“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Everyday they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their numbers daily those who were being saved.” - Acts 2:42-47 

We read this account of the early church and say to ourselves, “I wish we could find a group of believers who lived this way - a church that functioned this way.” It is a beautiful picture, and it still happens today when sold out Christ followers live in communion with God and with each other.

At the very center of this picture is prayer. These early disciples devoted themselves to prayer, they met with glad and sincere hearts for common meals and praised God. I am convinced that it was their desire to be in God’s presence through teaching, prayer and the breaking of bread that resulted in such unity and service. Prayer is time exposure to God. It takes us into His presence and produces in us a deeper and deeper desire to be like Him.

As a youngster living in Hong Kong, I would often go up to what we called the Peak on Hong Kong island. From there you could see a panoramic view of all of Hong Kong. This view was particularly amazing at night when the lights of the skyscrapers, cars and numerous boats, along with the ubiquitous neon signs, could all be seen. What I most loved was to take the peak tram to the top and take time exposures of the view, resulting in all the moving lights on the roads and harbor tracing their paths in brilliant living color. The longer the time exposure, the more amazing the sight.

This is a picture of prayer and why I call prayer “time exposure with God.” In prayer, we are in active fellowship with our Lord. The longer we linger there, the more we get to know Him, because this is a two way conversation. In talking to Him about needs or giving Him thanks, our hearts start to realign with His. Our needs and concerns are given to him and in our thanksgiving we realize how good He is to us. He strengthens us, encourages us, and even may drop answers or direction into our hearts as we spend time with Him.

Don’t just settle for perfunctory time with God, but linger a bit and allow Him to speak to your heart. I like to think of prayer as the bookends of my day. Starting my day with prayer sets my mind and heart in a place where I am ready to follow Him. Ending my day with prayer gives me a chance to thank Him for His faithfulness and ask for His presence, power and help. Of course, during the day there can be many shorter prayers, but these bookends give our lives a rhythm of time exposure to our Savior. You cannot do this and remain the same.

Father, it is an amazing thing that You desire to fellowship with us. That You delight in our presence with You and that You would enter our lives in an active way as we pray. Give me the desire to spend more time with You both as an individual, with my family and with my fellow pilgrims. As we do, would You help us recapture the passion and purpose of the early church. Amen.