“Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.” -- Jeremiah 33:3

What part does prayer play in your personal life?

If your spiritual life seems to lack power, you can probably trace the problem to a lack of true, heartfelt prayer and communication with the Lord. How can you and I have his presence and power without talking to and listening to God?

The early church was not lacking in power. The early believers were praying people who were devoted to the teaching of the Word. And like them, we have been urged to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17), which means we should make it a habit of our being to commune with the Lord.

If you don’t know how to pray, you can use the model that Jesus gave in Luke 11. Or pray the Scriptures themselves. This is the way to unleash the power of prayer in your life. Because prayer invites the presence and the power of God into our lives, into our families, and into our church!

Start now and make prayer your personal assignment. Let it invade every aspect of your life. Just come to him as those first disciples did and say, “Lord, teach me to pray.”

And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching… -- Acts 2:42

How devoted are you to the word of God? Are you committed to reading, to knowing, to understanding, and to letting the Word of God transform your life? Now, you may say, “I am devoted to God’s Word. I go to church. I listen to the sermon every week.” And that’s good. But you shouldn’t stop there!

You and I need to be completely devoted to spending personal time in the Word of God. Do you know why? Think about that very first church created by God on the Day of Pentecost.

The Scripture says that these new followers “devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching.” The apostles were teaching the Word of God from the Old Testament, as well as from all that they had observed about Jesus, his life, and teachings.

God’s Word was essential to the survival of the early church, to strengthening each new follower, and to growing the church. And it remains essential today. Devotion to the Word of God is an unchanging hallmark of the empowered church.

I challenge you to devote yourself to the Word. Spend time in the Scripture every day. Put your whole heart into knowing and growing in God’s Word.

"But if I say, "I will not remember Him Or speak anymore in His name,"Then in my heart it becomes like a burning fire shut up in my bones; And I am weary of holding it in, And I cannot endure it." Jeremiah 20:9 ..There was a time I would cry from want of a place to speak the name of Jesus. Lord let that fire burn in my bones again.