A Key Ingredient

“And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple…” Acts 2:46 (KJV)

God gives us a kind of recipe for the fellowship of believers in Acts 2:42-47. The ingredients are listed as devotion to the apostle’s teaching, to fellowship, the breaking of bread and prayer. It speaks of their generosity, joy and praise of God. Some or all of these ingredients might be in the churches we attend, but there is one key ingredient that could get overlooked here. The NIV translation says that they were all “together.” It’s easy to read this and think they were just all physically together, but the King James Version says they were with “one accord.” The definition of the Greek word means to be of one mind and one passion. It is a word that appears to be unique to the book of Acts. It is connected to their time gathered together in prayer (Acts 1:14, 2:46 & 4:24) and being filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:4 & 4:31). All of the other ingredients might make a taste-worthy cake, but without this key ingredient, the cake may not rise.

How can large groups of people do anything with one mind and passion without supernatural intervention? It’s hard to even get a family of four to agree on what they want for dinner. But believers have been given the mind of Christ (1 Cor. 2:16), and the Spirit of Christ to reveal it to us (1 Cor. 2:10). Jesus promises He is with us when we gather together in prayer (Matthew18:20). All that Jesus is shows up at that prayer meeting including His mind and His Spirit. C.S. Lewis suggested that through praying with others, we are able to hear and see facets of Jesus that we have not yet perceived. In other words, perhaps the mind of Christ is more fully perceived as we pray physically together. Just as each believer is needed to make up the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:27), perhaps each believer is needed to more thoroughly reflect the mind of Christ. Has this synergistic ingredient been left out of your life or the life of your church?

As busyness, even good busyness, makes it harder to meet together and technology and social media allow us to communicate at a distance, does the body and mind of Christ become more disconnected and less powerful? As we consider the great possibilities of technology to advance God’s Kingdom, we must not let it take the place of meeting physically together in prayer so that we can be spiritually together in mind and passion. Believers are exhorted in Hebrews 10:25 to “not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing…” Are you in the habit of gathering together with your church family to pray with “one mind and passion” for the power of God to be experienced and the will of God to be done? If not, will you commit to praying for this key ingredient to be put back into the recipe of your life and church?

Prayer: Dear Father in heaven, Let us not give up meeting and praying together. We want to be gathered with one mind, the mind of your Son, to seek you and experience more of your presence and power. Forgive us when we rely on our own limited minds to do your work. Forgive us for the busyness and complacency that keeps us from this crucial ingredient. Where praying together has been overlooked or considered unimportant, would you help us to be encouragers of that work and then make it a priority in our schedules. Lord, bring a revival of praying together in our churches and a powerful filling of your Holy Spirit. In the great name of Jesus, the head of the church and the wisdom of God. Amen