ONE VOICE – ONE SONG

Acts 4:23,24 – And being let go, they went to their own companions and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them. So when they heard that, they raised their voice to God with one accord and said: “Lord, You are God, who made heaven and earth and the sea, and all that is in them…

This is a rare look into the prayer life of the early church. This prayer was in response to the arrest of Peter and John and the threats made on them by the priests, the very ones who had turned Jesus over to Pontius Pilate. Seeing this prayer helps us to understand the theology and power of the early church. The power seems to be connected to this phrase one accord. This was the phrase used in Acts 2 as they waited for the initial outpouring of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost. This word is homothumadon and its is filled with meaning, it describes a unity that seems like a song. This word literally means breathing passionately together, there is a supernatural unity in their midst as they lifted up all their voices as if they were one voice. Here is how one of John’s disciple, Iraneus, describes this scene.

“These [are the] voices of the church from which every church had its origin; these are the voices of the metropolis of the citizens of the new covenant; these are the voices of the apostles; these are voices of the disciples of the Lord, the truly perfect, who, after the assumption of the Lord, were perfected by the Spirit, and called on the God who made heaven and earth and the sea—who was announced by the prophets—and Jesus Christ his Son, whom God anointed and who knew no other [God].”

This many voices becoming one voice was the way the early church prayed. This is best experienced in a Spirit filled congregation crying out in heavenly languages, often in spontaneous melodies, many voices harmonizing in prayer together before the Lord. This kind of prayer was common in charismatic gatherings in the 1970’s, many voices becoming one voice crying out to the Lord. The times I have experienced the strongest awareness of God’s presence was in services like this. This spiritual harmony, many voices becoming one voice, has been becoming more prominent as we seek the Lord together in prayer. I believe this is the place where miracles happen. We are currently in a three week season of daily prayer twice a day at our church, something unprecedented seems to be in store for His church. Let’s press in together and see what the Lord will do.