Page 18 - The Standard Volume 1

Prayer
Acts 1:9-11 KJV
“And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. 10 And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel. 11 Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.”
Prayer is a Coming Into
I have noticed that some people, not all, come into prayer as a listening to and not necessarily a coming into. This coming into—which the disciples were experiencing—was powerful because it was on the heels and wheels of them having spent forty days with the Resurrected Lord along with the instructions they received from the angels. The angels told them, “This same Jesus...shall so come in like manner as you have seen Him go into heaven.” Traditionally, we’ve looked at this Scripture as Jesus will be returning on a cloud as He had been taken up in a cloud. Many people think this is talking about the second coming of Christ, but as we read a little further, we will see what the angels were referring to.
Acts 1:12-13a KJV
“12 Then returned they unto Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is from Jerusalem a sabbath day’s journey. 13 And when they were come in, they went up into an upper room...”.
What was the motivation for the Apostles to return to Jerusalem? The Angel of the Lord had just given them a Word from God: the same way that Jesus was taken up, He shall come in like manner. “Like manner” is the operative term here. The angel did not say the Lord was coming to “catch away His Church.” The angel’s phraseology made the disciples return to Jerusalem and go into an “Upper Room” because they had yet to receive the Holy Spirit that Jesus had promised would come.
Did you know that prayer should be an “Upper Room” experience for every believer and not just a spectating experience? The disciples went into an Upper Room because
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A “LIKE MANNER” EXPERIENCE
ARCHBISHOP WAYNE R. FELTON
the angels told them in “like manner He shall come as you saw Him go to Heaven.” Jesus ascended into heaven, but now the Upper Room was where they would see Him come in “like manner!” Just as they saw the Lord ascend to heaven, they would see the Lord come into the earth by the descending of the Holy Spirit.
Acts 2:1-3 KJV
“And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. 3 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.”
This sound from heaven that came as a rushing mighty wind and the descending of the Holy Spirit was the like manner they were looking for! They had an experience with God and in the same way, prayer should be an experience with Jesus for us!