/Upper Room Christians
by A rmin R. G esswein Y ou can’t read beyond the first chapter of the Book of Acts without feeling the impact of the disciples’ prayer meeting in an upper room, (in the original, the upper room). God’s eye was upon it and the Holy Spirit revitalized it on the Day of Pentecost. What a meeting! Wh a t a p l a c e ! God marked it well forever in history and called it the upper room, and that is what I want to call it. The prayer meeting was so im portant that it was the only really big thing Jesus had on His agenda after His resurrection and before He went to heaven. He couldn’t go and He wouldn’t go and He didn’t go to heaven until he had formed a prayer meeting. During His entire ministry Jesus never stayed long in one place. When the Samaritans persuaded Him to remain with them two days, what great things were accom plished in their midst. But Jesus gave most of the precious 40 days following His resurrection to the building of a prayer meeting. We need a new education on the prayer meeting in the church in the light of this. As the Master Builder building His Church, Jesus started first with the prayer meet ing. It was the scene of the first big miracle after His resurrection. God pity the Christian who has got a puny idea of a prayer meet ing. The way Christ started the Church off was the way He meant it to continue — a high and glorious prayer-meeting Chu r ch in the upper room. The prayer meeting! Of the many miracles of Christ on the earth I think the prayer meeting is the crowning one — His last on earth. If you don’t think the prayer meeting is a miracle just try getting people to come to it. I tell you, I have given up on it. I have said, “ Lord, I can’t do it. It is not in me to get everybody into prayer meet ing. If they are going to fill the church it has got to be your doing to put it into their hearts and make
them go. Yes, and more than that, make them want to go.” That is even a higher miracle. Jesus doesn’t make people go to prayer meeting — He makes them want to go. If Christ gave 40 of His last and best days on earth to the building of that prayer meeting in Jerusalem we had better give some of our very highest and best attention to the building of the prayer meeting in our churches. Unfortunately, it is too often the poorest and puniest and weakest little meeting of the week. And in some churches it has simply died. A little while ago I read this death notice in the Southern Presbyterian Journal: “Mrs. Prayer Meeting died re cently at the F i r s t Ne g l e c t e d Church on Worldly Avenue. Bom many years ago in the midst of great revival, she was a strong healthy child, fed largely on testi mony and scriptural separation unto God. Your Prayer Requests Each morning at eight the editorial staff of T h e K in g ’ s B u sin ess magazine gathers for prayer. Over the years God has answered the heartcry of thousands. Should you have a request we would count it a privilege to take it to the throne of grace. Your request will be held in the strictest confidence. Address: The Editors , T h e K in g ’ s B u s in e s s , 55 8 So. Hope St., Los Angeles 17. Phone: MAdison 5-1641. “ Soon growing into wide promi nence, she became one of the most influential members of the Family of God, but for the past several years, Sister Prayer Meeting has been failing in health, gradually wasting away until rendered help less by stiffness of knee, coldness of heart, weakness of Christian pur
pose and will power on the part of loved ones that led to their desert ing her. At last she was but a sha dow of her former happy self. Her final whispered words were inquir ies concerning estranged loved ones who are now busy in the marts of trade and places of worldly amuse ments. “ Experts including Dr. Words and D r. So c i a l Ho u r and Dr . Entertainer were called. They dis agreed, however, on the cause of her fatal i l l ne s s , administering large doses of socials and refresh ments, but to no avail. “A post-mortem showed that a deficiency of spiritual food, coupled with lack of fasting faith and heart felt love for Christ, shameless deser tion and non-support were contrib uting causes of the death of Sister Prayer Meeting. Only a few were present at her death, sobbing over memories of her past beauty and power. Carefully selected pall bear ers were urged to tenderly bear her remains away, but even they failed to appear. There were no flowers. H er f a v o r i t e h ymn s such as ‘Amazing Grace,’ and ‘Rock of Ages,’ were not sung. “Miss Ima Modern rendered, ‘Beautiful Isle of Somewhere,’ but nobody had any idea where this fancied isle might be. “ The body rests in the cemetery of Bygone Glory, awaiting the sum mons from above. “ In honor of the going of Sister Prayer Meeting, the church doors will be closed on Wednesday night, except on the third Wednesday of each month, when the Ladies’ Pink Lemonade Society serves refresh ments to the members of the Men’s Handball Team.” My conclusion is this: if Jesus gave the prayer meeting full atten tion then we had better give it full attention too! It is time to call our deacons and elders and officers to gether and get to the building of the prayer meeting. We ought to have a holy concern and burden about this. Yearn and pray and
10
Made with FlippingBook - Online Brochure Maker