Pray the Sermon

A great way to meditate and let the ministry of the Word continue its work on you during the week is to pray through the sermon from Sunday.  But how do you do that?  What does that look like?  Take the 3 points from yesterday’s sermon on Acts 1:1-14 and pray them this way:

1) The Christian life is all about Jesus from beginning to end – “In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach…To them he presented himself alive after his suffering by many proofs…”

• Meditate in your prayer on how your life should be based on all that Jesus “began to do and teach“, is based on his Cross and Resurrection – how the Cross should be the most important thing in your life, should be your hope, should be the event that most shapes your every day.  Pray for how it should shape you today.
• Meditate in your prayer on how your life now should be about all that Jesus “continues to do” through you – read Philippians 2:12-13, Rom.15:18, Col.1:29.  Pray that Jesus would manifest himself through you, would fill your life.

2) The Christian life is about Truth on Fire – “after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit…appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God”; read also Luke 24:44-49.

• Jesus delays sending the Spirit, instead giving the disciples an extended time of Bible training.  Then he sends the Spirit to ignite the fuel of Truth they got from the Bible.
• Pray that God would open your mind “to understand the Scriptures” (Luke 24:45).  The Spirit will be able to light a fire in your life in proportion to your knowledge of the Bible – it is the Truth of the Bible he uses to inspire, guide and direct your life.  So meditate on the Bible in your prayer (as we are doing right now).
• Then pray for the Spirit to fill your life and make the Truth come alive.

3) The Christian life is about truth becoming personal and real – “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven?  This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven”.

• Pray for grace to see that Jesus has not been “taken from” us, but has been given to us – he has not “gone”; he has “gone to work” and is “with us” as never before.
• Pray for grace to see and believe that Christ has ascended, is on his throne; all his enemies are being placed under his feet.
• Pray that the reigning King of the Universe would be personal to you – the fact that you know the reigning King of the Universe personally would be personal and powerful to you.

In prayer with you,

Matt