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Word from Scotland
by Sandy Shaw
We are in Acts 12 where Peter is in prison. His friend and colleague James has been killed - James (or Jacob, the brother of John) - and famine has been prophesied.
Humanly speaking, things were not looking at all good for The Church of Jesus Christ in Jerusalem. It appeared a bit of a disaster and in one sense it all looked like total failure, as Herod's intention was to pick off the leadership one by one.
But, someone called the Church to prayer. The recognised leader was in jail, and another leader was aware of the precarious situation and called The Church to pray.
The first wave of persecution got the Church on the move. This current persecution against the leadership got the Church of Jesus Christ praying.
That night when Peter is in prison, the church meets in various homes in Jerusalem and prays to God for Peter, and they prayed in earnest. Prayer is serious business. Perhaps that is why so few people pray and intercede.
This was very much a crisis, so they hold a night vigil of prayer, and nobody was absent. The Church was at prayer - not just a part of it - not just certain selected disciples. This was one of the marks of the early Church. There was no choice of being present or not being present offered. It was NOT an option, and it is exactly the same today. The option is to obey or not to obey. That continues to be the choice.
When the Church meets for prayer can you be relied upon and depended upon to be present?
Alexander 'Sandy' Shaw is pastor of Nairn Christian Fellowship in Nairn, Scotland. Nairn is 17 miles east of Inverness - on the Moray Firth Coast - not far from the Loch Ness Monster!
Gifted as a Biblical teacher, Sandy is firmly committed to making sure that his teachings are firmly grounded in the Word.
Sandy has a weekly radio talk which can be heard via the Internet on Saturday at 11:40am, New Orleans time, at wsho.com.
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