Prayer, especially prayer for others, is a very important feature of the Apostolic Church in the first century or the early church.
Having served in a city church in Northeast China for many years, Pastor Li Tao stressed that the church and believers in the Apostolic times placed great importance on prayer, especially interceding for others. He believes that intercession is one of the most important indicators of the health of the Christian faith.
Everyone in the early church had the habit of prayer.
In the early church, everyone had the habit of praying. And this kind of life of prayer was habitual and constant (not occasional and sudden). For example, the Bible records that Cornelius often prayed before God, and Peter (one of the Apostles) abided by the standard of prayer well, going up to the roof to pray at noon. If Cornelius and Peter had only occasionally prayed, God probably would not have given them the instructions to have a positive encounter. They prayed often, and this became the basis and prerequisite for their meeting.
In present-day churches, perhaps the vast majority of people lack regular prayer at private times. Although we all know that prayer is very important, we often pray after we have finished everything. For example, in a church, it would already be late when the church workers finished their work, and they would be in urgent need of rest after a simple wash. In this way, the prayer that should have been given is canceled. Prayer is obviously important, but we often don't think much of it.
Everyone in the early church had a ministry of intercession.
In the early church, intercession was extremely important, and everyone had an intercession service. Paul, for example, even regarded intercession as the most important of all ministries.
In Paul's letters, we can see that Paul not only interceded for the churches he founded, such as Ephesus, Philippi, Colosse, Thessalonica, etc., but also that Paul would ask the people to pray for him. "Pray also for me that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given to me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel."
Pastor Li Tao said that whether it is the past or the present, whether it is the church in the Apostolic era or the church today, one theme that has not changed is that Satan always wants to attack us. "So how can we withstand Satan's attack? The devil will often choose divide-and-conquer tactics to defeat us. But if we set up an intercession group, many people can pray for the person when he attacks him or her. Then it will no longer be one person fighting Satan alone, but many people fighting Satan together, and then we will easily win."
The problem, however, is that "such connection and intercession are sorely lacking in the church today." He continued, "We are modern people. We emphasize the individual and pay attention to protect ourselves. We will not tell others about private things. Therefore, even if there are some things for others to help us pray for, they often do not involve anything private. The really important topics of intercession are not shared."
Everyone in the early church had an open life.
In the early church, everyone had an open life, and there was much communion with each other. The present churches and believers emphasize the individual and care about protecting the privacy of the individual. Communication often lacks depth.
Pastor Tao Li believes that the degree to which a person is willing to open himself up is related to the degree of safety and the degree of release. "So how can we achieve a more effective opening? We should try to increase the level of safety and the level of release," he said.
"One of the tactics that the devil often uses when he attacks us is to make us distrust people and feel insecure. Some people once opened themselves up, but others did not really love him or help him, and they even revealed the problems he had confessed. So, a lot of people are afraid to open up anymore."
Pastor Li Tao said, "If we divulge other people's affairs, especially private matters, it is evil. We are actually attacking him and hurting him by doing that. Such a move may not only hurt him personally, but even more so, it may even bring an end to the culture of openness in the church. This is evil, and it is even great evil."
- Translated by Nicolas Cao
祷告，尤其是为他人祷告，正是使徒时代的教会或者说初代教会非常重要的一个特质。
李涛牧师在东北一所城市教会服事多年。在他看来，使徒时代的教会和信徒非常重视祷告，尤其重视为他人代祷。他认为代祷是基督徒的信仰健康与否的重要标志之一。
使徒时代的教会中每一个人都有祈祷的生活
在使徒时代的教会，每一个人都有祈祷的生活。而且这种祈祷的生活是习惯性的、恒常性的，而不是偶尔的、突发性的。比如哥尼流，圣书记录他常常在上帝面前祷告，而使徒彼得也很好地遵守了祷告的基准，在午正的时候上房顶去祷告。假如哥尼流和彼得他们只是偶尔才会祷告一下的话，那么他们很可能就不会蒙上帝指示有美好的相遇了。他们经常祷告，而这恰好成为了日后他们能够相遇的基础和前提。
而在现在的教会里面，可能绝大多数人都很缺少在分别出来的时间进行固定式的祷告。 虽然大家其实也都明明知道祷告非常重要，但是往往都是把所有事情都做完了，然后这个时候才会轮到祷告。（==当summary）比如说一所教会里面教会同工交通，结束的时候时间已经很晚了，简单洗漱一下就必须得休息了。就这样，本来应该要有的祷告就没有了、取消了。祷告明明很重要，但是我们却又常常不那么看重祷告。
使徒时代的教会中每一个人都有代祷的事奉
使徒时代的教会是极其看重代祷的，每一个人都有代祷的事奉。比如使徒保罗，在所有的事奉当中，他甚至把代祷事奉看作最重要的事奉。
在保罗书信当中，我们可以看到使徒保罗不但为他所建立的众多教会代祷，比如以弗所教会、腓立比教会、歌罗西教会、帖撒罗尼迦教会等等，而且保罗也会请教会为他祷告——“也为我祈求，使我得着口才，能以放胆，开口讲明福音的奥秘。”
李涛牧师说，无论是过去还是现在，无论是使徒时代的教会还是今天的教会，一个、不改变的主题那就是撒旦总是想要攻击我们。“那我们要怎样才能够抵挡撒旦的攻击呢？魔鬼常常会选择各个击破的战术来打败我们。但是如果我们建立一个代祷小组，当撒旦攻击一个人的时候，可以有很多人为他祷告。这样的时候就不再是一个人单独与撒旦争战，而是很多人一起与撒旦争战，这样的时候我们就很容易得胜了。”
可是问题在于，“今天的教会非常缺少这样的连接和代祷。我们是现代人，非常强调个体，非常注重保护自己，更不会把隐私的事情告诉别人。因此，就算有一些让别人帮助我们代祷的事情，往往不涉及到任何隐私的事情。而真正重要的的代祷题目却不会分享出来。”
使徒时代的教会中每一个人都有一个敞开的生命
在使徒时代的教会中，每一个人都有一个敞开的生命，彼此之间有着非常多的交接。今天的教会和信徒非常注重个体，注重保护个人的隐私。交流往往止于表面，不疼不痒，如同蜻蜓点水一般，缺乏深度。
李涛牧师认为，一个人愿意敞开自己的程度是与他的安全程度和得到释放的程度有关。因此，要怎样才能够达到更加有效的敞开呢？那就要努力提高他的安全的程度和释放的程度。
“魔鬼在攻击我们的时候，常常采用的一个策略就是让我们对人没有信任感，觉得不安全。有的人也曾经敞开过自己，但是当他去敞开自己的时候，别人并没有真心来爱他、帮助他，反而把他敞开来的问题泄露出去了。所以，很多人从此以后就不敢再继续敞开自己了。”
李涛牧师说，“如果我们把别人的事情尤其是隐私的事情泄露出去了的话，这就是恶。因为我们打击了他、伤害了他。这样的做法不但可能伤害他一个人，更加可怕的是甚至于会让敞开自己的文化在教会里面终结。这样的做法不但是恶，而且还是大恶。”
基督徒的信仰健康标志之一：有没有常常为别人祷告？
Prayer, especially prayer for others, is a very important feature of the Apostolic Church in the first century or the early church.
Having served in a city church in Northeast China for many years, Pastor Li Tao stressed that the church and believers in the Apostolic times placed great importance on prayer, especially interceding for others. He believes that intercession is one of the most important indicators of the health of the Christian faith.
Everyone in the early church had the habit of prayer.
In the early church, everyone had the habit of praying. And this kind of life of prayer was habitual and constant (not occasional and sudden). For example, the Bible records that Cornelius often prayed before God, and Peter (one of the Apostles) abided by the standard of prayer well, going up to the roof to pray at noon. If Cornelius and Peter had only occasionally prayed, God probably would not have given them the instructions to have a positive encounter. They prayed often, and this became the basis and prerequisite for their meeting.
In present-day churches, perhaps the vast majority of people lack regular prayer at private times. Although we all know that prayer is very important, we often pray after we have finished everything. For example, in a church, it would already be late when the church workers finished their work, and they would be in urgent need of rest after a simple wash. In this way, the prayer that should have been given is canceled. Prayer is obviously important, but we often don't think much of it.
Everyone in the early church had a ministry of intercession.
In the early church, intercession was extremely important, and everyone had an intercession service. Paul, for example, even regarded intercession as the most important of all ministries.
In Paul's letters, we can see that Paul not only interceded for the churches he founded, such as Ephesus, Philippi, Colosse, Thessalonica, etc., but also that Paul would ask the people to pray for him. "Pray also for me that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given to me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel."
Pastor Li Tao said that whether it is the past or the present, whether it is the church in the Apostolic era or the church today, one theme that has not changed is that Satan always wants to attack us. "So how can we withstand Satan's attack? The devil will often choose divide-and-conquer tactics to defeat us. But if we set up an intercession group, many people can pray for the person when he attacks him or her. Then it will no longer be one person fighting Satan alone, but many people fighting Satan together, and then we will easily win."
The problem, however, is that "such connection and intercession are sorely lacking in the church today." He continued, "We are modern people. We emphasize the individual and pay attention to protect ourselves. We will not tell others about private things. Therefore, even if there are some things for others to help us pray for, they often do not involve anything private. The really important topics of intercession are not shared."
Everyone in the early church had an open life.
In the early church, everyone had an open life, and there was much communion with each other. The present churches and believers emphasize the individual and care about protecting the privacy of the individual. Communication often lacks depth.
Pastor Tao Li believes that the degree to which a person is willing to open himself up is related to the degree of safety and the degree of release. "So how can we achieve a more effective opening? We should try to increase the level of safety and the level of release," he said.
"One of the tactics that the devil often uses when he attacks us is to make us distrust people and feel insecure. Some people once opened themselves up, but others did not really love him or help him, and they even revealed the problems he had confessed. So, a lot of people are afraid to open up anymore."
Pastor Li Tao said, "If we divulge other people's affairs, especially private matters, it is evil. We are actually attacking him and hurting him by doing that. Such a move may not only hurt him personally, but even more so, it may even bring an end to the culture of openness in the church. This is evil, and it is even great evil."
- Translated by Nicolas Cao
Back to the Early Church: a Key Indicator of Vibrant Christian Faith Lies in the Frequency of Intercessory Prayer for Others
