Luke 6: 12 – 16. Ephesians 6: 18-20.
What qualities and skills do you think Jesus would be looking for in a disciple?
Some of the points people made: Qualities: commitment, honesty, spiritual integrity, faith in Jesus, faith in God. Skills: good communicators, boatmen for transport, Matthew the Tax Collector for finances, we know Judas looked after the money-box. Help to manage the crowds around Jesus.
The most important:
- that they had faith in Jesus.
In John’s gospel from the discussions that took place between Andrew and Simon Peter and Philip and Nathaniel we find that they had come to a decision to believe that Jesus was the Son of God. John 1:49.
John the Baptist had witnessed to them that God had revealed to him that Jesus was the Son of God.”This is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit and I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.” John 1: 33, 34. 49.
God chose 12 disciples
Prayer leads to action, after they were chosen, they were discipled, taught by Jesus a number of things:
- To pray Luke 11: 1-4 records the disciples asking Jesus to teach them to pray: Luke gives a shorter version of the Lord’s prayer.
- He taught them the meanings of his parables about the Kingdom of God.
- They watched him administer healing by the power of his word and spirit.
For us today we apply Jesus teaching.
Jesus taught them that when they prayed not to be like the hypocrites being seen praying on street corners, but to go into a quiet place unobserved by others. For us today to pray unobserved in a quiet place. Matthew 6: 5,6.
Jesus would be where two or three are gathered. In the Garden of Gethsemane he asked disciples Peter, James and John to pray with him. For us it’s good to pray with others especially in a crisis situation. Mark 14: 33
Jesus pointed to his words being Spirit and life.
Jesus said, “63 It is the spirit that gives life, the flesh is of no avail; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. John 6: 63.
The words he gave them were living words, coming from God the creator of life. In Luke 9 we read the disciples were ready to go out in his authority with the kingdom message and empowered to heal the sick.
Empowered by Jesus.
Joyce Huggett in her book ‘God’s Springtime’ writes, ‘Just as in Spring, life seems to pour from the ground into every bud and blade of grass, so in the springtime of our lives, God seems to pour new energy into us.”
The energy, in creation bringing forth life by the power of God. She continued quoting Ulrich Shaffer’s prayer, I’ve taken the last verse, “Circulate in me Change and renew because I know that only your Spirit can bring real life and fruit.”
Paul in his letter to the Colossians that Christ lived in them, “Christ in you,” he pointed to the energy that Jesus’ spirit within him mightily supplied him with energy. “For this I toil, striving with all the energy which he (Jesus) mightily inspires within me.” Colossians 1:29.
Jesus prayed for more disciples to take the message out
His prayer was answered and prayer leads to action when the seventy went out with the kingdom message. They prayed for the sick and they were healed. When they returned and told Jesus about their success Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit.
We read in the Acts and the letters the growing ministry of Jesus in people’s lives.
Paul asked the church at Ephesus to pray for an opening to share the good news about Jesus.
Many of us came to faith through someone telling us about Jesus.
Three years ago Paul who came on the Alpha Course at Chatterton Hey from Tekoa House in Rochdale one of Langley House Trusts hostels for the homeless.
Langley House Trust is a Christian Charity
This year Langley House Trust is celebrating 60 years of helping men and women leaving prison not to re-offend. Langley run 18 houses in the UK. The good news is shared in every house and prayers are said with the residents. Many who work in their homes, their lives have been transformed while living there.. Prayers are said at the changing of shifts, and every Thursday at 10am throughout the Charity, Chaplains hold a prayer time for residents and staff.
So Paul heard about Jesus and was prayed for regularly, the staff at the hostel knew he was very poorly, Jesus revealed himself to him, and as a result John made a decision to follow Jesus. He wanted to learn about Jesus so he came on the Alpha Course at Chatterton Hey.
When I met him it was as if he had just come through the door into the kingdom, he had taken off his old clothes and was starting putting on his new clothes belonging to the kingdom of God. He was beginning to be discipled.
Prayer leads to action
Jesus hears our prayers and he intercedes as our high priest before the Father and God answers our prayers.
Archbishop William Temple said, “When I pray, coincidences happen, when I stop praying, the coincidences stop.”
We have people and things we pray for every day. But there will be times when the Lord brings something to our notice that will prompt us to release our faith and God will act and by His power things come into being – materialise, take form.
The Lord has been teaching me that faith is released when we tell someone we have accepted Jesus as our Saviour.
Another example of faith released is when the lady came to Jesus from among the crowd and touched his garment and immediately she was healed. John 5: 28, 34.
Jesus our example: His prayer of thanks to His Father for the bread and the fishes, the prayer was answered when he took some of the bread and fish and before the disciples eyes, he continually broke the bread and fish with his fingers and over 5,000 people were fed. The prayer had materialised, taken form.
All that has been created and is being created is in God, in His being.
Everything in the universe is at God’s disposal and thinks happen at the blink of an eye, in an instant.
The missionary that Celia Edmondson knew who hadn’t enough money to complete her train journey, prayed for the Lord to undertake and the money fell out of her Bible.
At holly Bush they didn’t have the money to expand their vision to build a church on the farm. God’s provision: the potato pile never reduced in size even though tons of potatoes were taken from the pile.
Thank you for paying for the Job Club, we now have five new people on our ‘Steps to Employment Course’ ten of us altogether.
I’ve brought with me this morning this Board with an outline of a cross, please put your prayers within the cross. We’ll join our prayers with yours on Tuesday afternoon at our group meeting.
Prayer
Lord God, you have commissioned us to pray for the church and people, may we be faithful in our calling. In Jesus’ name. Amen