Prayer and the Ministry of the Word

Reading in Acts 6.4 this morning where the twelve tell the new church that their priorities are prayer and the ministry of the word. Of course they are more emphatic than that; the word that they use which the KJV translates "give ourselves continually" to prayer is a very strong one. Louw-Nida says that it means: "To continue to do something with intense effort with a possible implication of despite difficulty."

The disciples were not giving lip service to prayer, they were devoting themselves to it with intense effort, implying that this sort of devotion was what was required to accomplish God's work.

This is a great lesson for us. If we are to do God's work, it ought to be accompanied by intense devotion to prayer for without prayer we will be working in vain. As Adam Clarke comments at this verse: "A minister who does not pray much studies in vain."

They Ceased not to Teach and Preach

The last verse of Acts 5 (Acts 5.42). The pattern of the apostles in the days and months after Christ's ascension was to teach and preach daily. Luke says that they taught in the temple as well as in every house, meaning I think that they were happy to preach and teach wherever there were people willing to listen to them.

It is a good standard and a good pattern for we believers who follow the apostles 2000 years later. The gospel is not meant to be confined to the limits of a church building; it is to be proclaimed wherever and whenever we can gather a crowd who will listen.