05/04/2026
What did they Pray?
I have not written a newsletter article for some time but as I have been studying Acts in preparation for my teachings on Sunday morning a pondering wondered through my mind. We see in several instances in the early church that the disciples, leaders of the church, and pastors devoted themselves to scripture reading and to prayer. My curiosity gave way to pondering as to what did they pray about? Prayer is communicating with God and communication always must have subject matter. I did not think there would be much information on what they prayed about but as I dug in a little bit, I was surprised at what I found. We are not left guessing in the dark when you pull together the patterns from Acts, the Epistles, and the prayers that are recorded. A clear picture emerges.
The disciples were not mainly praying for comfort, success, or even clarity about their personal lives. Their prayers are strikingly mission-centered, God-centered, and eternity-aware. Let me share for a moment what rises to the surface:
1. Boldness to Proclaim Jesus
The clearest window is Acts 4:23–31. After being threatened, they do not pray for safety—they pray for boldness. “Enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness…” This reveals a lot to us. Their instinct was not preservation but rather proclamation. They expected opposition and asked God to make them fearless in it.
2. The Advancement of the Gospel
Throughout Acts, prayer is tied directly to mission: it took place before sending missionaries (Acts 13), it took place before major decisions (Acts 1, Acts 6), it took place before moments of breakthrough or imprisonment (Acts 12, Acts 16). They seemed to pray like the mission of Jesus was the central storyline of history that they were participants in, and their prayers could directly affect.
3. Guidance of the Holy Spirit
They did not just make plans and ask God to bless them - they sought direction first. How often do we go off and do our “thing” for God? We make our plans, we work our plans and of course all for the glory of God, but we leave God out of the planning. The disciples understood all plans are of little value if God did not give them and God does not work through them.
As a church, we have responsibilities and real-life things we must do, but they need done in the manner that God is the boss, and we are his employs. Take for instance how they choose Matthias in Acts 1 to replace Judas or when the church was to send out Paul and Barnabas in Acts 13, they dedicated themselves to prayer seeking God’s direction and will in all things.
This also aligns with Jesus’ teaching about the Holy Spirit guiding them into truth (John 16:13). Their prayers included a lot of listening, not just speaking.
4. Endurance in Suffering
Suffering was not an interruption to their faith but was expected. You see this especially in the prayers and attitudes of Paul the Apostle who prayed for perseverance in Philippians 1, who sought for strength in hardship Ephesians 3, and then Joy in the midst of trials in Colossians 1.
This is a powerful thought, have you ever prayed that God would just take you home to heaven or take you out of a difficulty or fix your problem be it a physical issue, relational issue, church issue, or…? They were not asking, “God, get us out,” as much as, “God, sustain us and use us through it.”
5. Spiritual Growth of Believers
When Paul prays for churches, it is fascinating what he emphasizes:
• Deeper knowledge of God
• Strength in the inner being
• Love increasing
• Holiness and fruitfulness
When looking at the prayers of Ephesians 1, Ephesians 3, Colossians 1; they seldom prayed that their circumstances would change but rather that they would be transformed in the midst of their circumstances.
6. The Return and Kingdom of Christ
The early church lived with a constant awareness that Jesus would return, they believed wholeheartedly it would happen very soon and their prayers reflected that. Prayers like “Maranatha” (“Come, Lord”) reflect this in I Corinthians 16:22. Their prayers were anchored in the coming Kingdom, not just present needs. They fully expected God to return very soon.
7. Unity and Faithfulness in the Church
Given how fragile these early communities were and surveying the depth of Paul’s love for these churches and his correction to protect them, it is almost certain they prayed constantly for: unity (echoing Jesus in John 17), protection from false teaching, faithfulness under pressure, and the bold ministry of the church in its community.
8. Deliverance—But with Surrender
To add an honest note: they did pray for deliverance in Acts 12 when Herod arrested Peter. It says: “So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him.” It does not state they were seeking his release directly but may have included that. So, while they prayed for him it was encapsulated in a bigger framework of trust in God’s purposes for Peter.
If you zoom out… their prayer life orbits around four big centers:
1. God’s glory
2. The spread of the gospel
3. The strengthening of believers
4. Faithfulness under pressure…
Which, honestly, can feel different from how modern prayer often sounds that is so heavily focused on our problems, our physical issues, our struggles, our comfort. If someone today prayed like the early church, it might sound… almost extreme. It would be a whole lot less about “make my life easier” and whole lot more about “make me useful, no matter the cost.” That is not because God does not care about personal needs—but because they were so captured by the Kingdom that everything else was secondary.
I have felt a compulsion to call our church to prayer. We are to be about the mission that Jesus has given the church, but that mission can not happen without being soaked in a lot of prayer… but the prayer needs to look a bit different, we need to allow the heart and passion that drove the disciples to prayer to wash over us as we pray. We need to step into some dangerous, bold prayers: God, do not make us comfortable but rather make us useful for your glory no matter the cost.
I hope you will make it a priority to join the entire church as we pray on May 14th in honor of Christ’s ascension and to celebrate the birthday of the church universal. Join us as we pray boldly for the mission of our church and how we will be about that mission in our day and in our community… no matter the cost.
From Pastor John desk at LifeSpring Church
