Introduction:
How many of you pray every day?
How many of you pray each morning when you wake up?
How many of you pray every night before you go to sleep?
How many of you pray before each meal?
How many of you pray for yourselves?
How many of you pray for others?
How many of you pray for the Church?
Acts 12:5
Peter therefore was kept in prison: but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him.
In the text, we find something taking place that seems to be missing in many churches today – that is church members praying for church members.
In this particular case a church member in trouble.
The Apostle Peter is on death row and all petitions to commute his sentence have been exhausted.
But I’ve come to tell you that prayer changes things.
Prayer changes people and circumstances.
When all else fails. . . pray.
In the early church, corporate prayer was the standard.
The early church is a model for the church of today.
Acts 3:1
Now Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour.
In Acts 5:42 the record is that church members met day after day, in the Temple courts and from house to house.
In other words, they had old-fashioned prayer meetings.
Do you remember when the saints would come together (not for chatting and chewing) – but for the purpose of getting down on their knees in prayer for one another, their churches their families and their communities?
So often today, we find that many church people are only concerned about themselves and their own problems – and when they do visit each other’s houses the conversation is more about everybody’s business than it is about petitioning God.
But here in Act 12:5, we find a church praying “without ceasing” for one of their own.
The Bible says that, “the prayers of the righteous availeth much.”
My brothers and sisters, I want you to know that there is great power and great deliverance (possible) through prayer.
You can check the record on that for yourself.
The pages of the God’s Word are laced and lined with accounts of prayer.
Moses prayed and God spared Israel from judgment.
Joshua prayed and God caused the sun to stand still.
Hannah prayed and God gave her a baby boy.
Solomon prayed and God gave him wisdom.
Hezekiah prayed and God added 15 years to his life.
Elijah prayed and God sent fire down from Heaven.
Jonah prayed and God brought him out of the belly of the whale.
The thief on the cross prayed and God gave him eternal life.
Through Prayer:
There is no problem that cannot be solved.
There is no sickness that cannot be healed.
There is no burden that cannot be lifted.
There is no storm that cannot be calmed.
Through Prayer:
There is no sorrow that cannot be comforted.
There is no sinner that cannot be saved.
There is no hurt that cannot be mended.
There is no fallen that cannot be lifted.
Through Prayer:
There is no backslider that cannot be restored.
There is no broken relationship that cannot be mended.
There is no difference that cannot be resolved.
There is no sin that cannot be forgiven.
There are no ashes that cannot turned into beauty.
Through Prayer:
There is no heaviness that can’t be covered with the garment of praise.
There is no thirst that can’t be quenched.
There is no hunger that can’t be filled.
There is no dry ground that can’t be flooded.
Through Prayer:
There is no desert that can’t blossom like a rose.
There is no congregation that can’t be revived.
There are no church pews that He can’t fill.
There is no mess that can’t be turned into a miracle!
Matthew 21:22
And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.
James 5:14-18
Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: 15And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. 16Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. 17Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. 18And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.
(The endless possibilities of prayer.) (Just a prayer meeting?)
The early church knew how to get in touch with God.
And because they knew how to get in touch with God
And because many people were being healed (through prayer) of sickness and disease,
And because many were being delivered from the bondages of sin,
The early church grew!
If you want your church grow... pray more!
If the church would just pray... we’d see many great and wonderful things!
But now... I have to warn you (if you’re thinking about becoming a more prayerful church) that whenever the church starts to grow, the devil gets busy!
Yes... though the record is that the disciples (or the followers of Christ) increased... so did “the rumblings of the discontented.”
There’s always somebody in the church who’s discontented.
I don’t care how smooth things are running; there is always somebody mad or upset about something.
I’ve learned that when things are going well in the church, I need to pray more, because Satan is scheming and plotting to stir up some junk!
In the early church, after the praying got started good, problems arose!
There were problems from without and problems from within.
First, let’s look at the problems from without:
Understand that the church was started in the most unlikely place in the world.
Jesus had said begin at Jerusalem , but Jerusalem was hardened!
They wouldn’t even hear the prophets, much less these Christians!
That’s why Jesus wept over Jerusalem . He said in Matthew 23:37 "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!"
In other words, Jesus was saying to them: “You all killed the preachers who were sent to you.
I really wanted to gather you as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!”
And so, the problems from without were that:
They were hard-headed and hard-hearted...
They either killed or stoned the preachers... in fact, they killed Jesus!
And now the disciples were supposed to go there and start a church?
It was a hard field to work!
And then, there were problems from within:
The treasurer of the church had been stealing money out of the receipts and after betraying Jesus he committed suicide.
The most prominent leader of the church had denied the faith and denied that he had ever known the Lord.
They were commanded by the officials that they were not to teach or even speak at all in the name of their founder (Jesus).
Hypocrisy and lying had been discovered in the membership of the church; which threatened the power of their witness.
There was racial strife which caused a murmuring in the membership
Their favorite and most faithful deacon (Stephen) had been murdered.
There was a government hit-man (Saul of Tarsus) who was tracking down individual members of the body.
There was conflict over who the gospel should be preached to.
Peter had broken with tradition and was preaching to untouchables.
Now, Peter had been put in prison and Herod was planning on killing him to make a bunch of rich Jews happy.
(Tell somebody, “It was a messed-up situation!”)
But let me just tell you that: As long as the devil is permitted to work the church will have problems!
That’s why, as God’s people, we must learn to pray in the midst of problems!
As God’s people we must continue to minister in the midst of trials and tribulations!
We have to follow God’s Word in order to overcome problems!
The devil is going to attack the church, you can be sure of that, but praise God: "Greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world!"
Yes... in the midst of problems we can keep going.
In the midst of problems we can say: "But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."
My brothers and sisters, I want you to know that the church prayed through its problems.
You ought to turn and tell somebody today, “Whatever problems we have in this church, we can pray through them!”
Whatever problems your facing you can pray through them!
It’s always amazes me how Christians can pray for something or someone that is somewhere else and expect an answer, but they don’t expect an answer when they pray for things at home!
We pray for Africa, and we believe God moves in Africa .
We pray for India , and we believe God moves in India .
We pray for Iraq , and believe that God is moving in Iraq .
We pray for those who are in the hospital and we believe that God moves on those people in the hospital.
But, many people are afraid to pray that God will move right now, right here where they are!
Notice what they were doing here in Acts 12: They were praying and they all had insurmountable problems.
A mad-man, named Herod, was terrorizing the Christian community.
He had already done three (3) things:
1. Number one: He stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the church.
Not all of the church, just some of the church: those who were trying to be about a good work.
Herod was on their case like white on rice!
He began by afflicting them, imprisoning them, fining them, spoiling their houses and goods, and in other ways molesting them.
And it was all because they belonged to Christ!
I need to tell somebody,
“If people in the church are getting on your nerves, it’s probably because the devil is mad at you for trying to do a good work and he wants to discourage you, but don’t you quit...
Just keep praying” . . .
And “count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.”
2. The second thing Herod did was: He killed James the brother of John with the sword.
James was one of first three of Christ’s disciples.
He was one of those who witnessed Jesus’ transfiguration.
He was one of those whom Christ called “the Sons of thunder.”
Let me encourage anybody who’s being vexed by the devil in the church.
Your vexing may be evidence that you have a powerful anointing on your life and Satan wants to take you out!
3. Thirdly, Herod locks up Peter (the one who become the head of the church.)
The one who preached one sermon that resulted in 3-thousand souls being saved!
The enemy always likes to attack the head.
The devil knows that if he can kill the head, the body will fall!
That’s why I need everyone of you to pray for me!
Your pastor needs your prayers!
Your church needs your prayers!
This ain’t no time to quit!
This ain’t no time to run and hide!
This ain’t no time to disband the church!
AND it sure ain’t no time to fire the preacher and hire a diplomat!
“It’s Time To Pray!”
I got to move on here, but when they prayed... look what happened:
While Peter was being kept in jail, the church never stopped praying to God for him.
The night before Peter was to be put on trial, he was asleep and bound by two chains.
A soldier was guarding him on each side, and two other soldiers were guarding the entrance to the jail.
But suddenly (everybody say “suddenly”) that’s the way God shows-up!
Is there anybody here who’s ever been in trouble and it looked like you were going down, but “suddenly” God showed -up ...
And when He showed-up,
He showed-out!
“Suddenly,” an angel from the Lord appeared, and light flashed around in the cell.
• It was dark, but God shed light on Peter’s situation!
• The angel poked Peter in the side and woke him up.
• He woke Peter up, but he made the guards fall into a deeper sleep.
Then he said, “Peter... quick! Get up!”
The chains fell off his hands, and the angel said,
“Get dressed and put on your sandals and your coat.”
Don’t read over that part too fast, because the reason the angel told Peter to put on his shoes and coat was the let Peter know that;
“God has all time in His hands!”
• God was present before "when" ever was
• And was is in control everywhere before "where" was given a place to be.
“Get-up Peter!”
I hear God saying to someone who feels trapped...It might even be me…
He’s saying “Get-up!” “Get up and look up!” “. . .
Look towards the hill from whence cometh your help... your help comes from the Lord!”
• Peter did what he was told even though he thought it was a dream, because he didn’t see anyway out of this situation.
But that’s what I like about God...
God will provide a way when you can’t see your way!
Brother Peter and that angel walked right past the two groups of soldiers, and when they came to the iron-gate to the city, it opened by itself.
How many know today that God will open a door for you that no man can close and He’ll close doors that no man can open?
• They went out and were going along the street, when all at once the angel disappeared.
That’s when Peter realized what had happened, and he said, “I’m certain that the Lord sent his angel to rescue me from Herod and what the Jewish leaders planned to do to me.”
I can almost hear Peter saying: “Can’t nobody do me like Jesus! Can’t nobody do me like the Lord!”
Let me tell you that it doesn’t do any good to pray if you don’t believe that your prayers will be answered!
• The bible says that when Peter went to the house of Mary, the mother of John, many of the Lord’s followers had come together there and were praying.
And when Peter knocked on the gate, a servant girl named Rhoda answered the door.
And when she heard Peter’s voice, she was too excited to open the gate.
She ran back into the house and said that Peter was standing there.
But they all said, “You’re are crazy!”
People are quick, sometimes, to call you crazy when they don’t understand what the Lord has done or is doing in your life!
• Remember... these were the same people that prayed for Peter while he was in prison, but they are shocked and amazed when he actually shows up at the door.
Church... we’ve got to have more of an expectation!
• We’ve got to pray until something happens.
• And not only that, but “we’ve got to pray when nothing is happening!
“If The Church Would Just Pray....”
Gossipers would stop talking!
Liars would stop lying!
Cheaters would stop cheating!
Back-biters would stop back-biting!
Drunkards would stop drinking!
Coke addicts would stop snorting!
Smokers would stop smoking!
Fresh woman would lower their hems lines!
Fresh men would keep their pants on!
Old people would stop acting foolish!
Young people would stop acting crazy!
God robbers would start being tithe payers.
Revival would break out and the church would grow.
“If The Church Would Just Pray!”
Credits: Taken from a sermon by Kristy Smith
