT TO PRAYER ALONG WITH OTHER SPIRITUAL LEADERS – Acts 13:1
On this occasion there is a meeting with the spiritual leadership of the local church at Antioch to discover the mind of the Lord regarding the next step. This would not be a one off thing but a regular exercise introduced into the spiritual working of the assembly on the part of those who had major responsibility of it. It was the lifestyle of the church initiated by godly leaders. They knew that if things were to move progressively forward then it necessitated the response to seeking the Lord in a definite way. Every body of leaders in charge of an assembly should find time to adopt this kind of procedure for its health and development.
3. IN MINISTRY HE SENSED THE NEED TO BE DIRECTED ARIGHT FOR THE ACCOMPLISHMENT OF DIVINE REVELATION GIVEN – Acts 16: 13
Although he arrived in Macedonia following the giving of the divine vision he did not engage in any enterprise until prayer was introduce. On arrival he discovers the the place where ‘prayer was want to be made’ and immediately was attracted to it because it synchronised with his lifestyle. Maybe it was that he sensed that it was in this atmosphere he would find the next step to the fulfilment of the revelation he had been given. He found others there with a similar spirit and lifestyle and was blessed with meeting of Lydia whose heart and home was opened by the Lord. It is when this mind and mood governs and there is a resorting to such gatherings that further significant developments occur.
4. AT A TIME OF INTENSE TRIAL AND PAIN THERE WASA RESORTING TO PRAYER – Acts 16:25
When everything had seemingly gone wrong and finds himself locked away in prison after a beating that this lifestyle finds ascendance and operation. Instead of bowing and bending under the ordeal, he rises with Silas both to pray and praise. There was no succumbing to the extreme and sudden experience of suffering, rather there was the exploiting of prayer, the committing of it into the Lord’s hands. How well the Lord responded to the prayer and lifestyle.
5. AS HE FACES THE PROPSECT OF A TREMENDOUS CHANGE CONCERNING THE FUTURE HE IS PREPARED TO HAND OVER TO THE LORD – Acts 20: 36
He does not leave the leaders and believers at Ephesus under illusion as he prays for them knowing that there is going to be a dramatic change as to his life and work ahead. He is not depressed but shows to these folks that he can safely place them and himself into the good hands of providence knowing that all will work out as He has purposed. It was both the spiritual and natural thing to do in the circumstances because by the act of prayer all was committed to the Lord.
6. IN HIS DAILY LIFE HE EXERCISED A DILIGENT MINISTRY IN PRAYER FOR THE CHURCHES AND COLLEAGUES – Philippians 1: 3
Reading the letters he wrote to churches and individuals it is most apparent that on a constant basis he was always thinking and praying for all concerned. Although they were out of sight they were not out of mind. He felt it his delightful duty to make them a subject of his intercessions and how they must have profited from his incessant prayers on their behalf. Inwrought into his being was this commitment and so became his lifestyle. All these assemblies and people could rely on the fact that there was at least one dynamic person praying for them.
7. IN HIS EXHORTATIONS TO CHRISTIAN BELIEVERS HE ENCOURAGED A LIFESTYLE OF PRAYER – Ephesians 6: 18
Because of what had been created and cultivated in him he wanted to see manifest in the Christian church as a whole. He told and taught the Ephesian church that it needed to constantly be at prayer because of its effectualness – ‘and pray in the Spirit on all occasions.’ He later said to the Thessalonian assembly – ‘pray without ceasing’ thus underlining the fact that prayer should become the lifestyle – 1 Thessalonians 5: 17.
