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business area of the church. But deacons watch over “this business,” the serving of the needs
of the people.

Act 6:4 But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word.

But we will give ourselves continually (primarily) to prayer, and to the ministry (diakonos) of the
word.

Prayer and preparation of the word of God takes much time and concentration. Any ministry
by a deacon or elder also takes extended times of preparation and concentration. One person,
the pastor, cannot do both and effectively feed the sheep (Acts 20:28).

Moses faced the same problem with the children of Israel . His father-in-law, Jethro, proposed
the same solution. Moses was to choose men to help him watch over the people so he could
minister in prayer and the teaching of the Word (Exodus 18: 19-22). In both Exodus and Acts,
prayer is mentioned before the ministry of the Word. Prayer hears from God to know His mind
concerning what to give to the people. The Holy Spirit is the agent and power of prayer. He
leads us into the Word. The pastor is also seen in this passage as a deacon. Just as every
believer has work and service to perform, the pastor’s duty is to serve the Word of God to the

people.

6:1-4 Faithfulness in Prayer and Spiritual Warfare, FAITH’S WARFARE. The early church
learned quickly that their prayer had to be continuous because spiritual warfare is
continuous. It became their first priority because Satan sought their defeat as his first
priority. Thus, their earliest recorded administrative decision after Pentecost places the
ministry of prayer (with the Word) as highest in importance.

As the church grew, circumstances required more of the apostles’ time. But realizing
they needed more prayer, rather than increased activity, the apostles chose seven men
to serve as deacons to care for the church. This freed them to focus on prayer and the
ministry of the Word. Of the two, prayer, rightly, is listed first. Faithfulness to prayer
recurs throughout Scripture. Paul would later tell the church At Rome to “be kindly
affectionate to one another . . . continuing steadfastly in prayer” (Romans 12:10, 12).

SEVEN MEN CHOSEN

Act 6:5 And the saying pleased the whole multitude: and they chose Stephen, a man full of
faith and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas,
and Nicolas a proselyte of Antioch:

Notice each man chosen has a Greek name. Whether these men are fully or partially Greek is
not known. All are probably Greek speaking and understand the needs of the Greek widows.