Praying Together: What A Novel Idea!

He told them to wait and they did.

Jesus had returned to His father in heaven (Acts 1:9) and there they were in the upstairs room, waiting. The eleven disciples were there, (1:13) but others were also part of “the wait.”

“They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers” (1:14).

While they waited and prayed, they also conducted the business of choosing a successor for Judas. There were two candidates. To know which one was God’s choice, they prayed together, and then voted (1:24-26). Matthias was the choice—his one and only time mentioned in Scripture. The criteria behind the choice of candidates was simple: It had to be someone who had been with Jesus from the beginning of His ministry (1:21, 22).

We never heard about Matthias in any of the stories left for us in the Gospels. We never hear about Matthias again after he was chosen to replace Judas. We didn’t see him, but God did. He was what 2 Timothy 2:2 calls “reliable.” Paul writes: “And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others.”

He didn’t make a big splash but Matthias had been there doing what God expected of him.

The others might have overlooked Matthias, That’s why they prayed. We don’t always see what God does. Our choices are often made based on false assumptions, incorrect information, or personal preferences. All that doesn’t matter if the choices we make are small and really don’t have any big impact on life. But choosing a leader is a big decision, and the will of the One who sees what we don’t, is needed.

On the level of the church, corporate prayer seldom happens anymore, even when it comes to the serious decision of choosing leaders.

There is a lesson to be learned from this first chapter of Acts—several lessons, in fact—and that lesson is a lesson in prayer. We need to come together to prayer when we make serious choices, like those affecting our leadership.

Oh, and then there is the little matter of the power that is necessary to carry out the mission that God has assigned to us. The followers of Jesus were in the room waiting and praying for the Holy Spirit to come on them in power so that they could carry out Jesus’ instructions to reach the world with the Gospel. Perhaps we ought to gather for corporate prayer for that reason as well.

You never know: the power of the Holy Spirit on us and leadership chosen by God could actually result today in a world turned upside down for good just as it did in the days of Acts. Isn't that a good idea?