The So, Some people treat prayer like a duty or like a wish list. Others see it as a

last-ditch effort when all else has failed. In contrast today on Truth for Life weekend

we'll discover why the early church regarded prayer as a powerful weapon.

Alistair Begg is teaching from Acts chapter 2, we're focusing on verses 42 through 47.

We come to this issue of prayer. It is such an imperative aspect of the church's life.

And Derek Thomas in an article some time ago now in a little magazine that I take on a monthly basis,

nowhere does the devil work more arduously or successfully in the lives of many Christians than in prayer, or more correctly in their

lack of it. A thousand excuses can be found to ease the conscience from guilt for the lack of prayer.

When we go to God by prayer, Richard Sibbs tells us,

the devil knows we go to fetch strength against him and therefore he opposes us all he can.

He not too concerned about preaching that is not backed by prayer or worship that is not

prayed out or witnessing that is not prayed out because he recognizes that all of the

little monsters and creatures that he has and the pitfalls

along the journey that we make through life are more than able to swallow us up unless, of course,

we are taking seriously this matter of prayer.

Now what we discover in acts is that the developing church was a praying church and I want just to illustrate this by allowing

you to look in your Bible with me and I want to make one or two comments

acts chapter 1 and verse 12 then they return to Jerusalem from the hill called the

mound of olives this is following the ascension a Sabbath days walk from the city

which is a very short journey because they weren't able to go much more than a kilometer, I think,

according to Jewish law. So they weren't very far away. The Sabbath days walked from the city,

and when they arrived, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying.

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