Young People's Group

“Behold, He Is Praying…”

by Mitchell Tan
February 26, 2016

PAUL – AN OUTSTANDING MAN OF PRAYER

Paul was an outstanding man of prayer. If anyone were to study his life from the book of Acts and his epistles, it is most obvious that he had made prayer a most definite part of his life and ministry. As he went about his missionary journeys, he was a man who was constantly praying. When he was in prison with Silas, he was praying and singing hymns to God (Acts 16:25). He demonstrated by example in his epistles of how he was constantly praying for the Churches that he was writing to. For example, Paul took time to give thanks to God for the faith and love of the Colossian Church (Colossians 1:3). He prayed that they would seek after spiritual maturity (Colossians 1:9-12). Of course, there were many others things that he wrote concerning prayer and his prayers for the Churches. Paul became a good example of one who knew how to pray to God with depth and consistency.

LEARNING TO PRAY AT THE POINT OF SALVATION

“So the Lord said to him, ‘Arise and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus, for behold, he is praying.’”
Acts 9:11

The word “behold” in Greek was used by Luke, the author of Acts, for emphasis and for definite contrast. At the beginning of the chapter, Paul was still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord. He was persecuting the Christians vehemently. However, in Acts 9:11, he was no longer seeking their destruction. He was now praying. What a big change! Paul had a most awesome encounter with the Lord Jesus on the road to Damascus and he had become blind. He realised to his horror that the Christ whom he was persecuting was real after all. With deep repentance, he began to pray. The word “praying” is in the present tense. Paul kept on praying. Genuine repentance was evidenced by his fasting for three days (Acts 9:9). When he was asked to call on the name of the Lord, he did so and was saved (Acts 22:16). It was Paul’s belief in the Lord Jesus that caused him to call upon Him and he found salvation. Young people, we too can learn to start praying to God. It begins with genuine faith in the Lord Jesus.

LEARNING TO PRAY FOR CONCERNS

“Now it happened, when I returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, that I was in a trance and saw Him saying to me, ‘Make haste and get out of Jerusalem quickly, for they will not receive your testimony concerning Me.’”
Acts 22:17-18

Paul did not just pray for salvation only. He continued to pray because of his concerns. When he was in Jerusalem, he was praying in the temple. He went to the house of the Lord to pray. At this point of time, he had deep concerns about whether the Jews would receive him or not. He sought the Lord in prayer. He sought Him for His leading. The Lord Jesus told Paul that the Jews would not receive his testimony with regards to Him. While he interacted with the Lord, He told Paul to get out of Jerusalem and to go to the Gentiles (Acts 22:21). Paul had learnt how to interact with the Lord in prayer. One of the things we would be learning at this camp is interactive prayer.

PLAN TO COME FOR FAMILY CAMP 2016 TO LEARN ABOUT PRAYER

Young people, the Church family camp is just around the corner. We are going to spend much time studying about prayer and how we can better relate to Him. At night, Pastor will be teaching us about interactive prayer, which is going to be exciting. I would like to specially encourage you to sign up for camp if you have not done so. Let’s come and learn about prayer that we may start relating to God in prayer as we should and that we can make prayer a definite part of our life.

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