Acts 12:12- Still shaking his head, amazed, he went to Mary’s house, the Mary who was John Mark’s mother. The house was packed with praying friends. (The Message Bible)
Alaina preached from Acts 12 yesterday and proposed that the book of Acts was really one big prayer meeting. Here Peter is miraculously rescued from jail and returned to his friends, his praying friends, who had been (wait for it) praying for him. The book of Acts tells of the growth and expansion of the early church. It also tells of the loses and heartaches and persecutions and interpersonal conflicts they experienced. But through all the ups and downs they were praying friends, as Peterson puts it. With whom do you pray? I believe that one of the things God is trying to do in the church in this day and age is to deepen and widen our experience of God through prayer. We live in an age of individuality. A recent USA Today article reflected on new polling data and concluded that there are 300 million different religions in America because each individual basically creates their own. But this leaves many of us isolated, lonely in a crowd. Wouldn’t it be good to be part of a house packed with praying friends? Wouldn’t it be wonderful to make our church or your church more like that? Who will you pray with this week?
Don
Logan Memorial Presbyterian Church 