Devoted and of One Accord

Read: Acts 1:12-26

“All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers…And they prayed and said, “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside” (v. 14,24)

Prayer has always been a central part of the lives of God’s people. When we read the scriptures we see a glimpse of prayer that, in some ways, looks quite different from the ways we pray today. These don’t seem like short blips before meals… or the “shout outs” that we tack on as transitions between worship songs or the pastor taking the stage… but rather something more substantial and weighty. ONE OF THE FIRST THINGS WE ARE TOLD THAT THE PEOPLE OF GOD / THE CHURCH DO IS PRAY. These were large groups of people gathered together, and they were spending their time praying. Notice in v.14 it says that they were “devoting themselves”. Think of that term: “devoting” / devotions. This is an intentional, meaningful, coordinated, and purposeful approach to praying. Likewise, they were doing this “with one accord”. We so often think of prayer as a more “personal” act than something we do together in “one accord”. These prayers were coordinated! This praying was happening APART from the “leaders” (think “pastors” / “church staff”) having to drive it. You see, the apostles come back down from the mountain top and enter into a room where the people are gathered praying! They prayed together without their “pastor” telling them to! (v.13) LOL! Any powerful Kingdom-centered movement of the people of God will have at its center intentional, weighty, prayer by God’s people gathered together “in one accord” and devoting themselves to it as a crucial part of life… as a “main course”, not just the “icing on the cake”.

This early church was 120 people. (v.15) and made up of apostles, disciples, women, and family members. They would gather together for prayer among other things that we will see in the upcoming passages. There was enough structure and leadership that a person (in this case Peter) would be able to address the gathering and give some direction to the activities of God’s people. Notice how responsibility was spread out among God’s people, not just concentrated in one “professional holy person”. You don’t get the feeling that these people were simply spectators of Peter… no they were gathered as a team! The people of God are called to be servant leaders - not leaders of servants! There is a shift of mindset that needs to take place. This leads me to one final idea here that I find kind of odd.

What is it with the number 12? Why do they have to replace Judas? (If you go back and read the Psalms Peter uses as “proofs” of needing to replace his spot… well… I will let you determine if they are convincing.) Why couldn’t they just roll with 11? Why couldn’t they just take both Matthias and Justus? The number twelve does seem to coincide with the 12 tribes of Israel, but why did God pick 12? One thing that I do see for sure is this: There is something SPECIAL and IMPORTANT about this SMALLER UNIT of God’s people… the number doesn’t seem to be arbitrary to them! I am more and more convinced that the people of God need to be in these robust 12 person units in addition to the 120 person gathered spaces. I am not willing to say that 12 is a magic number… but it sure did not seem like the Apostles thought it was no big deal to be down a man… or that the spot should just be filled with whomever. Look at how they prayed about it! What if we began praying about the 12 person units God was calling us into? Did you see how they rolled dice to pick between the two guys? (v.26) This is hilarious… right? Do we believe God is in control of all tings so much so that we would trust him controlling how dice fell to tell us his desires!?! All 120 people were praying about who should fill this slot! it is kind of wild if you ask me. Imagine if your typical “church” had 120 people praying about who should fill an opening. God brought unity to them. God directed them. It was a combination of them praying and them a final decision being cast. I believe that their prayers brought them to consensus on Matthias and the casting of lots was an affirmation from God of the direction they felt led in by their praying. God affirms the work he is doing in his people in their prayers!

What 12 person unit are you in? What are you “devoting yourself to”? What or who are you “of one accord” with? God works powerfully when his people are gathered in groups of 120… and he works powerfully when we work in our 12 person teams. We need both settings. In both of these settings… there are no spectators… no leaders of servants; the people of God are servant leaders of each other! Would you be willing to trust God to lead you into this type of prayer and community? Would you trust him to give you the names of the other 11? Would you trust him to show up when you gather as 120? One of the first building blocks of God’s people is prayer… gathered, devoted, “of one accord”, intentional prayer that happens even when the “pastor” isn’t telling you to do it! Ha! Love you guys. - JDP