Prayer Engine of the Church — E.A. Johnston

The Apostolic Church Under Persecution

Back in the days of the apostles, when Christianity traveled in one direction and ungodly society traveled in the other direction, when they met there was a clash. Christianity has always meant to be counter-cultural, not like today when most Christians just blend in with the world and you can't tell a Christian apart from a pagan today.

But the apostolic church knew fierce persecution for their faith. In fact, in the book of Acts, we see how hot things were getting for the followers of Christ Jesus. Turn, if you will, friends, to the book of Acts in chapter 12.

We will begin reading when verse 1. After Peter's sermon on the day of Pentecost, all hell began to pop and things were getting pretty tough for the believers there because Herod was hotly persecuting the early church and the devil was using this human dupe of his in an effort to stamp out vital Christianity.

The title of my message this evening, friends, is Prayer, the Engine of the Church. And let us go now to God's holy word and see how God moved through prayer by his saints in former days. We're in Acts chapter 12, beginning in verse 1.

Let me read that to us now, friends. Now about that time Herod the king stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the church and he killed James, the brother of John, with the sword. And because he saw it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to take Peter also.

Then were the days of unleavened bread. And when he had apprehended him, he put him in prison and delivered him to four quarter nations of soldiers to keep him, intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people.

Peter therefore was kept in prison, but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him. And when Herod would have brought him forth the same night, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers bound with two chains and the keepers before the door kept the prison.

And behold, the angel of the Lord came upon him and a light shined in the prison and he smoked Peter on the side and raised him up saying, arise up quickly. And his chains fell off from his hands. And the angel said unto him, gird thyself and bind on thy sandals.

And so he did. And he saith unto him, cast thy garment about thee and follow me. And he went out and followed him and was not that it was true, which was done by the angel, but thought he saw vision. When they were passed the first and the second ward, they came out to the iron gate that leadeth unto the city, which opened to them of his own accord.

And they went out and passed on through one street and forthwith the angel departed from him. And when Peter was come to himself, he said, now I know of a surety that the Lord hath sent his angel and hath delivered me out of the hand of Herod and from all the expectation of the people of the Jews.

Notice friends, the sentence from verse five, Peter therefore was kept in prison, but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him. Now friends, there are several aspects I'd like to draw out from our text this evening regarding prayer.

Prayer as the Early Church's Continual Practice

This intercessory prayer by the early church, the early believers was a habit to them. Prayer was their very breath. They would not make a move for God without prayer. And they saw their prayers answered.

Christ's own disciples had been taught to pray by the master himself. Notice that their praying was without ceasing. This is a lost art to the modern church today. The modern church of our friends knows very little about true corporate prayer.

Our prayers are shallow, self-centered, self-focused and worldly. Listen to a story about a prayer meeting I was in, in a big Baptist church where I was the Sunday school teacher at the time. This pretty much sums up many of our prayer meetings today.

There was a lady in my class who was married to a millionaire and they were moving out of their million dollar house into a much bigger one. And she was having her new home decorated by an expensive interior designer.

And this was her prayer that she brought up to the class in our prayer circle as we prayed that day. This lady said, please pray for my interior decorator that she will get the house the way I want it.

And pray for my stress. Oh, I'm so stressed out during this time. Pray for me so I'll be able to have my house remodeled as I wish. That was this lady's prayer. And I fear many of our prayers don't get any higher than the ceiling.

They are so self-centered. I want to make a statement, friends. I believe prayer is the engine of the church. And that explains why so many churches have run out of gas. Prayer used to be the powerhouse of a church.

Prayer was made without ceasing of the church onto God for him, for Peter. And God sent Peter, an angel of deliverance because those early believers' continual, importunate belief in prayer. Charles Spurgeon was given a visitor, a tour of his church, and he asked the man if he'd like to see the powerhouse of the church.

As Spurgeon led the visitor down some stairs into the basement, the man thought Spurgeon was going to show him the boiler room. But instead, the great preacher opened up a door, which revealed a big room with 300 deacons on their faces, crying out to God in prayer.

The secret of Charles Spurgeon's success was that he had 300 men on their knees praying for the gospel to run well, praying for the progress of the gospel while he preached it upstairs. I have been down in that basement at the Metropolitan Tabernacle in London in fact, I ate lunch down there with the staff after church one Sunday.

And as I did, I looked around the room and thought about those praying deacons on their faces, who were the power engine of Spurgeon's church. That basement and the facade of the church are the only remains of the original structure, which was bombed out during World War II.

Intercession Behind Faithful Preaching

Well, some folks wonder, what makes one preacher more successful than another? Despite the obvious giftings of an individual and God's smile upon him, there's something more behind a choice man of God.

About 20 years ago, I spent a night of prayer with a group of men at Belle V Baptist Church. There was about 30 of us in a room and we shut ourselves up to God in prayer all evening until the break of day.

We spent that whole time praying for Adrian Rogers. We began in a conference room, then we moved to the sanctuary and about three o 'clock in the morning, we were all on our knees laying our hands on Dr. Rogers' pulpit, praying to God for a special anointing for the pastor of our church.

Do you think men like Adrian Rogers can have influence in the pulpit without the power of prayer behind them? I don't believe they can. I don't believe they can. Prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him.

Let me ask you, friend, do you pray for your pastor like you should? Are you not guilty of not praying like you should for your shepherd? I was preaching in a church down south several years ago and the pastor of that church met me before the Sunday service and he asked me to come into his office with him for a brief time of prayer before I preached.

We got down on our knees and prayed a while. Then he looked me in the eye and told me he was going to miss my sermon and stay on his knees there in his office while I preached in his pulpit. That morning, about halfway through my message, there was a little stir in the congregation.

God was at work. Faces were altered. Lives were being touched. But it wasn't due to my preaching. Rather, it was due to the dedicated pastor on his face before his God, praying for his congregation and this poor preacher.

The whole time I was in his pulpit, that man missed my sermon because he loved his people so. Listen, friends, prayer is the engine of the church. Today, most churches get by on money and manpower, but it used to be years ago that churches operated solely on God and holy ghost power.

Corporate Prayer and Revival Power

There used to be times when there was the power of God in a meeting because there used to be a time in this country when Christians knew how to pray. One of the lost arts in the church is the power of corporate prayer.

I believe that with my whole heart. Several years ago, I was preaching to a group of pastors and before I went to preach, I contacted two men who I was discipling at the time and I had them come with me to that meeting.

I gave them their instructions before we went to the room. Their job was to sit in the back and miss my sermon because their job was to be in continual prayer while I preached to those pastors. And when I began my message, the mood of the pastors was light and frivolous.

I couldn't get anywhere with them. But about halfway through my message, their faces became altered and a look of concern was in their eyes. From that point forward, I had them in the palm of my hand because God was at work.

But it didn't have anything to do with my message, but it had everything to do with those two praying men I brought with me. Charles Fanny had a great deal of success in the first part of his ministry during the Second Great Awakening because he had two men accompany him wherever he went to preach.

These two men were prayer warriors, Daniel Nash and Abel Clary. Nash was the main force behind Charles Fanny. Father Nash, as he was called, would hole up in a room long before Fanny would come to town and that man would saturate that entire village with prayer.

I have carefully studied the life of Charles Fanny and I can tell you, friends, that the most powerful revivals that occurred under Fanny were when Father Nash was behind him in constant prayer. Prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him.

The Holy Spirit's Work in Conviction

Listen, friends, men like Charles Spurgeon and Fanny knew they couldn't get the job done on their own by just their preaching, but that the Holy Spirit had to take charge to bring conviction of sin to men's hearts and consciences.

Listen to what Charles Fanny related. Fanny used to use the example of the old gristmill that operated by the force of water upon two millstones. There was the top stone and the bottom stone, and these two millstones are laid one atop the other, and as they turn, they grind the wheat into flour.

Fanny said the bottom stone was the law of God written on the heart of man, which is his conscience. The top stone is the preached law of God thundered about the ears of the hearer, and when this occurs, then the Holy Spirit can operate by grinding upon the heart and conviction of sin.

Believe that, friends. The main weakness in the church today is the lack of prayer and the absence of the Holy Spirit. I was in the state of Mississippi listening to a dear friend of mine preach, and as this man preached, I sat in the back of the room completely in tears.

The presence of God was thick, and conviction was running over everybody in that room. Why? Was it the preacher? I don't believe so, because the same man preached later that night to little effect. What was the deciding factor?

Before his afternoon message, the church gathered for an hour of corporate prayer before he preached. His whole message was bathed in prayer before he ever got into the pulpit. At the evening service, there was no prayer time preceding it.

I really believe the difference was the presence of prayer and the absence of prayer. Now, some of you don't believe that, but it's true. Prayer is the engine of the church, and when the church in America killed off the weekly prayer meeting, that's when she lost her influence in society.

That's when she became a worldly, impotent church. But there was a time, friends, many years ago, when you could stumble into a back room in a church and find a prayer meeting going on, where men and women and children were on their faces, crying out to God in desperate prayer.

Restoring the Church's Prayer Life

Our problem today is the sad fact that the carpet in our sanctuaries is dry from a lack of tears poured out in prayer. You see, Peter had a problem. Herod had just killed James with the sword, and old nasty Herod wanted to kill Peter next.

Peter was nothing but a troublemaker to old King Herod. He was stirring up things since Pentecost. Herod had him arrested and put in chains to be executed shortly. Verse 5 from our text declares,. Peter, therefore, was kept in prison, but prayer, but prayer, but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him.

That's what it says, folks. That's why Peter was set loose by that visiting angel. It wasn't because Peter was a friend of Jesus. It wasn't because Peter was a head apostle. It wasn't because Peter was a mighty preacher, but it was because of the prayer taking place by the church unto God for him.

Now, why don't we just confess our lack and admit our fault, admit our laziness in prayer? We'd rather be entertained by some hellish Hollywood entertainer than be on our knees in desperate prayer. Shame on us.

Prayer is the engine of the church, and it's high time in this country that we go out to the shed in the back of the church and cut away the weeds and open up that old creaky door and dust off that engine that's sitting there in the corner collecting dust, if you know what I mean.

Listen to me, friends. The last thing the dirty devil wants is a praying church, for he knows that a praying church has power with God and influence with man. Let us all go to our faces right now, right now, and ask the God of the Bible, the God of Peter and James and the early church, the God of Spurgeon and Finney and Moody and Whitefield to stir us up to become better men and women of prayer.

If the church does not go to her knees in this desperate hour in our nation's history, she will not have a nation to pray in, for God will destroy it. Let us go now to a time of prayer. Let us pray.