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Public Prayer


The time and place of public prayer does not seem to be commanded in Scripture, but times and places do occur in Scripture.

“One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer—at three in the afternoon” (Acts 3:1). One day makes it look like there was daily prayer at three in the afternoon. There is no indication that it was limited to the Sabbath.

Here is another occurrence in Acts 16: “On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer…. Once when we were going to the place of prayer…. She kept this up for many days” (Acts 16:13, 16, 18). This sounds like they went to the place of prayer daily, including the Sabbath.

In the first Scripture, the place was the temple in Jerusalem. The second was a riverside in Macedonia.

In these two recorded instances, something wonderful happened. In the first, a crippled man was healed, and two thousand people were converted. In the second, Lydia and her household believed and were baptized.

Do you have a fixed time and place for public prayer? It does not have to be in church or on Sunday, nor does it have to be with many people.


This post coordinates with tomorrow's reading in the To the Word! Bible Reading Challenge. If you are not in a daily reading plan, please jump on in. We would love to have you reading with us.

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