The following comments are designed to help you better understand the passage and stimulate your thinking on the implications of the scripture.
In Acts 1:14 the text says, “All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer…” Bible scholar Dr. Darrell Bock states:
The gathered community is of “one mind” as it prays. Ten of the eleven NT occurrences of this term appear in Acts. The word refers to a group acting as one (“with one accord” in KJV, ESV, RSV translations; “With one mind” in NASB, NET translations; “met together continually” in NLT translation; “continually united” in HCSB translation). Often it describes Jews or others acting in protest against something (Acts 7:57; 12:20; 18:12; 19:29). In other cases it describes the disciples who are in accord about something (2:46; 4:24; 5:12; 15:25). As the examples concerning the disciples show, it is a term that points to the fundamental unity within the church. Here the group is operating in obedience, waiting for the Spirit and praying in preparation as they wait. The nascent church (“the just coming into existence church”) is showing some of its most fundamental characteristics: gathered, seeking the Lord’s will with one mind in prayer, and assembled to carry out God’s mission. (Bock, Acts, 78)
It’s so easy for us as a church to not be of “one accord” nor of “one mind.” Every person in the church can have their own passionate opinions about their church and what the direction of the church should be. It’s so refreshing to have 120 people gathered together, waiting for the power for the mission to come, and all 120 are described as being of one mind. Additionally, they are not simply staring at a wall together, they are actively devoting themselves to prayer.
Luke uses the imperfect verb tense when writing “devoting” which specifically means their prayer is described as ongoing. This was not a short time of prayer; this is a persevering type of prayer. Why pray like this? John Stott explains:
There can be little doubt that the grounds of this unity and perseverance in prayer were the command and promise of Jesus. He had promised to send them the Spirit soon (Acts 1:4, 5, 8). He had commanded them to wait for him to come and then begin their witness. We learn, therefore, that God’s promises do not render prayer superfluous. On the contrary, it is only his promises which give us warrant to pray and the confidence that he will hear and answer. (Stott, The Message of Acts, 54)
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