“And, behold , I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high. And he led them out as far as to Bethany, and he lifted up his hands, and blessed them. And it came to pass , while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven. And they worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy”—Luke 24:49-52
“Then returned they unto Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is from Jerusalem a sabbath day's journey .And when they were come in , they went up into an upper room, where abode both Peter, and James, and John, and Andrew, Philip, and Thomas, Bartholomew, and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon Zelotes, and Judas the brother of James. These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren”—Acts 1:10-14
“And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost.”—Acts 2:1-4a
For the past many years, our church has begun every New Year with what we call our Ten Days of Tarrying prayer meetings. We believe that God has blessed our church through the years as a result of our beginning it with this prayer emphasis. Each night, at 7:00 P.M. we will be meeting in our Multi-purpose building for a time of prayer together. We will pray, much like we do each Wednesday night at the close of our midweek service.
This year we want to very specifically for our missionaries, for an ingathering of souls and for a number of families to be added to the church. There are other areas of prayer focus that will be especially addressed during the week.”
ACCESSING THE POWER OF GOD
Notice in the Scripture text above that Jesus promised to equip or empower His disciples for the work He had for them to do. It was a tremendous task that Jesus had set before the church; He had said in Matthew 28:18, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo , I am with you alway , even unto the end of the world.” And in Acts 1:8 He’d said, “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”
The task we have before us today as a local New Testament Church hasn’t changed. We still have a mandate to reach our local communities (our “Jerusalem”), the outlying areas (our “Judea”) with the Gospel and support the spread of the Gospel throughout the world (“the uttermost parts of the earth,”). It is still true, as it was for the early church, that we can do nothing whatsoever in terms of accomplishing God’s work without His power; therefore we desperately need to access this power of the Holy Spirit.
Thankfully, the same power that was promised to, and could be accessed by the early church, is promised to and can be accessed by us today. The Lord has promised to give power to them who will tarry for it—that is, wait for it, by waiting on Him prayerfully—tarrying, for an enduement of power from on high. We have God’s assurance: “How much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?” (Luke 11:13).
WHAT TARRYING INVOLVES
Tarrying involves waiting on God. This requires our assembling with other believers to pray in the same way that the 120 gathered together and prayed in the upper room (Acts 1:12-14). The Bible teaches that the Lord is present in a special way and that there are special benefits when His people pray together. See Matt. 18:19, 20; Acts 4:24-31; 12:5-12.
As I do each year, I want to remind everyone that we will derive the maximum spiritual benefit from our Ten Days of Tarrying just to the degree that we are willing, during this time to, as much as possible, if not altogether, refrain from watching television and listening to worldly radio programs, music etc. The Bible warns us that “the cares of this world” (Mark 4:19) work effectively to choke out spiritual things. Another suggestion is to minimize activity on the internet where it is not necessary for legitimate work or school purposes.
Understand too, that each year there are those in our church family who include fasting as part of their Ten Days of Tarrying. Fasting is especially helpful in certain cases where a believer may be facing extraordinary spiritual challenges from the evil one in their own personal life or in their family, etc. Jesus taught His disciples about this in Mark 9:29, “And he said unto them, This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.” The Bible teaches that fasting is meant to serve as a kind of spiritual supplement, even a catalyst, to prayer. I would strongly recommend that those who are physically able to do it, fast for at least one whole day during these Ten Days of Tarrying.
TARRYING TIME IS TRANSFORMATION TIME
Romans 12:2 says, “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” We need to have our minds renewed from day to day, so that we are from day to day, being transformed. Nothing is more effective in our accomplishment of this than prayer, and, as we have already mentioned, there is something especially beneficial to our praying together.
The Bible teaches, and our own experience during and after our times of tarrying in prayer at the first of the year have shown us, that wonderful results come from these meetings. Each year we look forward to the testimonials given by those who tell how God has blessed their participation in these meetings.
We need the power of God in and on our lives as we go through this New Year that is ahead of us. We need it, not only for the sake of evangelism and church growth, but also for the sake of our fulfilling our roles as husbands and wives, parents and children, employers and employees, etc. We need God’s power to discover, develop and exercise our individual spiritual gifts for the glory or God and the good of others. We need, as individuals and as a church, to be transformed in order to “overcome evil with good” (Rom. 12:21), anywhere and everywhere, all year long.
It isn’t compulsory; like everything else connected with our church life, participation in our Ten Days of Tarrying is purely voluntary. We realize that some may have truly extenuating circumstances that may prevent any or all participation. But we do encourage everyone who possibly can to take part as members of our church family gather together for Ten Days of Tarrying in prayer before God.
“Then returned they unto Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is from Jerusalem a sabbath day's journey .And when they were come in , they went up into an upper room, where abode both Peter, and James, and John, and Andrew, Philip, and Thomas, Bartholomew, and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon Zelotes, and Judas the brother of James. These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren”—Acts 1:10-14
“And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost.”—Acts 2:1-4a
For the past many years, our church has begun every New Year with what we call our Ten Days of Tarrying prayer meetings. We believe that God has blessed our church through the years as a result of our beginning it with this prayer emphasis. Each night, at 7:00 P.M. we will be meeting in our Multi-purpose building for a time of prayer together. We will pray, much like we do each Wednesday night at the close of our midweek service.
This year we want to very specifically for our missionaries, for an ingathering of souls and for a number of families to be added to the church. There are other areas of prayer focus that will be especially addressed during the week.”
ACCESSING THE POWER OF GOD
Notice in the Scripture text above that Jesus promised to equip or empower His disciples for the work He had for them to do. It was a tremendous task that Jesus had set before the church; He had said in Matthew 28:18, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo , I am with you alway , even unto the end of the world.” And in Acts 1:8 He’d said, “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”
The task we have before us today as a local New Testament Church hasn’t changed. We still have a mandate to reach our local communities (our “Jerusalem”), the outlying areas (our “Judea”) with the Gospel and support the spread of the Gospel throughout the world (“the uttermost parts of the earth,”). It is still true, as it was for the early church, that we can do nothing whatsoever in terms of accomplishing God’s work without His power; therefore we desperately need to access this power of the Holy Spirit.
Thankfully, the same power that was promised to, and could be accessed by the early church, is promised to and can be accessed by us today. The Lord has promised to give power to them who will tarry for it—that is, wait for it, by waiting on Him prayerfully—tarrying, for an enduement of power from on high. We have God’s assurance: “How much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?” (Luke 11:13).
WHAT TARRYING INVOLVES
Tarrying involves waiting on God. This requires our assembling with other believers to pray in the same way that the 120 gathered together and prayed in the upper room (Acts 1:12-14). The Bible teaches that the Lord is present in a special way and that there are special benefits when His people pray together. See Matt. 18:19, 20; Acts 4:24-31; 12:5-12.
As I do each year, I want to remind everyone that we will derive the maximum spiritual benefit from our Ten Days of Tarrying just to the degree that we are willing, during this time to, as much as possible, if not altogether, refrain from watching television and listening to worldly radio programs, music etc. The Bible warns us that “the cares of this world” (Mark 4:19) work effectively to choke out spiritual things. Another suggestion is to minimize activity on the internet where it is not necessary for legitimate work or school purposes.
Understand too, that each year there are those in our church family who include fasting as part of their Ten Days of Tarrying. Fasting is especially helpful in certain cases where a believer may be facing extraordinary spiritual challenges from the evil one in their own personal life or in their family, etc. Jesus taught His disciples about this in Mark 9:29, “And he said unto them, This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.” The Bible teaches that fasting is meant to serve as a kind of spiritual supplement, even a catalyst, to prayer. I would strongly recommend that those who are physically able to do it, fast for at least one whole day during these Ten Days of Tarrying.
TARRYING TIME IS TRANSFORMATION TIME
Romans 12:2 says, “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” We need to have our minds renewed from day to day, so that we are from day to day, being transformed. Nothing is more effective in our accomplishment of this than prayer, and, as we have already mentioned, there is something especially beneficial to our praying together.
The Bible teaches, and our own experience during and after our times of tarrying in prayer at the first of the year have shown us, that wonderful results come from these meetings. Each year we look forward to the testimonials given by those who tell how God has blessed their participation in these meetings.
We need the power of God in and on our lives as we go through this New Year that is ahead of us. We need it, not only for the sake of evangelism and church growth, but also for the sake of our fulfilling our roles as husbands and wives, parents and children, employers and employees, etc. We need God’s power to discover, develop and exercise our individual spiritual gifts for the glory or God and the good of others. We need, as individuals and as a church, to be transformed in order to “overcome evil with good” (Rom. 12:21), anywhere and everywhere, all year long.
It isn’t compulsory; like everything else connected with our church life, participation in our Ten Days of Tarrying is purely voluntary. We realize that some may have truly extenuating circumstances that may prevent any or all participation. But we do encourage everyone who possibly can to take part as members of our church family gather together for Ten Days of Tarrying in prayer before God.
RSS Feed