Acts 2:42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

Prayer is the life force of the believer and the church. God does nothing without prayer. Power does not come before prayer.

In Luke 11:1 The disciples went to Jesus and they didn’t say, teach us to preach, teach us how to counsel. They said teach us how to pray. Did they pray? Of course they did. The Jews prayed 3 times a day. So what were they saying? They saw the pattern of prayer and power, prayer and power in Jesus life. They were saying teach us to pray in a way that releases the power of heaven to bring tangible results in this earth.

Every great thing that God has done through his church in the earth from Acts until now has had its foundation in prayer. God does nothing, except in answer to prayer. The devil will do everything he can to stop you, stop us, stop the church from praying. There is a ferocious war going on and the battle is won and lost in the spirit realm. The battle is not against flesh and blood.

Some people give up in prayer because they don’t see the answer they are looking for.

God always knows the right answer to our requests: “No,” “Slow,” “Grow,” or “go.”

If the request is wrong, God will say, “No.”

Mark 10:35 One time James and John went to Jesus, and asked if they could make reservations for the best two seats in heaven. They said “Teacher,” they said, “we want you to do for us whatever we ask.”

“What do you want me to do for you?” he asked. They replied, “Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.” “You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said.

• Luke 9:54 Another time, Jesus and the disciples were not accepted in Samaria and the people wouldn’t let them stay there. That denial aggravated James and John so much that they said to Jesus do you want us to call a bolt of lightning down out of the sky and incinerate them?” Jesus said, “No, I didn’t come to torch people; I came to transform people. No, I’m not going to grant that request.”

The disciples were fully capable of making inappropriate requests of Jesus. And when the requests were wrong, Jesus said no. God loves us too much to say yes to wrong requests. If the request is wrong, God will answer the prayer, but his answer will be “No.”

I can thank God for saying “No” to prayers I thought at the time were appropriate. Now by hindsight I say, “Thank you.”

So if you have been praying diligently about a matter, and if you have sensed resistance from heaven, do you know what I would challenge you to do? Review your request. Your request may be the problem.

• Maybe the request is a cop-out on your part, an unwillingness to face a real issue.
• Maybe the request is destructive in ways you don’t understand.
• Maybe the request is self-serving.
• Maybe the request is shortsighted.
• Maybe the request is too small, and God might have something better in mind, and he’s saying no to this one because he has a better plan.

If the timing is wrong, God will say, “Slow.”

Secondly, if the timing is wrong, God will say, “Slow.” Hhow children hate the words! “Not yet.” And guess what, there’s a child in all of us. The child in all of us still wants God to meet every need, to grant every request, to move every mountain. When? Now! And when the all-knowing, all-wise, loving Heavenly Father deems it best to say very caringly to his children, “Not yet,” what is our mature, adult response? “What!!!

It is important for us to understand that God’s delays are not necessarily God’s denials. How essential it is for you to understand that often God isn’t saying no, he is merely saying, “Not quite yet. Trust me. I know what I’m doing. I have my reasons.” In Luke 18:1 it says One day Jesus told his disciples a story to illustrate their need for constant prayer and to show them that they must never give up. What you are asking for is good and proper and right. But for reasons known only to God, he simply chooses occasionally to say, “I’ll grant it, but in my time.”

God is a whole lot more concerned about character than he is about instant gratification and personal convenience. And sometimes the prayers that are sweetest to have answered are the ones that you have trusted to God for a long, long time.

If you’re not ready, God will say, “Grow.”

If you are wrong, the third statement God will say, is “Grow.” This is a rather sobering statement, isn’t it? In the book of James, James 3:1-3 And yet the reason you don’t have what you want is that you don’t ask God for it. 3And even when you do ask, you don’t get it because your whole motive is wrong–you want only what will give you pleasure. In Matthew 5:23-24, Jesus warns that if there is relational discord, if there are private wars going on between people, if there are broken friendships,  it cuts us off from close fellowship with God and interferes with our prayer requests.

When the timing is right, God will say, “ go! Boy we all like this part of prayer

(Adapted from teaching by Bill Hybels from Willow Creek)

In Acts 2:42, breaking of bread speaks of hospitality. For the early church, hospitality remained an important practical expression of loving kindness, one that Jesus and the apostles encouraged. And therefore important to us.

Jesus places high importance upon hospitality: In Matthew 25 he said any kindness shown, anything done for another person in need, is just like doing it for him.

Paul placed high importance on hospitality. To the Roman Church he wrote be inventive in hospitality (Romans 12:13 The Message Translation)
To Timothy he wrote that anyone being considered for leadership must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach;
The writer to the Hebrew Church said Be ready with a meal or a bed when it’s needed. Why, some have extended hospitality to angels without ever knowing it! (Hebrews 13:2 The Message Translation)

What takes place here on a Sunday is part of church, but it is not all of church.
The were 7 major feasts spread throughout the Jewish calendar year. Why? Because God new celebration and the gathering was an important part of life. The power of getting together to eat, to talk, to celebrate, to party.
We must have the festive power of the party in our lives. You say, but that’s the old testament?

Jesus did not take away or negate the importance of celebration. His first ever miracle was at a party. A wedding, where instead of dampening the celebrations he turned water into wine. The Pharisees were trying to please God but they had got it wrong. They were thinking that fun and enjoyment and laughter were worldly. They thought their holiness would be compromised by being at a party.

The Christian life is about celebration. It’s about fun. I have come that you may have life.

The greatest tool for relationship building is the meal in your home. You need to be inviting people over to your home for a meal and you need to be going to people’s homes when you are invited.

It should be happening all the time. This is church.
Is it always convenient?- No. In 1 Peter 4:9 Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Why did Peter have to write that? Because it wasn’t always convenient then either.
We live in a culture that is living out of the philosophy that the individual is king. We wonder why relationships break down. Family meal is virtually non existent.
Many people live alone. But the life Christ has called us to live is expansive. Paul says to the Corinthian church  Open up your lives. Live openly and expansively! (2 Corinthains 6:13 The Message Translation)

Let’s open up our lives also