“Boiler Room” Praying (Read Acts 12: 1-9)
"So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him." (Acts 12:5)
One of Jesus’ closest disciples, a key leader this growing movement of Christ-followers, was in prison. Luke would have us imagine that in this battle the forces of darkness had seemingly secured a great victory over Peter—the Rock—now in prison, helplessly chained and surrounded with guards and sentries. James had just been put to death with the sword, and it seemed Peter was next. With the ring-leader snuffed out, the movement would surely die.
Except for one thing. One weapon that no earthly power can extinguish. The boiler-room was in full flame; Luke’s words, “the church was earnestly praying to God.” Chains were broken, guards deluded, prison doors flung open, and the Spirit was on the move. Dumbfounded, Rhoda thought she was seeing ghosts! No, she was seeing the Holy Ghost moving in response to the prayers of a church on fire!
In his excellent book, Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire, Jim Cymbala tells about the beginnings of his congregation. Humanly speaking the light in that small gathering of believers had almost gone out. But the Lord ignited the heart of their new pastor, Jim Cymbala, with a word of the Lord he received during a season of ministry despair. This is the announcement that he shared with the small group of believers one day in the heart of Brooklyn, NY. “It’s not fancy or profound or spectacular. But I want to say to you today with all the seriousness I can muster: From this day on, the prayer meeting will be the barometer of our church. What happens on Tuesday night will be the gauge by which we will judge success or failure because that will be the measure by which God blesses us.”
Later in the same book he puts it this way, “no matter what I preach or what we claim to believe in our heads, the future will depend upon our times of prayer. This is the engine that will drive the church.”
PRAYER
"So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him." (Acts 12:5)
One of Jesus’ closest disciples, a key leader this growing movement of Christ-followers, was in prison. Luke would have us imagine that in this battle the forces of darkness had seemingly secured a great victory over Peter—the Rock—now in prison, helplessly chained and surrounded with guards and sentries. James had just been put to death with the sword, and it seemed Peter was next. With the ring-leader snuffed out, the movement would surely die.
Except for one thing. One weapon that no earthly power can extinguish. The boiler-room was in full flame; Luke’s words, “the church was earnestly praying to God.” Chains were broken, guards deluded, prison doors flung open, and the Spirit was on the move. Dumbfounded, Rhoda thought she was seeing ghosts! No, she was seeing the Holy Ghost moving in response to the prayers of a church on fire!
In his excellent book, Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire, Jim Cymbala tells about the beginnings of his congregation. Humanly speaking the light in that small gathering of believers had almost gone out. But the Lord ignited the heart of their new pastor, Jim Cymbala, with a word of the Lord he received during a season of ministry despair. This is the announcement that he shared with the small group of believers one day in the heart of Brooklyn, NY. “It’s not fancy or profound or spectacular. But I want to say to you today with all the seriousness I can muster: From this day on, the prayer meeting will be the barometer of our church. What happens on Tuesday night will be the gauge by which we will judge success or failure because that will be the measure by which God blesses us.”
Later in the same book he puts it this way, “no matter what I preach or what we claim to believe in our heads, the future will depend upon our times of prayer. This is the engine that will drive the church.”
PRAYER
- Pray God will fire up all the burners of His people.