Acts 6:1-7

I pray that the spirit of God that has been moving so powerfully during worship this afternoon will continue to speak to our hearts this afternoon as well. Please turn your Bibles to the book of Acts, chapter 6. I’ll read for you verses 1 through 7, Acts 6:1-7. 

In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Grecian Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. So the twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, “It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. Brothers, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them, and we’ll give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.” This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, also Philip, Procurus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenus, and Nicholas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism. They presented these men to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them. So the word of God spread, the number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.

We ended last week by looking at a further increase in the life of the church of the book of Acts. Acts 5:42 ended with the word of God telling us that they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ. In the immediate context of this passage in Acts 6, we’ve already seen two strategies by the enemy to try to distract and to derail the work of the people of God. One was persecution; that did not work. Then he tried to bring corruption within the church, that didn’t work either. And now we see him in Acts 6 for the first time bringing division and conflict within the church as well. When he is not able to do what he’s trying to accomplish by his first work, he tries to go into something else, which is something we have to constantly guard against.

Verse one reads like this, “In those days when the number of disciples was increasing…” This is a theme that we have already seen quite beautifully in the book of Acts: God continuously adding more and more believers into the fold of God, “the Hellenistic Jews among them complained about the Hebraic Jews.” One of the things that we see all throughout church history is that Satan is involved in a different kind of mathematics compared to our Lord. When God sets out to multiply, the devil schemes to divide. When God wants to multiply, the devil schemes to divide. And any time you have growth – spiritually, numerically – within the walls of the church, one of the things that you very much have to be aware of is the work of the devil to divide the church. I think all of us are first-hand witnesses of these things happening, and so we know exactly what we’re talking about in Acts 6 as well. When there is spiritual growth, when there is numerical growth, when the church is growing and moving forward, the devil will always scheme to divide. 

Now, we are, as somebody said the other day, a medium-sized church, by the grace of God. If God gives us, more importantly spiritual growth, more in the days to come, and when numerical growth happens, these are the kind of things that we have to be very, very careful about, as we study in God’s word. It is much easier to have unity within a group of people that have a fixed goal. But as God adds other people with maybe different kinds of vision within the walls of the church, there’s always this possibility of division within the walls of the church. These things are written in God’s word for us to understand clearly the dangers that can happen in the life of the New Testament Church.

In the translation that I read, it said that they complained, but actually, the word that is used by Luke in the original language should have been more aptly translated as murmuring, grumbling. This was not a complaint in the sense of them going to the apostles and telling them that there was a neglect that was going on, a problem that needed to be addressed. This was more of a private murmuring that was happening in the hallways, two or three people gathering together. “Did you see that? Did you hear that? You know, when… look what he preached about. Look what is doing. This is not good, you know,” and the small cliques that are happening within the walls of the church that the apostles heard about. In fact, in the book of Philippians, the Apostle Paul will use the same word and tell us not to grumble as believers. So this was not a legitimate complaint. A complaint is when you go to the right person at the right time with the right spirit and air a right grievance to bring about a right resolution.

Let me repeat that again, “go to the right person at the right time with the right spirit, airing a right grievance to bring about what? A right solution.” But oftentimes what we see happening is that the right person doesn’t hear about it; it is not the right time, the spirit is not right, and the grievance is not right either. So all four of these things have to be right in order for it to be a legitimate complaint where the person is truly interested in making a change for the betterment of the kingdom of God within the walls of the church.

So what is happening here is speaking privately in a low tone, more like murmuring. They have very much hesitancy to complain directly to the apostles. So they are basically walking around in the hallways – I don’t know if there were hallways then – but if they did, they were just murmuring to each other. And it was John White in his book on leadership who said this, “Grumblers seldom take their issues directly to those who can resolve it.” Let me repeat that again, “People who complain and grumble often do not take the issue directly to the very people who can resolve it.” Because unfortunately, resolving the issue is not what is needed for many of them; it just feels good to complain about something, and that’s what’s happening.

But here, what we see is that the grumbling they were doing, even though they were not doing it the right way, was actually legitimate, and that is why the apostles would address it. Oftentimes, as pastors, even if we hear something that is going on within the walls of the church, we need to address it, even if you don’t come directly to us. If we hear about it and if we feel like it needs to be addressed, we do it. Why? Because it is for the betterment of the church. But always do it to the right person at the right time, at the right tone, with the right spirit to have the right solution.

So the Bible tells us there’s a conflict now. Two groups of people are introduced to us in Acts 6:1. In the portion that I read, it said the Grecian Jews; the more common translation is Hellenistic Jews. There’s a big deal of interpretation as to who these Hellenistic Jews are. The most common interpretation is this: these are Jews who had been Jews by birth, Jews born in a Jewish family like the Apostle Paul, but they grew up in a Greek culture far away from Jerusalem, and they had learned to speak the language of Greek but not Hebrew and Aramaic, which was the common language of the Hebrew people. 

So it’s kind of like, in a way, kind of like a Malayali that is born and raised overseas – still has all the Malayali roots and traditions but doesn’t speak Malayalam. That’s kind of what the Hellenistic Jews are. You still eat the chor and the moru but do not know a word of Malayalam. So the Hellenistic Jews are kind of like that; they have a point of contact with the Gentile world without having gone over to the habits of the Gentiles. The Hellenistic Jews follow Jewish background but yet they speak a different language.

There’s a problem; they have “our widows are being discriminated against in the way they are being taken care of in the service of the table within the walls of the church.” Now, what is this? There was a very important tradition among the Jewish people; every Friday in the temple, all the money they would collect at the temple, they would give it to the widows and the poor of the community. Each gifting on a given Friday was enough to give them 14 meals throughout the week, two meals for each day. Then, not only that, on any given day, the poor, the widow could come to the temple and receive from the synagogue a gift enough for them to feed their belly for that day. So, charitable work was something that was very important in the Jewish culture.

When these people became Christians, guess what, they continued to take care of the widows. Many of these widows were people, it’s thought, who had moved back to Jerusalem because they wanted to die in the Holy Land. Their husbands had passed away in their old age, they wanted to be buried in the Holy Land, and they moved back to Palestine. But they had no source of income, no husband to support them. So, they were very much dependent upon the religious establishment of that time to feed them and to give them the proper things that were needed. They would often live in group homes, and the meals or what was needed, they would receive from the temple. This was continued by the Christian Church as well. Now, what was the complaint? Well, our widows, the widows that are coming from a Grecian Jewish background, are not being taken care of as well as the widows or predominantly Jewish people who are speaking Hebrew, Aramaic, who were born and raised in the land of Palestine. Basically, the foreigners are not being taken care of as well as the original people who were living in the land.

So what happened? Verse 2, the twelve gathered all the disciples together. This is the first time and the only time in the Book of Acts where the apostles are mentioned by this one terminology, ‘the twelve.’ I love that, that twelve. Their names are not mentioned, ‘the twelve.’ What it means is that what they’re saying is of unity of mind and spirit. So that when one is speaking, it’s like all twelve were speaking. Isn’t that wonderful? The twelve gathered all the disciples together. Verse one is the first time in the Book of Acts the word ‘disciple’ is used. In fact, it becomes the most common word that is used for believers in the Book of Acts, ‘disciples.’ I love that word. You know what the difference between a disciple and a believer is? A believer is somebody who has made a profession of Christ but has not taken possession of Christ. Let me repeat that again:

A believer is somebody who has professed Christ with his lips but has not taken possession of Christ within. But a disciple has not only professed Christ but he has also taken possession of Christ within him. So that now, he takes up his cross and he follows after Him. That is a true disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ. There’s a big difference between people who are just casual believers and disciples. Disciples are willing to follow through the thick and the thin, follow after the Lord. And that’s a beautiful word that we have in the Book of Acts about the followers of the Lord Jesus Christ.

They gathered together and said, “It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the Word of God in order to wait on tables.” They come to the man and say, “We have a problem here. There is a legitimate complaint that has arisen from the people, that there needs to be more support given to the serving of the table, especially taking care of the widows. But here’s the problem: we’ve been doing that quite a bit and that is taking away from the primary responsibility that God has given to us, teaching and preaching of God’s word.”

Now one thing very important to keep in mind, just because you read this passage where it says ‘it would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the Word of God in order to wait on tables,’ does not mean that waiting on tables is somehow lower than preaching the Word of God. And you will see that very clearly in the next verse. The understanding here is this: the apostles are called by God primarily to, what, preach the Word of God. If they do not continue to do that but they are cleaning tables, taking the trash out, and doing other things in the church, it is going to take time away from the primary responsibility that God has given to them.As we know from God’s word, every single one of us has been given at least one gift by the Holy Spirit to do ministry within the walls of the church. Some people are given multiple gifts, some are given at least one gift. In fact, God will never ever place anyone in the body of Christ without giving them at least one gift in the body of Christ.

One of the things that we have great responsibility for as leaders in the church is to look at every believer and see the gifting that you have. You should pray, if you do not know what your gifting is, that God will reveal that to you, and then you use it for the glory of God. The apostles are given the task to minister the word of God. As such, they are not supposed to neglect that in order to wait on tables. Alister Beck has a beautiful sentence on this topic of the importance of the ministry of the word of God as opposed to waiting on tables. Here’s what he says: ‘Waiting on tables cannot take the place of the ministry of the Word of God. That is why soup kitchens cannot take the place of the ministry of the Word of God. That is why social action cannot take the place of the proclamation of God’s truth.’ He continues, ‘If you think that you can just have worship and not preaching, he continues, that is why singing cannot take the place of the proclamation of God’s word. It is God’s word which is light and reality and food for the soldier and the map for the traveler.'”

See, soup kitchens, social actions, singing, all that is needed in the life of the church. But you know what the most important thing that we do here week after week is? It is what is happening right now, the proclamation of God’s word and God’s truth. It is what gives life to your soul. It is where you are fed. If we come here and tell you how good you look and take care of you, pat you on the back, and take you out to lunch, spend time with you, we are not feeding your soul, we are feeding your body and your mind. But your soul is being famished.

You know how you are being fed in your inner man, which needs to get stronger every day? That is by the preaching of God’s word. Out of all the responsibilities that God has given to pastors in the church, the number one thing that a shepherd is supposed to do is to feed the sheep. See, if I take the sheep out for lunch, if I spend time with sheep, if I call the sheep all the time, if I go to the sheep’s house, if I call them on their birthday, if I call them at every chance I get, at least once a week, at least once every month, I go to the sheep’s house but I never feed the sheep, you know what will happen to the sheep after a month, maybe not even a month? I don’t know how long it can go without food, it will die. That is why God very clearly tells us, to the shepherd: ‘Feed the sheep.'”

In fact, I will tell you, one Pastor, Adrian Rogers, once said, “A pastor who is available all the time is not much good when he is available.” Let me repeat that again, a pastor who is available all the time is not much good when he is available. And we’ll see why that is when you come to the later verses.The primary responsibility that we have is the preaching and the teaching of God’s word. So, here is what I proposed instead, verse 3, “Brothers and sisters, select from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and wisdom, who may be put in charge of this task.”

Now, why did I tell you in verse 2 that waiting on the tables was an important job in the mind of God? See, serving the bread on the table needs the fullness of the Spirit that serving the living bread requires as well. In serving the living bread, which is preaching of God’s word, you need the fullness of the Spirit of God. The Word of God is saying, even in serving the physical bread, you need the fullness and the filling of the Spirit of God.

So, don’t ever think that waiting on the table is somehow less of a task than preaching of the word. We’re all called to do different things in the body of Christ. Those of you who work so hard within the walls of the church, I want to encourage you this afternoon and tell you the talents and the gifts that God has given to you to organize, do different things within the church, fix different things, may not be seen by everybody, but God has given you that gifting to be used for the glory of God. In the eyes of my God, that is just as important as the preaching of God’s word from the pulpit.

I am called to preach. I am not called to fix things within the church. I don’t have that gifting. I need to recognize what my gifting is and do it for the glory of God. It is not less of a task at all, because look at the qualifications, 3:1. See, I love this. It doesn’t say, to serve on the table, get somebody who went to school and has knowledge of food handling practices. Let’s get somebody in there who has a lot of money, so if we’re lacking in money, he can give money to the church. It doesn’t say get somebody with a good business degree. He doesn’t say get somebody that is running a good business outside the world; he will do good business within the church, or get that person, he’s very famous, he’ll be good to be seen in the front of the church. None of the things that we often have traditionally used to pick people for positions of serving within the church are listed in God’s word. Your money doesn’t matter, your position doesn’t matter, your education doesn’t matter, your background doesn’t matter. 

All that matters are three very, very important things: good reputation, full of the Spirit, and full of the wisdom of God. Wow! These are not things that the world could ever give to you. Good reputation is something that you earn by the grace of God and the work of the Spirit of God within you. Full of the Spirit, you can’t go to any college and get that. It is something that God gives to those who wait upon him and has to be filled by it. As one person has so beautifully said, “The Spirit takes residence in the life of every believer, but the Spirit is not the president in the life of every believer.” Let me repeat that again, the Spirit takes residence in the life of the believer, but what God wants is the Spirit to be president in the life of the believer. 

You know what the fullness of the Spirit is? The Spirit becoming the president of your life, not just a resident. The Spirit-controlled life, overflowing of the Spirit of God in the life of the believer so that your words are words the Holy Spirit wants you to speak, your attitude is guided by the power of the Spirit of God inside of you. The way you deal with people, even the countenance on your face, your attitude, everything is directed by the Spirit of God. The fullness of Spirit is so powerful that it drives you to do certain things supernatural that the world could never give to you.

Another one, full of wisdom. A lot of things I could say about wisdom and knowledge. It doesn’t say anything about having worldly knowledge; it says wisdom. You know what the Bible says about knowledge? Knowledge puffs up. You know what wisdom does? It drives you to your knees to ask God for more of what God has given to you. See, knowledge makes you more proud, wisdom drives you to humility. Knowledge makes you think that you know something; wisdom tells you you don’t know everything yet, still keep asking God who can give you more wisdom in your life. The difference between knowledge and wisdom is remarkable, and that’s what God wants his people to be, people who are given to humility in their life. James would tell us, if any of you lack wisdom, what are you supposed to do? Ask. All that you do is ask, and the Heavenly Father will give you wisdom in your life.

I know that a lot of times we don’t have control over our reputation, people may say a lot of things and assume things about you, but these last two things, you can absolutely control that: full of the Spirit, full of the wisdom of God. It is my prayer as a church, these two qualities we will strive for more than anything else in our life. If we are a church of people that are filled with the Spirit of God and filled with the wisdom of God, oh, the sky is the limit on what God can do through us and in us and use us for His glory. 

But, they will do this, verse 4, “We will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” The word “devote” that is used over there is a beautiful word. It literally means “earnestly work towards with steadfast commitment.” This is why this is so important in the life of every pastor, every preacher, every teacher in God’s word. It requires effort. A young man once said to the gifted preacher of God’s word, Donald Gray Barnhouse, “I would give the world to teach the Bible like you.” Looking him straight in the eye, Dr. Barnhouse said, “Good, because that’s exactly what it will cost you.” He said, “I would give the world to preach like you,” and he said, “Good, that is exactly what it will cost you to preach like me.”

Look what God’s word says, “We will devote ourselves not only to preaching but there’s an important word right above it: prayer and the teaching of God’s word.” Do you know how important these two things are? I’m often very much convicted in my own spirit about the amount of time that I get to spend preparing for a Sunday sermon because I read other preachers who spend 30 to 40 hours each week preparing one sermon. You think they’re spending 30 hours each week preparing one sermon because they don’t know what the how to preach? No, a lot of that time is spent in prayer.

Young men in our church, young women who have been doing such a great job preaching God’s word, let me impress upon you: the majority of your time preparation has to be spent in prayer, in the presence of God. When you preach God’s word, prayer and preaching go hand in hand. 

The statistics out there are very bad. There is one survey that came out a few years ago, I hope that’s not true, that it says the average pastor spends three minutes in prayer every day. I hope that is not true. It was an anonymous survey and so it probably was. If the average time is three minutes, there are some that are spending less than three minutes. That is sad. Yes, what we need to do more is to spend time in prayer.

There was a pastor by the name John Emmons, who was pastor at Madison Street Bible Church in the early 1950s. He was a young man when he became pastor of the church. The elder of the church put a sign outside his office door. It read like this: “Do not disturb. In study and in prayer.” “Do not disturb. In study and in prayer.” The elders of the church recognized that the most important thing I can do for my pastor is to give him enough free time to be able to properly spend time in prayer and the study of God’s word, in the presence of God.

Uh, don’t take this the wrong way. I know we come from a tradition where we love our pastor to come to our home at least once every three months. Is that the established rule? And there’s nothing wrong with that. But if your demands of a pastor’s job is taking away from the primary thing that he is called for, then you’re doing a disservice to the body of believers.

I remember talking to a pastor in California, a very well-known pastor, you all know him. I rather not mention his name. He told me in the car, he said to me, he asked me if I ever visit people’s homes, and I said no. I said, “Only if they call me and there’s a need to go there, I never visit any of your homes.” So, if I haven’t visited home, it’s not on purpose. I only do it if there’s a reason to come.

And he turned to me and said, and he’s a pastor who is of the same caliber as Pastor PB, of almost the same age, and he said to me, “I don’t do it either.” He said, “If you have a crisis in your home, I’ll be there from the rising of the sun till the setting of the sun. But without reason, I will not go to anyone’s home.” And I was really shocked by that because he’s a very well established pastor in the Malayali community. 

And I thought, “Your church is okay with it?” He said, “Yes, I have trained my church members to know that my primary job is prayer for you and the study of God’s word, so that when I preach God’s word on a Sunday morning or a Saturday afternoon, it is from the Lord and it is able to enrich their soul and nourish them more than any visit could do to their home.”

I’m not saying that we should change anything, but think about it. Don’t get too upset if your pastor hasn’t visited you in several months. We’ll be there for you in any time that you need us. But just for casual talking and spending time, it is taking away from the study of God’s word and prayer in the life of the pastor. You are doing a disservice to the body of believers.

So, there came a proposal: seven men. This proposal pleased the whole group. The Bible doesn’t say they had a secret ballot or by vote of raising their voice, whatever it might be, but they chose seven men. And God’s word gives to us these seven men: they chose Stephen, whose name means “crown”, and when we study on in God’s word, you see how beautifully his parents named him, by the Providence of God, because here he is about to lay down his life as the first martyr of the Christian church and receive the crown of unfading glory very soon.

Stephen, “crown”. Philip, “lover of horses”. I have no idea why he wanted any horses but his name meant “lover of horses”. Philip. The next name on the list is a beautiful name, use it often: Nicanor. You know what the word Nicanor means? “Conqueror”. That’s what it means. Then there’s the word Timon. Timon means “someone who is honoring”, honoring others. Then comes the word Parmenas. You know what Parmenas means? “Steadfast”. Finally, another beautiful word, Nicholas, “conqueror of people”.

All these beautiful names are given to us in God’s word: “Crown”, “lover of horses”, one who is steadfast, one who is a conqueror, “conqueror of people”, one who is steadfast. Now, I missed one right? Prochorus. You know why I missed it? Because his name literally means “before the dance”. I have no idea what that means: Prochorus, “before the dance”, so it doesn’t really have any kind of biblical meaning.

But the point here is this: five out of these seven men are not mentioned in God’s word again. Only two. But here’s the important thing: these men who were selected first of all to just distribute food to the widows, God would use the first two mightily, and I’m sure God used the other five as well. Stephen would become the first martyr, Philip would become the first evangelist mentioned in the New Testament church.

See, when often God calls you to do something in the church, you’re like, “I have to take the trash out?” See, those who are faithful in the little things, God is faithful to entrust them with greater things in the future. Stephen will become the first martyr of the Christian church. Philip would be the one that takes God’s word to be witnesses in Judea and in Samaria. It was Philip that went there first. The Philip evangelist of Acts 6: it all started with being selected to serve on the tables.

My point here is this: nothing is a menial job as done unto the Lord. Everything has value, everything has purpose. It is all honored by the Lord. Verse 6 tells us they presented these men to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them. They blessed them, they commissioned them for the work that God has called them. 

And look at verse 7. The word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly. We started chapter six by saying the disciples were increasing. By the time you come to verse 7, Luke says their numbers not only increased but they increased rapidly. Why? There is a teaching and the preaching of God’s word that is going on in the life of the church, that is bringing about growth within the life of the church. What brings about growth? It is a faithful preaching and teaching of God’s word. 

Increase rapidly and look at the last sentence: “A large number of priests became obedient to the faith”. Oh, I love that tiny detail there. Why are priests believing in the Lord? By estimate, the number of priests in Palestine at that time ranged in one extreme from 2000 all the way to even 18,000. Priests were there in Palestine at that time, somewhere between that number is an number of priests. The Bible says but many priests became obedient to the faith. 

Why would the priests come? I’ll give you two reasons why the priest would come. 

First of all, in Luke 7:22 when John the Baptist asked our Lord, “Are you the Messiah or should we wait for someone else?” one of the signs that Jesus said to them was this: the lepers are being cleansed, go and tell John that. See, the cleansing of the leper was a sign for the Jewish mind for the coming of the Messiah. Once the leper has been cleaned, what is he had to do? He has to go to the priest and show himself that he has been cleansed of his leprosy. 

You know what has been happening for the last many decades? Many lepers who are healed by the Lord Jesus Christ have been coming to the priest one by one and showing themselves to them. The priest is looking and going, “I know you are a leper, right now you are completely healed, how did this happen?” “A man by the name of Jesus of Nazareth prayed for me.” The priest started thinking, “Wait a minute, a leper being healed only happens when the Messiah comes. Maybe, maybe this man is the Messiah.” 

The Bible says the apostles continue to do with great signs, wonders, and miracles. Our Lord was doing, lepers were still being healed, they are still going to the priest one by one. Every time a priest sees a leper he is thinking, “Oh, the Bible told me when the lepers are cleansed the Messiah is coming, maybe this one is the Messiah and these are followers of him.”

I’ll give you a second reason as well. You remember the day our Lord was crucified? Oh, what happened? The curtain that divided the holy place from the most holy place was torn into two. The most holy place, where the high priest only could enter into once a year on the day of atonement or risk death, was suddenly opened. Maybe, maybe there were thousands of priests who were serving in the temple in Jerusalem on that day to the astonishment at three o’clock in the afternoon, at the very moment our Lord said “it is finished”, suddenly the curtain is wide open and they see the holy of holies wide open for them and no one is dying. 

Oh, that was a powerful witness to them that something miraculous had happened and things had changed. I think many priests became believers on that day. But whatever the case might be, Peter and Luke remind us among the rapid increase of disciples, there were also many priests who became obedient to the faith. These people who had offered sacrifices for thousands of years for the tradition of that finally had recognized the one who came to take away their sins forever, putting an end to all Earthly sacrifices.

A couple of things, let me leave with you as I end. First thing is this: with growth comes increased attacks of the devil to cause divisions and problems. God’s word tells us to be alert. As God gives us growth, as God blesses us in every area of our life, especially in the life of the church, we need to be more aware of the work of the devil to divide and cause problems within the walls of the church. 

The Christian life is one in which we can never sleep nor ever take a day off. We always have to be alert because the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion. But here’s the good news: for every problem there is a God-given solution. For every problem there is a God-given solution. Let our prayer be, “God, fill me with your spirit, fill me with your wisdom,” so that, I don’t know what kind of problem we’re going to face in the walls of the church, but we will know what to do when problems arise within the walls of the church. 

And lastly, consistently seeking the face of God in the midst of our problems leads to greater growth and life in our church. The devil has already thrown so many things at the church: persecution, corruption, and now division. Nothing is working. Why is it not working? Because every time when it happens, we see what they’re doing. Faithfully, they are praying, they are preaching, they’re teaching. They continue to do what needs to be done. 

I pray that we’ll be a church like that, who are constantly praying. By the way, thank God for all of you. There’s not a single day that goes by when we don’t thank God for you. Thank God for the prayer warriors in this church. Thank God for the people who faithfully pray, even when pastors don’t have time to pray. Thank God for believers who spend their time on their knees crying out to the Lord. Thank God for people of faith. What a beautiful thing it is. Let me encourage you, your prayers are not in vain, your commitment to the Lord is not in vain. You’re getting up early in the morning is not in vain. You’re losing some sleep is not in vain. You’re rejecting the pleasures of this world to seek the face of God is not in vain. The church grows by prayer, the church flourishes by the teaching of God’s word. 

So study, pray, study, pray, study, pray. God gives the growth. Let’s look to the Lord in prayer.

Heavenly Father, we thank you. We thank you that you are a faithful God, that you give us wisdom, that you give us the fullness of the spirit the world could never give to us. So we ask for that, Lord. We pray that we be vigilant, always on alert, for we want to be doing your purpose and bring glory to your holy name. Help us be faithful. Thank you, Lord, for this time. In the name of the Lord Jesus, we pray. Amen.