Aug 08, 2025 How to Pray from The Book of Acts – Words of Grace Blog – August 8, 2025
The best way to read the Bible and listen to a sermon is in prayer. That’s because the Bible tells us God’s purposes and ways, and in prayer we submit to him and conform our lives to his will.
As we read and preach through the book of Acts these days at Grace Community Church, let’s make its message the content of our prayers.
To pray from the book of Acts, we first need to understand what parts of it are descriptive of the events of the first thirty years of church history, and what parts are timeless and to be applied to our life in Christ and in the church. For example, we don’t need to pray for another experience like the Day of Pentecost, for on that day the Holy Spirit inaugurated a new age in God’s redemptive plan, and Acts is describing it for us. But we do pray that we will be submitted to and filled with the power of the Holy Spirit for the purpose of speaking about the mighty works of God as the apostles did on the Day of Pentecost. As we work our way through Acts, we will read many descriptions of what took place then, and the message and applications from those events will become prayers for us now.
To pray from the book of Acts, we will need to approach each passage in personal study, sermons, and Community Group discussion with the realization that God is speaking through what he has spoken. We are not reading and preaching for information, but for transformation and for ongoing renewal. This will lead us to call out to him in spontaneous prayers like, “Yes, Lord, make it so”, “Father, forgive me”, “Jesus, help us trust and obey you”. This happens to me when I am preparing sermons, and sometimes while I am preaching. Yes, I sometimes feel a prayer in my heart while I am speaking to you. So, pray in your heart while you are listening to me or whoever is preaching that day.
Add some discipline to your spontaneity in prayer. Keep a journal through Acts and return to it in your daily prayers. Begin writing a prayer at the end of each sermon on Sunday and let it guide your praying the rest of the week. If you are in a small group, include something from Acts in the prayer time.
When I started praying with an open Bible, I found that I never ran out of things to pray for. When I started preparing to preach from Acts, I found myself longing and praying for its message to bear fruit among us. I’m praying that we will be part of the ongoing kingdom work of Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit according to the will of God. I am praying that our congregation will function according to the prescribed ways of Christ for his church and be a witness to Christ as the churches were in Jerusalem, Antioch, and Philippi.
Join me in prayer this weekend. Join me for worship on Sunday.
-Scott