Living The Apostolic Prayer Pattern - Zac Acosta

In this powerful teaching, we explore how the early church's approach to prayer can transform our spiritual lives and expand our kingdom impact today. Drawing from the Apostolic Prayer Pattern, this message reveals three essential dimensions of biblical prayer:

Prayer as a Catalyst for Kingdom Influence - Discover how united, intentional prayer links us together as spiritual warriors, opens doors for the gospel to advance, and influences leaders and society for God's purposes.

Staying Rooted, Guided, and Awake in Prayer - Learn to cultivate a rhythm of continual dependence on God, accessing His wisdom for every situation, and maintaining spiritual alertness in an age of distraction.

Prayer as Power, Presence, and Partnership - Understand how prayer becomes effective in every season of life, anchors us amid cultural chaos, and invites God's refreshing presence into our relationships and communities.

Whether you're looking to deepen your personal prayer life or join with others in advancing God's kingdom, this teaching will equip you to pray with the same power, purpose, and partnership that marked the early church. Get ready to move beyond routine prayers into a lifestyle of transformational intercession that shapes both your heart and your world.

Transcript

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Hey everyone, it's Zach here. I'm so excited to be with you as always. We're going to continue on in our Apostolic Prayer Pattern series. And last week we talked about the early church's rhythm of prayer and we opened up the book of Acts and looked at a few key verses that really describe how the early church valued prayer. And specifically how they valued praying together. It seemed like in So many chapters within the book of Acts surrounding almost every breakthrough that there was prayer attached to it, a prayer meeting attached to it in some way, shape, or form. And so we really laid out that framework and then called all of us who listened to this to live a lifestyle of prayer. So today I want to expound upon some of those ideas, but rather than looking at the book of Acts today, I want to look at what happened in the writings of some of the apostolic leaders of the church. We're going to look at what Paul says. We're going to look at what some of Peter says and different Bible verses throughout the New Testament that only reinforce the ideas that we talked about last week. And so really today I want to talk about living the apostolic prayer pattern and what wasn't just something that the early church did in a moment and then moved on from it, but it's actually the way that they discipled those where they planted churches and where they had community and where they had fellowship. Prayer, daily prayer, prayer meetings were a value, not only that these apostles practiced, but also that they taught others to practice as well. And so I think a good place to start is this idea that prayer is a catalyst for kingdom influence. And this is why the believers so valued prayer, because it was like before every breakthrough that they saw, every healing, every miracle, every revival that got sparked, it was saturated in prayer. It was birthed in prayer. And so they actually saw the kingdom advancing in such a way that they can only know it to their faithfulness in prayer. And so I think that when we commit to praise the early church did, we link ourselves with others to accomplish kingdom work. It's God's desire that his kingdom would invade our cities, our communities, our regions. It's a foreshadow of his coming kingdom with the age to come, but he wants us to influence the world with the works of his kingdom, the pattern, the values of his kingdom. And when we commit to pray, we're actually binding ourselves to other kingdom folk and we're accomplishing kingdom work. And Paul, he urges his friends in Rome to strive together with him in prayer. And it's Romans 15. He says, now I urge you brothers and sisters by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the spirit to strive together with me in your prayers to God for me, that I may be rescued from those who are disobedient in Judea, that my servant Now we'll talk about the relaxing in your company in just a little bit. But I want to point out how when Paul urges his friends to strive together with him in prayer, he's asking for protection from hostile unbelievers. And then he's also asking for his effective ministry in Jerusalem. He's like, pray with me. You can be a part of this. You can advance the kingdom if you join me. So he's essentially saying like, don't just pray for me, but struggle alongside me. Join the battle with me. And the terminology there, strive together, it's used in such a way to depict a team working together or even more accurately, soldiers that are fighting together in a battle, in war. And even though the believers in Rome weren't physically with Paul, they could actively participate in his ministry by praying, by actually lifting their voices, Paul understood, oh, I can experience breakthrough and kingdom influence if others attach themselves to this mission through prayer. So I believe that when we join together in this sort of intentional and united prayer, we become a part of God's work in ways that extend far beyond what we can do alone, far beyond what any individual believer can do on their own. Prayer helps us to push forward the I think of what Paul says in Philippians 1, verses 3-5. He says, So we can see that Paul clearly understood that a key to kingdom influence, a key to effective ministry was prayer and having others join the mission and the initiatives that God put on his heart in prayer. So he's writing to these communities in Rome and to the Philippian church, to the Corinthian church and saying, pray for me, join in this endeavor, join in this labor with me by praying along because it actually is making a difference. We're experiencing breakthrough when you pray. That's pretty significant. That means we should give a lot of time. If that point alone were true in what we're talking about today, it's worthwhile to spend considerable amount of time praying for these kingdom works that are all around us. People who are serving in ministry, people who are serving as school teachers, people who are serving in the marketplace or maybe missionaries, whatever God has put on people's hearts, it is worth investing in sowing the seed of prayer into those missions because it will literally advance the kingdom in ways that we couldn't do, even if we tried with our own two hands and our own two feet. Now, prayer even opens doors for the gospel to advance effectively. So we're just kind of continuing this idea. Paul writes to the Colossians in chapter four, he says, devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving. Praying at the same time for us as well that God will open up to us a door for the word so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ for which I have also been imprisoned, that I may make it clear in the way that I ought to proclaim it. So he's asking the Colossians, hey, pray that God opens up doors, opens up avenues for the message of Christ, for the mystery of Christ to go forward, and pray that I would actually preach it in a way that's clear, that it would be proclaimed with boldness. He's saying, pray for these realities. Now, how many times have we sent forth missionaries or evangelists on an outreach in our city or whatever, and we kind of just send them and we give them all the training and we say, all right, go for it. But we don't actually pray for the effective open doors and we don't pray that they would declare things with clarity in ways that people would understand the gospel message. And how many opportunities have we missed out because we haven't, you know, bathed those efforts in prayer. And what's awesome about this is that even while he's in prison, because Paul's writing this letter while he's in prison, he recognized that prayer has the power to influence God's heart in a way that leads to God removing obstacles, God reshaping whatever circumstances they might be facing, and then also creating opportunities for his word to spread. If we were just to pray, God, give us more opportunities for your word to spread, how many more doors would be open, opportunities to talk about the gospel to people. I think that today, right here and right now, our simple prayers can make a huge impact that goes beyond the limits of what we're faced with in our immediate circumstances. Though right now, like Paul's in prison, he realized, okay, I might be locked up. I might be limited, but I'm asking that God would open up a door for the message to go forth despite my circumstance. So despite what we're we might see, you know, if we live in a city or region or maybe the cultural climate just feels really hostile to the Word of God and to the message of Christ, we can pray that God would open up doors for effective evangelism. We can pray that those preaching the gospel would preach with clarity and precision, and it will actually work. Every single time that we intercede for missionaries, for governmental leaders, church leaders, our families, you name it, we're part Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. I think of Matthew 7 when Jesus is teaching on prayer. This was foundational when I started a prayer meeting in my parents' garage when I was a teenager. Prayed this verse all the time because it's all we knew. It says, ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find, knock and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, the one who seeks find, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. So we can keep knocking on these doors that often feel closed. Sometimes in prayer we'll we'll pray for something and we won't get the immediate result or the immediate answer. And so sometimes we just determine, oh, that must be God saying no, when really we just need to knock a few more times and God will gladly open that door. And so don't give up in prayer. When we don't get the immediate answer, when we don't get the result, the moment we pray, continue to knock on the door. Keep asking, keep seeking, keep knocking because God will open the door and as we continue to press in and be persistent in prayer. God even places people in positions of authority, people in positions of influence. I think of governmental leaders. I think of entertainment leaders. I think of even school teachers and those that are really influencing people. And oftentimes the decisions that those people make have a significant impact on the social or economic realities that actually affect our day-to-day life. Like these people who make decisions, who make laws, who enforce laws, or people that have influence, it transforms our life experience. So Paul specifically urged the church to pray for these leaders so that believers would live tranquil, quiet, and godly lives. He says this to Timothy. He says, first of all, okay, first of all, let's start here. I urge that requests, prayers, intercession, and thanksgiving, right there I read that and I see four different types of prayer. according to Paul, at least be made in behalf of all people. So pray for everybody, but pray specifically for kings and all who are in authority so that we believers may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. So what he's saying is pray for these people who have authority to change laws and to implement laws and influence and those sort of things so that believers can live lives that are not filled with chaos and opposition and persecution, pray that we can actually live tranquil, quiet, and godly lives. I think that this shows that prayer isn't just for our own personal benefit. It's not just for our own spiritual development and our own connection with God, but it's actually shaping the environment in which the gospel can advance. When we pray for leaders that are in authority, when we pray for our governmental leaders, when we pray for leaders in the entertainment industry, when we pray for leaders in school systems, when we pray for you know, you name it, the podcaster that you listen to, the TikToker that you listen to, when we pray for them, it is shaping the environment where the gospel can advance. One of the coolest things that I've seen, I don't know if you've ever heard of the Savannah Bananas. They're this like weird sort of Harlem Globetrotters of baseball. And I had seen their like videos on TikTok and Instagram and they're crazy. They do backflips when they catch baseballs and they dance and it's just this really cool thing and they've attracted so much attention like they're selling out these huge baseball stadiums all across the nation it's just I mean it's just this crazy thing that's spreading like wildfire right now but there was a moment where scrolling on TikTok I came across their page yet again but it was like one of their team captains who's like preaching the gospel and talking to the other players and the majority of them are believers and they were preaching the gospel and I was like whoa this is crazy all There's so many eyes on these guys that are doing these backflips and catching a baseball, but they are preaching the gospel. And I couldn't help but to think how many believers have prayed for their sons, their daughters that are playing baseball and they're so caught up in sports or whatever. And now there's this team that's bringing large influence to the sports world. And some of these young people are going to be turned to Jesus because the Savannah Bananas love Jesus. and they're declaring that he's Lord and they're preaching the gospel and all those things. They're praying before and after games and those sort of things. I wonder how prayer shaped that. It's just a fun thought for me. I think if Proverbs 21, when it says the king's heart is like channels of water and the hand of the Lord, he turns it whatever he pleases. I think that when we pray for those that are in authority, when we pray for those who have influence, we're partnering with God to influence society and our culture in a way that opens doors and opportunities for his purposes to be fulfilled. It's pretty cool that we get to do that in the place of prayer. Now, let's look at what some of the New Testament says about staying rooted, staying guided, staying awake and alert in prayer. Now, prayer is one of the primary ways that we express continual dependence on God. In prayer, we literally admit our weakness. God, I can't do this thing. So I'm asking you to do this thing. God, I don't understand how this situation works. I need you to show me how this situation works. Like we're literally coming before God and saying, admitting we are dependent on you. And Paul said that it's God's will for us to pray without seizing. This is crazy. If you've ever wanted to know the will of God for your life, which I've worked with young people for the majority of my ministry career. And that's a question that young people are always asking. How do I know that I mean, God's will. Well, let's start with what the Bible says God's will is for you. And in 1 Thessalonians, Paul tells them, chapter 5, verse 16, he says, Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus. Paul says that it's God's will that we would pray without ceasing, like not stopping. Really, it means cultivating a rhythm of prayer that keeps us rooted in his presence, keeps us aligned with his will. Let's not become prayerless people. And it goes to show that prayer is also not just a religious activity. The thing that we do on a Sunday morning or the thing that we do before we eat a meal or before a graduation or whatever. No, prayer is this ongoing conversation. It's meant to be unbroken, no ceasing. A conversation that we're continually having with God that shapes our perspectives, that directs our steps. It sustains us in every moment in our lives. And I think that this is how prayer becomes the lifeline that keeps us connected to the source. It's how we abide. When Jesus teaches, hey, abide in me and let my word abide in you, we do that by staying connected to the source, as branches that stay connected, rooted to the vine, that is Jesus, by talking with him, by letting his word, his actual words that he speaks, letting the verses of the Bible, Rest in our hearts. Paul says in Philippians 4, he says, don't be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and pleading with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. I admit it today. I am probably far too anxious. I'm always anxious about everything, and I'm constantly in this, God, why am I so worried? Why am I so fearful? Why am I so anxious? And here we really have the antidote for our anxiety and our worries of life. We don't have to be anxious about anything, but in everything, pray, plead, be thankful, and let your requests be made known to God. It's meant to be something that we do often, all the time. It's the will of God for our lives. Jesus is also the source of all wisdom and strength. I think we would probably all hear that and be like, of course he is. And scripture actually repeatedly calls us to lay hold of that type of wisdom. We could probably spend volumes talking about the command to pursue wisdom and lay hold of wisdom. Because God is all knowing, there's really never a situation that you or I will ever face where he doesn't already have the answer or the pathway for us forward. Take a breath, breathe that in because that's awesome. We face so many circumstances, whether it be at a difficult relationship or a hard conversation or a big decision where it's like, Oh Lord, what am I supposed to do? I have no clue. Lord, I have no idea what's right in this scenario. We can rest knowing that God knows everything. Like he's got all wisdom. He knows everything. the best way forward. And James simply says it like this, but if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God. That's prayer. It's asking because God gives to all generously without reproach and it will be given to him. So we don't have wisdom. We don't know what the right decisions are. We don't know what the best way forward in a scenario is. We ask God and we believe that God gives generously. Verse 6 gives us a bit of a qualifier here, but he must ask in faith without doubting. That's pretty significant. For the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. So not only do we have to ask, but we've got to ask with faith, like without doubting. That means we really have to believe God is all-knowing, that he is generous, and he wants to give what we're asking him for, specifically wisdom. Like if we need wisdom, we need understanding, we've got to believe God wants to give us wisdom and understanding. The early believers, they understood this truth very well because when they lacked answers, they sought God. They just asked him. They gathered together in prayer and they knew that he would supply wisdom generously and he would do it without hesitation. And that's like what we looked at last week. So many opportunities where they needed something, they needed breakthrough, they needed wisdom and decision-making or whatever it was, they prayed and God showed up. When the house of prayer If you've ever been to a prayer room or been involved in sort of the prayer movement, you're familiar with Ephesians chapter 1 verses 17 through 19. We just pray that all the time and it's one of my favorites. But it says in verse 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, this is Paul praying, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him. I pray this all the time because I am truthfully the chief of not knowing anything. Like I need all the wisdom that I could get. I so often feel inadequate with my own limited understanding. I'm constantly trying to learn and grow in wisdom. And more than anything, I just pray Ephesians 117 over my own heart. Like, Lord, I don't know what I'm doing. Help me to understand. Give me wisdom. Give me revelation through your Holy Spirit that I would understand you and your ways and what you're doing better. That's a good prayer to pray often. Prayer is also the means by which we stay spiritually awake and active. And this is how we engage in effective prayer with the world around us. So If you've committed, which I know many of you listening to this are committed to prayer meetings, some of you more than one prayer meeting a week, which is incredible, but it's easy for us to get into a prayer room. It's easy for us to get into a prayer meeting, easy for us to get in our own personal prayer closet and drift into mindless repetition. We just kind of say the verses, say the things, and there's no intentionality. But the scriptures, the apostolic prayer power, pattern, so to speak, actually calls us to intentionality. It calls us to being awake and alert in the place of prayer. Look at Ephesians 6, 18, when it says, with every prayer and request, pray at all times in the spirit. And with this in view, be alert with all perseverance and every request for all the saints. Or when Paul writes again to the Colossians in chapter four, we read this earlier, devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of Thanksgiving. There's this call to constantly engage with the Holy Spirit, to persevere in prayer, and keep our hearts fully connected to God, rather than just go through the religious motions. Like, there's this degree of being alert, aware, and intentional. When we remain awake and alert in prayer, we're not only connecting with God, like not having, we're not only just having real connection with the God of Genesis 1, but we're aligning our prayer prayers more closely with His will, with His desires, the things He wants to do. And when we do that, that's what allows us to pray with clarity, power, and purpose, and actually makes our prayers effective. Our prayers can be effective when they're in alignment with His desires. So it's crucial that we don't just go through the religious motions. Now, I truly do believe that God will even use the weakest, weak, weak yes that we offer Him in my He's so good that he'll use that. But I believe that there's a degree of effectiveness that comes when we pray with a sobriety and an alertness to what he wants to do and his desires. If we would devote ourselves with alertness in prayer, I believe we would be effective. We'd see answers to our prayer. We'd see supernatural breakthrough. I believe that prayer is power. It's presence and it's partnership. There's so many P's. Prayer, power, presence, partnership. So James gives us this simple but powerful instruction for prayer in every season of our life. And James 5, 13 through 16. And this verse is worth staring at. And we'll take time to really linger here in weeks to come because I think there's so much within this portion of Scripture that's worth pausing and meditating on and lingering on. James says, Then he must pray. Is anyone cheerful? He's to sing praises. That counts as prayer. Is anyone among you sick? Then he must call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him, anointing him with the oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will restore the one who is sick. Come on. Amen. And the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another. one another so that you may be healed. A prayer of a righteous person when it's brought about can accomplish much. So here's the point. James is like, if you're suffering, if you're happy, if you're sick, no matter what's going on, you should pray. No matter what season or circumstance of life that you might be in or facing, you should pray. It's not meant to be an occasional thing that we do once a week where a pastor does it for us on a stage. Prayer is meant to shape every single moment of our lives. It really is. And this is what James is teaching us. And he says that the effective prayer of someone who's righteous, it can do a lot. It can accomplish a whole bunch. Prayer can bring healing. Praise God. Like the Bible is all about healing. If we pray in faith for people who are sick, they can be healed. I am far too guilty of getting sick, getting a cold and immediately running to my medicine and cabinet and pulling out the Dayquil and just chugging Dayquil because I feel sick. And how often do I actually grab the people around me and be like, guys, pray for me, like lay hands on me, pray for me. And maybe if I just did that, I wouldn't have to take Dayquil anymore. But how often do we face circumstances like sickness, face circumstances like suffering or challenging times in life, and we don't actually lean on prayer. We lean on all of the other things things to get us through. But what James is telling us is like, you have got to pray. No matter what season of life you're in, pray. You're either singing praises, you're praying, you're asking for healing, you're praying for breakthrough. Whatever that is, you are praying no matter what circumstance you're facing. And what makes it easier is when we immerse ourselves in communities of people who do that. I think that's the value of being involved in a house of prayer, the value of being involved in a community of prayer at your local church, getting on the prayer team and being in the prayer meetings at your local church, because these are people who are doing that to some degree, probably more than others within the church. They're people who value prayer in such a way that they would pray often. They pray with others often. And, you know, we talked about this a little bit last week that sometimes prayer is more often caught than taught. I can tell you all these Bible verses about why you should pray, why you should pray with others, but if we don't actually do it with others, then we're going to miss out. And so it's valuable to immerse yourself in a praying community because these are people who are going to firstly turn to prayer. So, Lord, would you help all of us be people who would firstly turn to prayer in the good times and the bad times and the suffering and the sickness and all of it. We want to turn to prayer as a first response rather than a last resort. Okay. I'm going to continue on here. This is my favorite. I can talk about this forever. So I've got to limit myself here. All right. As the end of the age draws near, scripture calls us to prayer as always. Our anchor in the midst of cultural chaos. My favorite verse on the end times in prayer is 1 Peter 4, 7. Peter says, the end of all things is near. That means literally the end times are approaching. Like the end of this age is drawing near. Therefore, be of sound judgment and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer. So in light of the end of all things drawing near, light of the end times being at hand, what do we do? We pray. That's what Peter says anyway. We've got to be alert, sober, have sound judgment so that we can engage ourselves in prayer. I think what Peter's saying here is that clarity and devotion are essential for staying rooted in God's kingdom and what is coming. We can become so easily intoxicated by the distractions of this age. There's things like materialism, social media. That's That one's far too easy for all of us. Pleasure-seeking, fear-driven news cycles. I mean, that's just increasing more and more. It's what's going on in the world, what's going on in our backyard. I mean, we can become intoxicated on these realities. We can be intoxicated on immorality. We can get busy and we can have a dull heart, which really leaves us prayerless by the end of the day. We become so intoxicated that we get immobilized in life and we don't pray. But what Peter is saying is that hey guys there's some significant consequences at hand the end of all things is near you've got to be you've got to have good judgment you've got to be aware you've got to be sober in your spirit not intoxicated by all of these other pleasures by all of these other distractions because you're called to pray the purpose of of you being on earth in the midst of the end of all things is that you would pray effectively come on i'm so excited by choosing sobriety and prayer, we rise above these distractions by being alert in prayer. We align with God's purposes in whatever the circumstance looks like, and we're strengthened to remain faithful through tribulation and through testing. Paul says to the Romans, he says, be devoted to one another in brotherly love, give preference to one another in honor, not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord, rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoting to prayer. Like, this is the apostolic prayer pattern. You see this, guys, that it wasn't just a momentary thing that happened in the book of Acts. It wasn't just a couple believers who were excited and had a prayer meeting and it was like, oh, that's cute. Let's let these excited people have the prayer meeting and do their thing. No, they were discipling these communities and calling people to significant value of of prayer. That even in the midst of tribulation, in the midst of the end of all things drawing near, that we would be people who would engage in prayer. Oh, we can't let prayer stay in the back room anymore. We can't let prayer be the most ill-attended meeting that we do in our churches. We have got to make prayer the priority of the body of Christ. It's littered throughout the scriptures. It's littered throughout the New Testament as the apostolic pattern that we would be people devoted to prayer no matter the season or the circumstance. And finally, I'll finish off on this. Prayer invites God's joy and refreshing presence into our lives and our relationships. Paul links the prayers of the church to the ability to experience joy and peace within community, showing that prayer is not just about requests. It's not just about like getting stuff from God. But it's about connection, primarily with God, but also with others. When we pray, we participate in the work of the kingdom while being refreshed, encouraged, and strengthened for the journey. Prayer helps us come together in love and anticipation, creating an atmosphere where God's power moves and where our hearts are renewed in friendship and in hope. So oftentimes in our prayer room, we have a 15 minute segment every day where we're at every prayer meeting where we are praying Bible verses of alignment, things that speak of our identity or our functionality in God's kingdom. And many of those verses talk about like abounding in love and living in harmony, living in unity and loving one another as yourself. All of these things that we all want to walk in, but sometimes they feel crazy. impossible. And I believe that the way that we actually walk in alignment with those truths about who God says we are or how he's called us to live is that we would pray our way into it. So Romans 15 verses 30 and 32, Paul says, now I urge you brothers and sisters by our Lord Jesus, by the love of the spirit, strive together with me in your prayers to God for me. So we've read this earlier. He says, so that I may come to you in joy by the will of God and relax in your So Paul is like desiring, hey, I just want to be with you. Church in Rome, like I want to be, I just want to be close to you. Paul was clearly a quality time guy. And I think he gets that from God. God seems to be like a quality time guy. It's like, I want to be with you and relax in your company. I want to be refreshed in your presence. But he said that the way that that's going to happen is you've got to strive together with me in prayers. Like there's got to be an open door for you. for us to make that happen. And how many of our relationships are in contention? How many chasms in relationship that we have with people in the body of Christ? Maybe it's just theological or philosophical differences that we have with people that have kept us living at a distance from one another. And I just believe that the way for us to close that distance is the exact same thing that Paul is asking for in Romans 15. Guys, I want to relax in your presence. I want to be with you. I want to enjoy you. So pray that God would open a door. Strive together with me in prayer that God would bind us together and close the distance. I think of Paul writing to the Thessalonian church, a church that was heavily persecuted. And Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 3 verse 9, For what thanks can we give to God for you in return for all the joy with which we rejoice because of you before our God? As we keep praying most earnestly night and day that we may He prays over them. Like, clearly connected to the idea that he wants to be with the Thessalonian people. He needs God to direct his path to them. And then he prays that they would overflow in love for one another so that they would walk in established blamelessness. They'd walk in established holiness until Jesus shows back up. That together, that we would walk in a greater degree of spiritual maturity and holy holiness. But the key here is we've got to pray. We've got to, we've got to yearn for one another and believe that God wants to bring refreshing or these times of refreshing these, these moments of, of unity with other believers so that we would together walk in a greater degree of maturity until he returns. I was listening to my pastor actually at my local church and he was talking about praying for your enemies. And it's like, ah, so much of my heart doesn't want to pray for those who are my enemies or for those who persecute me. But the more that we do, it becomes harder and harder for us to really harbor offense toward those people. It becomes harder for us to consider them our enemies. It becomes harder for us to think poorly of them because we're praying and we're getting God's heart for them. And so I am convinced that if we would commit to praying together for God to bind the church together, to close the distance where there's relational gap, where there's relational tension, that we would walk in holiness and we would experience refreshing in prayer. So I think that there's so much here that is helpful and that's provoking and challenging that we would not just read stories from the book of Acts about how the early fathers of the church did prayer, but that we would pull from their letters and pull from the way that they discipled the communities that they were involved with, and that we would begin to live out this apostolic prayer pattern, that we would walk in the power of prayer. We'd find prayer purpose in prayer, and also that we learn how to partner with God and with one another in prayer. Amen. Amen.