We are going to look at a text from Acts 4:23-31 this morning that deals with accomplishing the will of God.
Here is a definite fact about God, He wants us to succeed.
If our desire is to accomplish the will of God and be a part of building His kingdom He will do all He can to help us.
That’s what Acts 4 gives us.
It gives us 4 keys to help us succeed in accomplishing the will of God.
I. They Knew The Will Of God
They had been with Jesus and He had definitely instructed and commissioned them to continue the mission He had modeled to them while He was with them.
Because we have the Bible and 2000 + years of history that has happened since Jesus left we have a better opportunity to know the will of God than the Apostles and the early church did.
They had approximately 3 years of training to get ready, we have a huge opportunity to be knowledgeable about the will of God for us they key is we have to take advantage of that opportunity.
There are 2 things that have to happen for that to occur in our circumstances:
a. We Have To Know His Word
b. We Have To Know Him
Neither one is sufficient without the other to know the will of God for our lives.
II. They Were Determined About The Will Of God
Vs. 23 After their release Peter & John went back to their own people and reported all that the Chief Priests and elders had said to them.
This wasn’t panic or fear this was determination.
They immediately went back to the pursuit of doing the will of God as soon as they were released from confinement.
We have to acquire a similar determination about the will of God.
Where does it come from?
It comes from a dedicated effort to know Him and His Word.
III. Our Determination Has To Be Well Seasoned In Prayer
Vs. 24When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God. "Sovereign Lord," they said, "you made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and everything in them.
Determination is not enough because this is God’s business and it’s all lived out in a very active Spiritually charged war environment.
Trying to work it out without input from God is like trying to win a war without the input of the Generals in charge of the military forces.
If the soldiers did that it would be mutiny or insubordination or insurrection or Sedition
In reality we are troops in His army and we have to understand the necessity of His direction and input because we are not building our kingdom we’re building His kingdom.
So those prayers of faith that we offer to Him out of our determination to do His will and perform our part in His plans are very important.
They are to keys that unlock all the doors to success for us.
Vs. 31After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken.
Faith is really simple, it’s just doing your part and letting Him do His part.
IV. Their Determination Was Followed By Action
Vs. 31 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.
So God answered their prayers and filled them with resources necessary to take ACTION.
Courage, wisdom, strength, power, concern,
And the rest is history.
