Book of Acts- Pt 2 Acts 1:12-26

Book of Acts pt 2: Acts 1:12-26

Recipe for Renewal 

There is a connection between Prayer and the Spirit

Spirit Descended on them while in prayer Luke 3:21-22 Acts 1:14, 2:4

There is an Observable Manifestation of the Holy Spirit Luke 3:22, Acts 2:2-4

The Ministry of Jesus and Disciples started after the Spirit come on them. 

1. Unity in Prayer- Homothumadon- meaning with one accord- Luke uses this work 10 times in the book of Acts to describe community. Acts 1:14

Pray Unifies us with God’s Will- 

Jesus in the Garden- 

Martin Luther letter, 

God’s Plan, 

Our responsibility is to pray and seek God’s will, then do it. When we come to God we shouldn't come to him with our own agenda, we need to come to him like Martin Luther came to God. Martin Luther was a man God used to shape the world. Martin Luther was a priest in Germany. He started to realizes the things that where going on in the Roman catholic church was contrary to what the Bible states. So he took a stand. Because of that stand, most of the non catholic church can trace their roots to him.

Prayer Unifies us with one another- 

Hard to Hate someone you pray for. 

When their are issues in church, praying for the other person can unify us. 

Pray is the glue that unifies us as a body of christ. 

Prayer Unifies our Mission

When we pray for God’s will, if we all listen and follow it, it will lead us all in the same direction. But if we all try to lead how we “think” verses what God tells us, then we are all over the place. 

The Disciples prayed and where united with the decision that Peter made. 

Philippians 4:6-7New Living Translation (NLT)

6 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. 

2. Persistent in Prayer 1:14- Constant Prayer I John 5:14-15

14 This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.

          To have an outpouring of the Spirit, Prayer is one of the most important things you can do. There is a human responsibility for the Spirit to be poured out. I think sometime God puts his church though hardships and persecutions to get us where we should have been. 

Hannah Prayer

Elijah Prayer

The Grandmother’s Prayer

3. Trust in Prayer- Draw Straws. Proverbs 16:3

Proverbs 16:3  Commit your actions to the Lord, and your plans will succeed.

Prayer brings trust. Do You trust God? Do you trust his judgment? Do you trust it plan? Do you? I hear people say I trust God’s plan for my life, but when things seem to not go the way we think it should go we call out and point to God for deliverance or even question God. 

BUT GOD, WHY DID YOU LEAD ME DOWN THIS ROAD, WHY DID YOU CAUSE US TO SUFFER, WHY DID YOU TAKE AWAY file in the blank. 

Picking of Mathias shows you, the trust they had. 

What do we know about Mathias before this?

According to Peter the criteria for being a Apostle was

They Prayed, and Cast lots’

So do you Want revival, renewal, and what are you willing to do for it? Thats a question we all need to ask. I as a pastor desire nothing more than for each of you to experience God in his fullest. Are you willing to put you own will aside for God's will? Are you willing to pray till it happens? Are you willing to Forgive and Move on? What are you willing to do for Revival/Renewal?