As the people of God we need boldness, yet we don’t often have it. In this passage we see the boldness of the early church and how God moves when his people pray. We want to pray in a way that’s shaped by a Spirit-filled imagination for what God can do and ask him to change us and the world around us.

Jesus prayed with boldness and asked the Father for extraordinary things. What do we ask for in our prayers? Do our requests reflect the power and ability of God or do we settle for what we feel is possible? We want to be a church that prayers with boldness because we know the power of our God.

Just as Jesus prayed for unbelievers, so too should we pray for unbelievers. In Acts 16 we are reminded how the kingdom of God advancing into the lives of those around us is the engine that drives the mission and purpose of the church. We are to be a people devoted to God’s mission which means we too must pray for non-believers.

In his High Priestly Prayer, Jesus prayed for unbelievers – this means he prayed for us. We were yet unbelievers, yet he prayed for us. We too are called to pray for unbelievers around us and to have a prayer life that desires the kingdom of God to extend into the lives of our neighbors.

In this passage we see a church that’s devoted to being the people that God calls us to be. They’re devoted to the apostles’ teaching, to prayer, and to fellowship together. It’s a community that’s filled with the life-changing power of the Spirit and one that gives us a glimpse of what our church can be for another and the world around us.

Jesus prayed for us to be holy. We often think of holiness in ways that aren’t helpful or really central to what holiness truly means. Jesus prayed that we would be a people that are set apart and devoted to a life lived unto God. How are we to think about being holy and what does that look like corporately as God’s people?

The unity of the early church in the book of Acts is incredible. In this passage we see what Spirit-filled unity looks like as the people of God are united on mission. They held everything in common with one another and gave the outside world a glimpse of the radical type of community that God creates. It’s a community that exhibits the love and kindness of God in Jesus Christ.

Jesus prayed and asked that the Father would make us one. What is the oneness that Jesus prayed for among his people? Why is our unity something that was on his mind in prayer the night before he died on the cross? Unity is central to who we are as Christians in the family of God.

The Church was born out of prayer. After Jesus ascended into heaven they disciples waited as he told them, but they waited in prayer. And then as they were gathered in corporate prayer in the upper room, the Spirit of God comes down at Pentecost, and the final age of history dawns.

As we enter into a season of prayer, we are going to learn to pray by praying what Jesus prayed. And the first thing we see him pray in this passage, is to be glorified. In his High Priestly Prayer, Jesus prayed and asked to be glorified in his crucifixion. What exactly is glory and how was the crucifixion actually glorifying of Jesus?

This begins a new series this fall that we have entitled "Pray God Down." We begin with hearing God's invitation in times of plague and pestilence to recognize his sovereignty and his purposes in Jesus Christ.