Acts 10:2 He was a devout man and feared God along with his whole household. He did many charitable deeds for the Jewish people and always prayed to God.

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The Holiness Movement Methodist pastor Edwin Harvey allegedly wrote, “A day without prayer is a day without blessing, and a life without prayer is a life without power.”

God used a praying man to initiate a great leap in the growth of the church. We had earlier seen in Lesson #3 how Peter and John faithfully prayed daily at the ‘time of prayer’ in the afternoon and we see this commitment to prayer again from a devout man who feared God who was also very charitable to the Jewish people. What made this man quite unique was that he was also a Roman centurion.

We need to recognize how challenging all these encounters were to the early church. Granted that Jesus encountered a God-fearing Roman centurion in Matthew 8 as well as ministering to a Samaritan woman and a Canaanite woman, but he clearly emphasized that his mission in the statement, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” (Matthew 15:24).

But the mission of the New Testament church was to take the gospel to the outermost parts of the earth, which included their archenemies, Roman soldiers. This man was devout, feared God, and even did charitable deeds for the Jewish people but it was doubtful that he was circumcised or observed the Jewish rituals. He had a hunger for God, and thus he prayed.

The results, as we will see in the next lesson, are nothing but astounding.

PRAYER STARTER…

Dear Heavenly Father, as we come to you in prayer, we acknowledge that we are imperfect. We are not as faithful as we should be in seeking you in prayer. We ask your forgiveness, and ask for your encouragement to hunger and thirst after righteousness which begins with bowing before your great majesty. May we become faithful pray-ers.

(Continue this prayer as the Holy Spirit directs you personally. Particularly repent of any hinderances that you know are preventing you from being more faithful in your prayer life.)