Sharing Christ & Intercessory Prayer

Posted on September 10, 2006

 

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Acts 2:42-47

A little boy asked what the American flags in the lobby of a church represented. The mother responded that they were symbolic of all the people who had died in the service. The little boy’s response was “The morning service or the evening service?” Thousands of churches across the land today are dying or already dead, but the church in Acts 2 was fully alive and growing dynamically. Do you know the difference between a church that is alive and a church that is dead? Listen to David Dykes’ explanation…

Dead churches are quiet; live churches have lots of noisy kids. Dead churches are rigid and unchanging; live churches are constantly changing. Dead churches worship the “good old days;” live churches are looking to the future. Dead churches don’t need much money; live churches constantly need money. Dead churches are filled with “tippers;” live churches are filled with tithers. Dead churches have empty pews and empty rooms; live churches are constantly building. Dead churches say, “We can’t;” live churches say, “We can’t but God can!” Dead churches fossilize; live churches evangelize.

We’re in a series on the basics of growth, for individuals and for churches alike. All of our six basics come from one passage. Last week we talked about Bible study and Adoration. Today we’re going to talk about two more essentials… Sharing Christ and Intercessory Prayer.

I.             Sharing Christ: Reaching out in love to those around us.

                There are two parts to sharing Christ…

                A.            My part – seeking the lost and sharing Christ.

My favorite definition of evangelism comes from Dr. Bill Bright who said evangelism is “sharing Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit, leaving the results to God.

Most people who come to Christ do so because of the personal witness of other believers. It is important to remember that the 3,000 people saved on Pentecost began to penetrate the city of Jerusalem with the gospel. They were everyday believers like you and me, not supersaints or apostles.

Many people might be saved on a Sunday morning at church, but the way the church grows “daily” is when individual believers are sharing Christ. You never fail when you share Jesus!

                B.            God’s part – saving the lost and growing His church.

A key phrase is “the Lord added…” It is in His sovereign power to save people and grow a church. We can’t produce a rebirth in people’s souls, but God can! That’s why the second basic for today is so important…

II.           Intercession: Reaching up in prayer to God.

Andrew Murray wrote an excellent book called With Christ in the School of Prayer. In it he taught that nothing heavenly happens on earth unless God’s people pray. It’s just the way God intended to accomplish things. Now think of how many people haven’t been saved because of our neglect of prayer.

The word for “prayers” here is plural, and it literally means “askings.” That’s right, the church grew because of their continual askings. Let me give you a simple acrostic for praying daily in the will of God. It’s based on the name of this book, ACTS.

A – Adoration. That’s when we begin with praising God for His attributes of holiness, love, wisdom, etc.

C – Confession. That’s when we get clean so that God will listen to our prayers. (Psalm 66:18)

T – Thanksgiving. The Bible is clear that we are to be thankful for everything and every circumstance. The key to having a positive, pure, godly attitude and walk in life is gratitude!

S – Supplication. Supplication is a word that means asking, in a strong way. This is where we make our personal requests, but more than that, it’s where we pray for others and put on the armor of God.

John Piper has wisely said that prayer was meant to be a war-time walkie-talkie, but we’ve turned it into a domestic intercom. We use it to call on God to serve us rather than seeing it as what Charles Spurgeon called “the weapon of prayer.”

Conclusion:

The greatest word of advice I have ever received came from Dr. B. Gray Allison who said that there are only two things on earth that are eternal, that last beyond the grave. One is the Word of God, the other is the souls of men. His advice was to give our lives to these two eternal things.

Are you living for eternal things? Or are you just getting by until death. Jesus wants to save you and give you the free gift of eternal life, if only you will call upon Him to save you today.