It all started in a small upper room,
with humble, fervent prayer
threatened by the authorities
and banned from preaching,
the church prayed that the two men witnessed
with power and grace.
And people prayed everywhere in one accord
in repentance with confession and humility.
And the lives of people were changed.
Two men started out on a missionary journey
that would turn the world as they knew it upside down.
And the message went out to the world beyond.
Corporate prayer helped a prisoner escape.
A king requested that his people fast and pray
and the enemy was defeated.
A battle won without the need to fight.
Through a faithful servant and a young queen's faith and courage,
a people were saved.
Stories in the Bible showing the power of united prayer.
As I read the book of Acts,
it's really a book about believers coming together to pray,
and a prayer-answering God.
Personal prayer is important.
Secret prayer is the life of the soul.
But we know that there has never been a revival anywhere on this planet
that wasn't preceded by united and continuous prayer.
Our Lord on one occasion says where two or more of you agree
on touching anything that is according to My will, it will be done.
So there is a synergy that happens
when we hook up together and unite our voices in crying out to God.
As the spirit of prophecy tells us,
prayer is the key that unlocks the storehouse of heaven's treasury and blessings.
Some of Ellen White's counsel and statements on united prayer are powerful as well.
She says in one place that when she was writing to the Farnsworths, I believe it was,
she says there's more power in united prayer
than even in private prayer.
Then she says, why is that?
It's because the unity of heart of the believers.
It's like God gets really excited
when we're really of one accord
when we unite together just like they did in Acts.
Another statement she says,
at the sound of fervent prayer, Satan's whole host trembles.
Jesus knows that the habit of praying with others
helps to rid our lives of the self-centeredness of our prayers
when we pray by ourselves.
So when the Bible talks about continue earnestly in prayer,
that's not just an individual activity.
It's a call to the church as a community to call out to God.
Not to change God's mind,
but that we come into alignment with God's will
and actually I think he uses us as part of the answers to those prayers.
As you look at the book of Acts,
united prayer brought God's people together.
In Acts chapter 1 and verse 14 and 15,
the entire church met together and prayed.
They knew that the task before them was too great.
They knew the challenge was too immense.
They knew there was no way they could carry the gospel to the world.
But yet as they prayed, God did something miraculous.
He poured out His Holy Spirit on the day of Pentacost
and three thousand were baptized.
You know when you read the text there,
one of the things that jumps out at me is the simple English phrase -
they were in one accord.
Pentacost was just an extraordinary event.
It came after the culmination of Christ's ministry on this earth.
And it looked as though everything was completely dashed and destroyed.
When Christ was hanging on that cross
and then of course the resurrection took place.
And He appeared to His disciples
which gave them a completely different perspective
on what their ministry was all about.
Our blessed Lord told his disciples to tarry in Jerusalem united in prayer.
And that was one of the prerequisites
for bringing that rushing mighty wind
and the presence of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentacost.
It was the time of Passover
and we were in an upper room in Jerusalem.
We were all praying in one accord.
We were praying for repentance and humility,
and we were confessing our sins.
We were also seeking the Lord's vision, power and the Holy Spirit.
There was an incredible feeling of oneness
as we prayed earnestly together.
Suddenly there was the sound of a violent wind
that filled the whole room where we were sitting.
Then tongues of fire came down
and this fire rested on people.
All the people in the room were filled with the Holy Spirit.
Now remember that at the time of the Passover,
people came from many countries to worship.
Now suddenly they could hear the gospel
each in their own language.
As a result of this, three thousand people
were added to the believers in one day.
The people devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship.
To the breaking of bread and of prayer.
Every day they would meet together in the temple courts.
In their homes, they broke bread and ate together.
And the number of those being saved grew daily.
And we believe something like this
is going to happen in the last days as well.
But I think only as a church and as a people
we get together in one accord
and in fervent prayer, will we -
till we do that, we won't see that happen.
And really what happened at Pentacost
is going to be again duplicated by the Lord
in an even greater fashion
as the three angels' messages go forward
as the fourth angel of Revelation 18 has proclaimed
and as the final loud cry is heralded all over the world.
And it's going to be people who have submitted to the Lord,
confessed their sins,
and then the Holy Spirit can fall
and can use us in a mighty way.
Well I think in the book of Acts, Acts chapter 6
it seemed like a good problem.
The church was growing exponentially.
But in the midst of that, there's this food distribution challenge.
The church was undergoing practical challenges.
The Hellenistic Jews were complaining against the Hebraic Jews
because the former's widows were being overlooked
in the daily distribution of food.
The apostles decided that they needed
to focus on the ministry of prayer and the word.
And so they requested for seven deacons
to be chosen for these other practical tasks.
The apostles asked us as a group
to chose seven men who were known
to be full of the Spirit and have wisdom.
This proposal from the apostles
pleased our whole group.
So we went about selecting the seven men.
Once the men were selected,
they were presented to the apostles.
The apostles laid their hands on them and prayed for them.
With prayer as a priority, the church would never fail.
After this, the number of disciples increased rapidly.
And a large number of priests became obedient to the work.
So I think we find a case study there
that says when we face challenges,
let's use wisdom, let's use our training
but let's also recognize that we have
a prayer-answering God who will give us wisdom.
I've seen this over and over and over.
Churches with big problems
have solved them when they come together to pray.
Peter and John were called in
by the chief priests and elders about their preaching.
They tried to defend their actions,
but the leaders were very hard on them.
They were commanded not to speak
or teach in the name of Jesus.
After further threats, they let them go.
Peter and John went back to their own people
and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said.
When we heard all this we immediately raised our voices in prayer to God.
The entire group prayed for Peter and John.
We prayed for God to give boldness to these two humble servants.
Such intense prayer I had not experienced for a long time.
After we had prayed, suddenly the whole place was shaken.
People were filled with the Holy Spirit
and Peter and John went out
and gave witness with great power and grace.
They witnessed throughout the land
about the resurrection of their Saviour.
So I think Peter and John drew great strength
both from knowing they were praying
but also from the power that's unleashed
when people pray for us.
There's a peace.
There's a power from God
that comes into us when that prayer is being answered by many believers.
Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai.
Go and gather all the Jews who are in Susa together
and pray and fast for me.
Do not eat or drink anything for three days and nights.
I and my maidens will fast as you do.
After that, I will go to the king
even though it is against the law.
And if I perish, I perish.
We look back at Esther now
and we think what a gutsy girl.
You know, what a woman of faith.
But she was probably just as terrified
as any of us might have been.
It was a very desperate situation.
You the old saying, there's no such thing
as atheists in foxholes.
And I think this was a case where they knew
without divine intervention,
all was going to be lost.
But she was wise enough to say to her uncle, Mordecai
I will fast and pray.
And I will have my people here in the palace fast and pray.
But I want all of God's people to fast and pray.
I think we miss out a lot
on the unleashing of God's power
in this world by not fasting.
And it doesn't have to mean you have to go totally without food
but some form - giving up something
we really love every day
and uniting that together with prayer
and praying with others, it does something,
moves in this great controversy.
It's very easy at times to forget
just how dependant we are upon God.
And as Dwight Nelson likes to remind us
pray desperate prayers.
And Esther was desperate.
Pray urgent prayers.
And pray prayers of expectancy.
And think her prayers encompassed all three.
If you look at the book of Acts,
prayer was very united.
Take, for example, Peter and Cornelius.
Cornelius, a Jew - a Gentile. Peter, a Jew.
And Jews and Gentiles would not possibly come together
in any intimate talking
or visiting in one another's homes
or eating together.
This was the Holy Spirit breaking down some walls.
A Gentile of the Italian band, Cornelius, was praying.
It was no accident. He was praying.
Peter on the rooftop, praying.
And he prayed so long that he fell asleep.
Peter has this dream of the sheet coming down
with all these various animals in it.
And God says, Peter, rise and eat.
And Peter says, I've never eaten snakes
and crocodiles and rodents.
The vision of course was not about
clean or unclean foods.
The vision was about respect for other cultures.
Respect for other people.
And God sent visions, epiphanies, to both of them
that broke down the walls
that divided them.
And Peter declared, God has shown me
that He is no respecter of persons.
As both of them prayed, Jew and Gentile,
their prayers ascended to heaven
and met at the throne of God.
(music)
It was around noon when Peter went up to the roof to pray.
It was here that Peter had a vision
about a large sheet containing a mix of unclean animals
representing God's affirmation
of the diversity of peoples
in the growing church.
We had heard that Peter was staying
at the house of Simon the tanner,
and were instructed by Cornelius, the centurion, to go out and find him.
While Peter was still thinking about the vision,
the Holy Spirit told him to go downstairs
because three men were looking for him.
Peter went down and told the men
that he was the one they were looking for.
(music)