The Upper Room

Act 1:12
Then returned they unto Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is from Jerusalem a sabbath day's journey.

Act 1:13
And when they were come in, they went up into an upper room, where abode both Peter, and James, and John, and Andrew, Philip, and Thomas, Bartholomew, and Matthew, James [the son] of Alphaeus, and Simon Zelotes, and Judas [the brother] of James.

Act 1:14
These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren.

Act 1:15
And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples, and said, (the number of names together were about an hundred and twenty,)

The great revivalist of a generation gone by Leonard Ravenhill put it best in his classic, Why Revival Tarries, when he said, "We have too many in the back room organizing instead of the upper room agonizing." When Jesus ascended back into heaven, he gave the the wonderful promise that he would come back. But in the meantime, His disciples were to wait for the promise of the Father [the outpouring of the Holy Spirit] and then work until he returned.

Too often we get it backwards! We want to work, plan and do, and then pray that the Holy Spirit would bless it and empower it. Instead, we should wait upon the Holy Spirit in prayer and then obey what He tells us to do; and then we'd know it would be blessed and empowered!

The reason Pentecost happened was because of the work done by the 120 in the upper room. You say, "Oh no! You're leaving out God's Sovereign Will for Pentecost." I agree you don't get anymore sovereign than Acts 2:1, where it says, "When the Day of Pentecost was fully come." That feast was fulfilled. But we don't want to leave out our human responsibility either. Manley Beasley put it this way, "Prayer is laying the tracks so the locomotive can come...It is always God's sovereign will for the church to be restored to its biblical roots. We must lay the tracks so it can happen. If we don't lay the tracks, the locomotive will not come."

I also do not want us to miss the importance of the number 120. According to E.W. Bullinger's, Numbers in Scripture, the number 120 is God's appointed number for a period of waiting and a number of restoration. There were 120 in the Great Synagogue from Nehemiah's day to the days of Simon the just [110 yrs.]. That Synagogue canonized the Old Testament and restored the law to its original greatness. There were 120 in the Upper Room, and that group restored God's people to their original greatness.

Think of the possibilities of 120 praying and fasting before the Lord!

• Our churches could be restored to their biblical foundations and apostolic greatness.


• Our communities could be restored to God-fearing, bible believing regions, where God is glorified. We could see another movement like the Welsh Revival where 150,000 were saved in 5 years.


• Our country could be restored to its biblical foundation, moral ethics, and constitutional greatness.

My prayer is for God to raise up 120 people to be intercessors! I'm looking for a few good men and women who will stand up and be counted. People who will get on their faces and pray through until the answer comes and strongholds are pulled down! While the day of Pentecost will not happen again just exactly as it did then, the principles and power of Pentecost can and must happen again, if we are to survive as a nation. I believe we need revival for survival, and it has to start with us! Will you be one of 120 who will see the need, rise to the occasion and stand in the Gap? If you will, it won't be easy, but it will be worth it! And you will be blessed. Have a great week!