The Prayers of the Bible - 2 New Testament

^{The Prayers of the Bible, from the book: "Prevailing Prayer" by D. L. Moody}
Those who have left the deepest impression on this sin-cursed earth have been men and women of prayer. You will find prayer has been the mighty power that has moved not only God, but also man.

New Testament Prayers

In Acts 10, Cornelius, who was a centurion in the Italian regiment, prayed to God regularly. During one of those prayers, he had a vision and saw an angel of the Lord. The angel told him to summon the apostle Peter. When Peter arrived, Cornelius said, Now then, we are all here present before God to hear all that you have been commanded by the Lord (Acts 10:33).
Although Cornelius was a worshipper of the true God, he lacked faith in Christ. Peter taught the truth about how Jesus had been crucified and raised from the dead. While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who were listening to the message. All the circumcised believers who came with Peter were amazed, because the because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also (Acts 10:44-45).
In answer to prayer, this great blessing came upon Cornelius and his household, and they received the truth and were baptized. The Holy Spirit was mutually at work in both Cornelius and Peter.
Prior to going to Cornelius, Peter had gone up to his rooftop to pray in the afternoon, and he had a vision of a sheet being let down from heaven with all kinds of animals in it, including those considered to be unclean for Jews. Although he was uncertain of the meaning of the vision at the time, it would become clear to him later that God had removed the barrier between Jew and Gentile and between clean and unclean. Peter obeyed when God sent him to preach the message to Caesarea. When Cornelius prayed to God without ceasing, the angel sent Peter with a message of deliverance for him and his family and friends.
All through the Scriptures you will find that when believing prayer went up to God, the answer came down. I think it would be a very interesting study to go right through the Bible and see what has happened while God’s people have been on their knees calling upon him. Certainly, the study would greatly strengthen our faith – showing, as it would, how wonderfully God has heard and delivered, when the cry has gone up to him for help.
Look at Paul and Silas in the prison at Philippi:

But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them; and suddenly there came a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison house were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were unfastened. When the jailer awoke and saw the prison doors opened, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul cried out with a loud voice, saying, Do not harm yourself, for we are all here. And he called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas, and after he brought them out, he said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? (Acts 16:25-30)

The jailer and his whole family were baptized. That one conversion has probably done more than any other recorded in the Bible to bring people into the kingdom of God. So many have been blessed in seeking to answer the question, “What must I do to be saved?”
It was the prayer of those two godly men that brought the jailer to his knees, and that brought blessing to him and his family.
There are other examples in the New Testament. Consider the story of Stephen in Acts 7, who was stoned to death for carrying out the work of Jesus Christ and for angering the members of the Sanhedrin when he defended his actions with truth.
Just before they dragged Stephen out of the city to stone him, being full of the Holy Spirit, he gazed intently into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God; and he said, Behold, I see the heavens opened up and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God (Acts 7:55-56).
While they were stoning him, Stephen was calling on the Lord and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit! Then falling on his knees, he cried out with a loud voice, Lord, do not hold this sin against them! Having said this, he fell asleep (verses 59-60). When Stephen had testified before the Sanhedrin in his defense, right before he gave his long speech indicting Israel’s leaders for rejecting God’s messengers in the past – and now rejecting Jesus – God’s presence was evident. Scripture says, ..and fixing their gaze on him, all who were sitting in the Council saw his face like the face of an angel (Acts 6:15).
Remember too how the face of Moses shone as he came down from Mount Sinai with the stone tablets containing the Ten Commandments in his hand; he had been in communion with God. So when Aaron and all the sons of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him (Exodus 34:30), and Moses had to put a veil over his face. In the same way, when we get really into communion with God, he lifts up his countenance – his image – upon us, and instead of our having gloomy looks, our faces will shine, because God has heard and answered our prayers.
Paul demonstrates this idea of how we reflect the glory of God, in the same way a mirror reflects an image, when the Holy Spirt transforms us from within. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit (2 Corinthians 3:18).
_{Dwight L. Moody — Prevailing Prayer}

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