Acts

Week 1 (September 12-18)

Scripture: Acts 1:14

Background: For the three and a half years of his public ministry, large crowds of people saw Jesus teaching, healing, and performing many miracles. But it was only his small group of 12 apostles who witnessed Jesus’ everyday life - his daily habits. What they saw, and shared with us in the Gospel accounts, is that Jesus was a man of prayer. He would often wake up before dawn, stay up late into the night, and leave by himself to secluded places so that he could escape the crowds and spend time in prayer. When they asked him to, Jesus taught the disciples how to pray (see Luke 11:1-13). However, we do not see the apostles themselves praying until we get to the first chapter of Acts, after Jesus had already died, resurrected, and ascended into heaven. Why is this? Prior to this time, they had direct access to Jesus and could ask him anything, face to face, which in essence was like praying, although they did not fully understand this at the time. We see in John 15:26 - 6:28, Jesus explaining to the apostles that he would soon be leaving them, but that they wouldn’t be left alone. He would send the Holy Spirit and they would also have direct access to God the Father through prayer. With that context in mind, let’s read Acts chapter 1, keying in on verses 14 and 21-26.

Insights: Acts 1:24 “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all…” = Greek word “kardiognōsta”, literally heart-knower

Questions:

Have you ever experienced a spiritually rich season that seemed to suddenly come to an end? If so, what was that like? What role, if any, did Christian community and prayer play during the season that followed?

After Jesus resurrected and ascended into heaven, what do you think are some things that kept His followers together? What did they still have in common?

Although Jesus often prayed alone, when He taught his disciples how to pray, He taught them to pray corporately: “Our Father… forgive us our debts…” etc. Here in Acts, we also see the disciples constantly joining together in prayer. Why is it important for us to pray together as Christians? How can we intentionally create opportunities to pray together more often?

In Acts 1:24-25, we see a practical application of the disciples praying together as they chose a replacement for Judas. What are some real-world situations in our lives today that we can spend some time praying together about?

CHALLENGE: Choose to spend an extended amount of time praying. This time can be a short amount of time on several different days or an extended time on one day or night. Write down what you are going to pray about to keep track of results. Be ready to share at next week’s LifeGroup meeting.