Prayer: When the Church Lets God Choose

In this episode of the Press Movement Podcast, we step into the opening chapter of Acts of the Apostles—the birth of the New Testament church.

About 120 believers gather in an upper room waiting for the promise Jesus gave them: the Holy Ghost. But while they wait in prayer, they also face an important decision. Judas has fallen, leaving a place empty among the twelve apostles. The church must now decide who will fill that role.

Instead of campaigning, debating, or fighting for position, the disciples do something powerful.

They pray.

“Lord, which knowest the hearts of all men, show whether of these two thou hast chosen.”

This moment reveals something critical about the church: position in God's kingdom is not political—it is spiritual. The early believers understood that leadership belongs to the Lord. Their job was not to manufacture authority but to seek God until He revealed it.

In a world where titles are chased and positions are fought over, Acts chapter one reminds us that God's house belongs to Him. When we let Him set the order, the church becomes exactly what it was meant to be.

Prayer still reaches every single situation—even the decisions that shape the church.

Follow us on Facebook or Instagram or enjoy our blogs and even more episodes at www.presstopray.com!

Transcript

Press means to apply force. When God said press, prayer reaches every single situation. He gave us permission to apply force to every situation that we will go through.

And in this podcast, we are going to learn to apply force to what's applying pressure to us. Greetings, everyone, and welcome to the Press Movement Podcast as we enter into the Book of Acts. But first, I want to share with you something that I find exciting.

One, we have less than 20 episodes left going through the prayers of the Bible. I don't know what we're going to do after that, but I'm excited because when I started this journey nearly two years ago, saying I was going to study every prayer in the Bible, I didn't really take into account how long that was going to take nor how profitable it would be. But I knew it would be good because it is the word of the Lord.

And I am so grateful for this podcast and for what I've learned in doing it. And even as I look at the countdown now to being done with this portion of it, I'm excited. So hop on this journey.

Share this with somebody if you haven't. Please pay it forward. Send it to somebody who's trying to study the Bible, trying to learn how to pray, or maybe they're just going through something that needs some encouragement.

But let's send it out. The other thing I want to share with you is that the Press Movement is expanding. Her Press has come about.

Now, what is Her Press? Her Press is the branch of the Press Movement that focuses solely on women. The way the Lord loves us, the way He cares about us, and the way He hears us. You can find Her Press on Facebook and stay tuned for further updates about Her Press.

Now we're going to the book of Acts. And Acts is probably one of my favorite books in the Bible because Acts shows the church how to act. It is the birth of the modern day church.

What they did in the book of Acts is exactly what we're born to do today, spiritually speaking, that is. We are the church of the living God. Before the book of Acts, God had dealt with people through the Old Testament by letting them know Him through the man of God or the prophet of God.

They had to know Him from a distance. They had to know Him through a third party. But as time went on and we get through the New Testament, you see in the Gospels that the Bible says He wrapped Himself up in flesh and He was born of a virgin and He called Himself Jesus.

And so Jesus dwelt among the people and He walked among them. And they got to say, Emmanuel, God is with us. They got to see the hand of God firsthand.

They got to understand what the Lord was requiring of them. They got to be rebuked. They got to be challenged.

But they got to see miracles and wonders. They got to hear prophecies and see prophecies fulfilled. But Jesus's time on earth was limited to about 33 short years.

And after that, it was time for His name and His spirit to pick up where His hands left off. And He did that by sending what John 14 calls the Comforter or the Holy Ghost. He said, I will not leave you comfortless.

I will come to you. And so the way He came to us, as He stated in John 14, the way He came to us was by way of His spirit, which we will see poured out as we look into Acts further. But as we enter the book of Acts today, what they're waiting for is exactly that.

They're waiting for the promise of God that He is going to send His spirit. He told them in the book of Luke, you will be endued with power from on high. That word endued means clothed.

And He told them to go tarry in Jerusalem and go wait in Jerusalem. And so you see here in the book of Acts that there are about 120 gathered. And they're gathered in what's called the upper room.

The person writing the book of Acts is Luke. So the author of the book of Luke also writes Acts in a way you could call them part one and part two. The book of Luke deals with Jesus's life and Acts picks up where his life leaves off.

He wrote the book to a man named Theophilus. And Luke says of himself when writing that he has perfect understanding of all things from the very first. So history teachers, I think that makes me laugh.

It makes me laugh every time somebody says they know everything, right? But Luke said, hey, I've got a grip on this. I understand it from the very beginning. And he's writing it to his brother, friend, son, we don't know, but Theophilus.

Luke was a doctor. And so you do see that he was an intelligent man. He would have had a great understanding of what was happening and the ability to connect his thoughts well.

Both Luke and Acts are written in great detail. And they're written that way for a reason. And the reason is that is the way the author thinks.

He thinks in great detail. He wants to deal with understanding. So he's going to tell you the stories as accurately as he possibly can.

That is true for the book of Luke as well as the book of Acts. So when we get to Acts chapter one, he starts the book of Acts by closing out the book of Luke. The former treaty have I made with Theophilus of all that Jesus began both to do and teach.

So what I've written to you formally, that was about what Jesus began both to do and teach. Until the day that he was taken up. After that, he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen.

He's picking up exactly where Luke leaves off. I wrote this to you then, but I'm telling you now, this is the continuation of the story. Perhaps that's probably the most important thing we can say about the book of Acts is that it is the continuation of Jesus's story.

I've heard people say of certain doctrines or certain teachings, well, you only see that in Acts or you can only teach that from Acts. But Acts is where you get the to be continued picked up. It is where the church comes to life.

Acts shows us, us, the modern day church, how the church is to act. The Bible says that Jesus showed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs. He showed up more than once, actually, after his resurrection, more than twice.

And to various people, he was seen of them 40 days. And he spoke of them things pertaining to the kingdom of God. He didn't live among them in the same way he had, but he would show up.

I think it was John who records the door was shut and Jesus appeared in the middle of their conversation in John 20 or 21. He would just show up. And so they were sure he wasn't dead.

And this was a time of reconciling for his disciples. It was a time they needed him because after the death of Jesus, think about it. They had given up their lives to follow him for the last three, three and a half years.

They had left all they had. They had left their employment. They were now ostracized because their master was dead.

Some wanted them dead as well. They were targets. They were made fun of.

They were scared. They were hiding. But in the middle of all that, as you read the end of all the gospels, you see that whether you're reading Matthew 27, 28, whether you're reading Mark 16-ish or Luke 23, 24-ish and John 20, 21-ish, those end of those gospels, no matter what you see, Jesus showed up.

But all along, he had never planned to live forever in the flesh. His flesh always had an expiration date. But what he had planned to do was send his spirit.

And he wanted them to encounter his spirit. And that's why he sent them to Jerusalem. It's funny to me because they had experiences with the move of God and with the spirit of God.

The Bible lets you know that he allowed them to cast out devils. He sent them out to minister. And yet they still needed his spirit.

And it's in Acts chapter one that they're sitting there and they're waiting based on what God has said. The Bible says that Jesus told them, John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence. Note the miracles being around him, the signs, the wonders.

Him knowing their name did not mean they had the Holy Ghost. They still had to sit and wait. I'll go as far as to say giving birth to Jesus did not mean you did not need the Holy Ghost.

For we see in Acts 114 that in this upper room waiting, Mary, the mother of Jesus is there with all the disciples and Jesus' brethren. He's sending them to wait and receive something that everybody's going to need. John got it started by baptizing with water, but the Holy Ghost is what he said is coming now.

And they wanted to talk to him. It's so funny to me because he's telling them you're going to get the Holy Ghost not many days hence. And when they got together in verse 6, they're like, Lord, without this time restoring in the kingdom of Israel, I can only imagine how exasperated Jesus had to be because you're trying to talk about a kingdom down here and I'm trying to give you me, all of me, the power of me, the spirit of me, and you're worried about kingdoms.

So he answers them and he says, it is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the father put in his own power. And he switches back to the subject he had, which is the Holy Ghost. But you shall receive power.

After that, the Holy Ghost has come upon you and you shall be witnesses unto me, both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and in Samaria and unto the uttermost part of the earth. So he didn't let them detour him from what he was saying and get caught up in politics or get caught up in Game of Thrones. He is talking about real power in heaven.

And that is a greater mission than anything down here. Perhaps that's something we can take away in the climate we live in. Don't get distracted.

Don't get distracted even by things that may seem big to our eyes down here. There is something bigger. There is something greater.

And it is in the Holy Ghost. The Bible says when he said these things, he was caught up and they were watching him. And then two men appear in white apparel, presumably angels.

And they're like, men of Galilee, why standing here gazing into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven shall so come in like manner as you have seen him go into heaven. In other words, he's coming back. Stop standing and gazing.

And with that, then return they unto Jerusalem from the Mount called Olivet, which is from Jerusalem a Sabbath day's journey. And so they come in and they go into this upper room. And the Bible says they all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication with the women and Mary, the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren and all the disciples.

And in those days, the Bible says that Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples, which was about 120 of them. And he said, the scriptures have to be fulfilled, which was spoken of by the Holy Ghost. Again, the Holy Ghost operated before it was poured out.

It always worked. It was always there because it's God. It's who he is.

It is the comforter, the spirit of truth. So it's existed before time because God existed before time. But now it's existing to stay.

God wants to stay with you. But Peter stands up and he wants them to remember, we got to handle some business while we're here. They're in prayer, they're in worship, but they have to handle church business because again, this is the beginning of the church.

And the business of the church was not raising offering or buying property or anything at this time. The business of the church was making sure that the structure, the organizational structure was in order. And Peter is telling them, hey, we've lost one.

By this point, Judas, who betrayed Jesus and sold him out so that they would come and find him in Gethsemane and he would die. Judas has killed himself. And so there's an empty place in the twelve disciples.

There's a spot open. And Peter is saying, we need to fill this spot. And he bases it on the book of Psalms when their scripture says, according to Acts 120, let his habitation be desolate and let no man dwell therein and his bishopric let another take.

So Peter says in verse 21, we've had these men with us and they were with us in the time that Jesus went in and out amongst us. So they've seen Jesus, they've watched Jesus. This tells you very clearly that there were more than the twelve disciples with Jesus in a lot of places.

There were other disciples and people following him. At one time, he sent out 70, right? And then that wouldn't have even included like the women or the children that might be behind him. There were groups of people following him.

But they narrow it down in verse 23 of the people who've seen him go in and out, beginning from the baptism of John until the day that he was taken up. And they've determined that it's between Joseph called Barabbas, who was surnamed Justice, and Matthias. So Joseph has three names and Matthias has one.

And the disciples had enough wherewithal to say, OK, these are the two we would pick from. But they turn and they're asking the Lord to let them know who he's choosing. The Bible says, and they prayed and said, Thou, Lord, which knows the hearts of all men, show whether of these two thou hast chosen.

That he may take part of this ministry and apostleship from which Judas by transgression fell, that he may go to his own place. So their prayer was, God, show us what you want. Show us who you want in leadership.

This is an important prayer to the church, to the body, to understand that we can look and say people are good or they are great and even want to give them position. But at the end of the day, it is the Lord's to give. Sometimes people get so upset over position and they want to have a title and they want to be somebody.

I didn't know people really do that on the level that they do. But trust me, since having been a PK, they really do that. There are people who will feel like they're greater than the position they're currently holding and they're being held back because they have to serve or choose to serve, I should say, in the kitchen when they think, Hey, I should be leading the kitchen by now or they choose to serve amongst the ushers.

But now they feel like they've done that and they should be leading the ushers or they want to be the assistant pastor or whatever the case may be. People can really feel like position is something they should have. But in God's true church, position is not a power move.

Position is not political. Position is not schemed for. But God gives position.

And I know when I say true church, you can probably name a church where, yep, I've seen it or such and such. And they all say church on the door. But I'm telling you, God has a church and it's not just about what's on the door.

He has order to his body and it is up to his body to let him set things in order. And that's what they prayed. They prayed that God set up the structure for his own people.

And he did just that. The Bible says that they gave forth their lot. Basically, we would call it the equivalent of like drawing straws.

Whoever gets the shortest, that's who he's chosen. But they gave their lots and the lot fell upon him with Thais. And the Bible says he was numbered with the 11.

And that was the end of it. You don't see that have to be revisited in conversation. You don't see where Joseph Busaba's justice has to be set down because he's mad.

No, you don't see any of that. This is the end of it. Both in the mind of man were qualified.

But really what mattered was what does God say? Can you imagine if we let God make all the decisions just like that? Whatever you say, Lord, it's your house. It's your church. It's your people.

Today, I pray for those of us that are in the body of Christ and that are in the church. Because there's so many places, like I said, that have the label church on the door, but don't have the essence of the church that God called or created us to be. Let's pray for them today.

Because at the end of the day, the church, the true church belongs to God. And it is that true church that will stand up in this hour and follow him in everything. We still want him in our lives.

We still want him in our decisions. We still want him in our organization. We still want to follow his steps.

We want God to have his way. Somebody, I pray you'll intercede for the body of Christ today. That they remember that the house is the Lord's.

The church is the Lord's and he alone sets the order. And we can trust God with the order because we know prayer reaches every single situation. Join the movement.

Join the community. Like, share, and subscribe to this podcast. Visit us at PressToPray.com or find us on Instagram or Facebook.

Did you know that when you are quiet, your voice is missing to God's ears? I know some of us have prayed and were wondering, how long should I pray about this? Why should I pray if God already knows? How will I know God is answering? And what do I do when I feel like God's not listening? But God is listening for your voice. It's too quiet in this world for the troubles we have. You have to raise your voice and God wants to hear from you.

It's Too Quiet, a book about prayer. It's designed to answer your prayer questions and build your faith. Visit PressToPray.com