GENERAL SUBJECT:
CRUCIAL PRINCIPLES FOR THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE CHURCH
Message Eleven
Persevering in Prayer and Watching in It
Scriptures Reading: Col. 4:2; Acts 2:42; 1 Thes. 5:17; Dan. 6:10; Acts 12:5, 12; Neh. 1:4; Acts 13:3; 1 Sam.12:23
I. The ministry of the church is to bring the will in heaven to earth—Matt. 6:9-10:
A. The highest and greatest work of the church is to be the outlet of God’s will; the church is the outlet of God’s will through prayer—vv. 9-10.
B. The church must have big prayers, serious prayers, and strong prayers, prayers that manifest our God and open the way for Him to move—John 15:16; 16:23-24; Acts 4:24-31.
II. “Persevere in prayer and watching in it with thanksgiving”—Col. 4:2:
A. To persevere is to continue persistently, steadfastly and earnestly.
B. We need to persevere in prayer for the one New Man—Eph. 2:15; Col. 3:10.
C. A prerequisite for having a proper church life in the Lord’s recovery today is to have a prayer life—1 Tim. 2:1-7.
D. A prayer ministry is the prerequisite for the administrating and shepherding of a local church—vv. 1, 8.
E. The organic practice of the God-ordained way in the vital groups to build up the church can be carried out only by much and thorough prayer.
F. If we take the burden and daily spend at least ten to fifteen minutes praying for specific work of the church, the church will change in half a year—cf. Acts 12:12; Matt. 6:33.
III. “By means of all prayer and petition…”—Eph. 6:17a:
A. First Thessalonians 5:17 says, “Unceasingly pray”:
1. To be watchful, that is how to pray unceasingly; to be watchful will help you to raise up a habit of prayer—Eph. 6:18.
2. To pray unceasingly is continually to say, “Oh, Lord, Amen, Hallelujah;” through this way you breathe the Lord.
3. When we live and walk in our activated spirit, we pray unceasingly—Gal. 5:25.
B. We should set aside certain times each day for prayer; our attitude should be that prayer is our most important business and that nothing should be allowed to interfere with it—Dan. 6:10; Acts 12:5, 12:
1. Both the Old Testament and the New Testament show that those who truly receive God and enjoy Him have set times for prayer—Psa. 55:17; Dan. 6:10; Acts 10:2-3, 9-11, 30.
2. The importance of prayer is not in praying for things; the importance of prayer is in touching and absorbing God—cf. Gen. 18:16-17, 22-23, 33.
3. To pray is to present our bodies; this is a battle—Rom. 12:1-2; Col. 4:2.
C. I hope that among us, at every place and every moment, there are some who are praying with fasting—cf. Neh. 1:4; Acts 13:3:
1. Fasting means that you care very much for God’s purpose, and you deeply sense the fierceness of God’s enemy; such sensation presses and compels you to such an extent that you simply cannot eat, drink, and be merry like other men—Matt. 6:16, footnote1; Esth. 4:16; Neh. 1:4.
2. You must fast and pray; try your best to turn your fasting time, your fasting attitude, and your burden in fasting into prayer—Acts 13:3.
3. If possible, all the churches should have one day a week to fast and pray; if the brothers and sisters are strong enough physically, they can fast.
D. We should have thorough prayer, the prayer that lasts a long time—cf. Luke 6:12:
1. “I hope that all of you, including the newly saved ones, would at least once a week put everything down, leave all your busy environment behind, and calmly quiet yourself before the Lord to have a thorough time of prayer. This is very precious” —cf. 2 Cor. 3:16-18.
2. All in the Lord’s recovery must be prayerful and stand against the sin of prayerlessness—1 Sam. 12:23.
IV. We must realize that it is a spiritual warfare when our work together with God to practice the God-ordained way for the building up of the church, and prayer is the secret to accomplish God’s work; we need have adequate and thorough prayer to withstand the stratagems of the enemy; if a spirit of prayer is lacking, the Holy Spirit will remain still; for this reason, we must all be watchful in our prayer—Eph. 6:10-20; Matt. 16:18- 19; 2 Cor. 10:3-5; Neh. 4:17; Dan. 10:10-21; Rev. 12:11.
