and will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”But we will continue steadfastly in prayer and in the ministry of the word.”But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word.But we will continue stedfastly in prayer, and in the ministry of the word.
3 sermons cite this verse
… and we'll give our attention to what? to prayer and to the ministry of the word. We're going to give our attention. We're going to devote ourselves to prayer and the ministry of the word. So those are the three times we see this phrase, they devoted themselves to prayer, or something like that in the book of Acts. So what I want you to do, I want to invite you to pull out those notes from your celebration guide at the top. You've got a picture. They devoted themselves to prayer. And what I want us to do is I want us to take a tour through the book of Acts and ask some basic questions about prayer, Questions that are answered over and over again in the book of Acts that may seem fairly basic for us today, but are often ignored in the church today. So we're going to kind of take a bird's eye view of the whole book. But before we even dive in, I want to show you two stories in particular that highlight the role of prayer in the early church. …
… 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 and sisters, 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 will 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, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, 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. I want to hang out in that first verse. In those days when the number of disciples increasing, the Hellenistic Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. …
… Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business. But we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word. And the saying pleased the multitude. And they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Teman, and Parmenas, and Nicholas, a proselyte of Antioch, whom they set before the apostles. And when they had prayed, they laid their hands on them, and the word of God increased. And the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly. and a great number of the priests were obedient to the faith. Now, I don't know whether you remember being a teen or not, but if you were a teenager coming through puberty into your teenage years, you suffered what we all suffered, and that is growing pains. And those pains sometimes were physical, and many times they were emotional, but sometimes it hurts to grow. …