TITLE: THE POWER OF A PRAYING CHURCH
SCRIPTURE: ACTS 12:1-9
A church that does not pray forfeits the Blessings and Power of almighty God. A powerless Church does nothing to please or to Glorify God. Therefore, God is not pleased when his saints fail to COLLECTIVELY Pray. If we endeavor to see this Church soar to Higher Heights, we must become a Praying Church.
• If we want to see lives changed and souls save - we must become a Praying Church
• If we want to have an impact on the world - we musts become a Praying Church
• If we want to see the Church become what God designed it to be – we must become a Praying Church
• If we want to become Holy Ghost Headquarters – we must become a Praying Church
• If we want to see Continued Growth – we must become Praying Church
As the CANOPY of this text is lifted, we see that HEROD AGRIPPA the first, the Grandson of Herod the Great, and son of ARISTOBULOUS, had vexed the Church and killed JAMES the brother of JOHN with the Sword. When he saw that it pleased the Jews, he stretched forth his hand against Peter, the Leader of the Church. My brothers and sisters, there are those who do not want to see the Church progress, and will do whatever they can to hinder the Agenda of the Church. That’s why it is imperative that the Church stays in constant prayer.
The history of the early church begins with King Herod initiating a persecution of the church. And if you're thinking that you have read this name Herod other places in the Bible, you are right. HEROD is a popular name in the New Testament days! In fact, there are at least FOUR (4) Herods mentioned in the Bible.
• Herod #1 was known as "Herod the Great." This was the "Herod" who slaughtered the babies of Bethlehem in an attempt to kill the Christ child. He also murdered many of his own family.
• Herod #2 was known as "Herod Antipas." He was the "Herod" who commanded John the Baptist to be beheaded. He ruled when Jesus was crucified.
• Herod #3 was known as "Herod Philip the Second." He was murdered by his own father because he feared his son was after his throne but before Herod Philip died he had a son who became...
• Herod #4, known as "Herod Agrippa" who was the King Herod that we read about here in Acts 12.
Now this "Herod" was a typical politician in that he worked very hard at cultivating the good graces of the Jewish people he ruled-by meticulously keeping the MOSAIC LAW and all Jewish observances and it worked. He became very popular with the Jewish people, especially the religious leaders. But, don't get me wrong-he didn't do this because he loved the Jewish people. No-he was appointed to this "KINGSHIP" by Rome and he wanted to please his Roman masters. He knew that one thing they wanted was a peaceful Palestine. Rome wanted happy, non-rebellious subjects so their "LAP-DOG" Herod worked to keep the Jews happy. And, as I said he did a good job at this. He was popular with the Jewish community.
In our text, Peter is ARRESTED and INCARCERATED. Herod conjectured that if he killed the Head of the Church -- The body would soon perish. And don’t you know that this same type MENTALITY still exists today? However, unknown to Herod that God had other plans.
• I like a God who can turn Dead Ends into Detours
• I like a God who can take what looks like the End of the Road and turn it into a Bend in the Road
• I like a God who can take a One Way road and turn it into a Superhighway
• I like a God who is Bigger than our Prisons – Jail Cells – and our Chains
In prison Peter was treated as PUBLIC ENEMY NUMBER ONE. He was held in MAXIMUM SECURITY, which meant that sixteen soldiers in squads of four each were allotted to GUARD THIS GALILEAN FISHERMAN. Day and night Peter was kept chained to the wrists of two soldiers, one on the right and one on the left. Why? Probably Herod Agrippa was aware of what happened a few years earlier when Peter was in prison together with the other apostles. At that time an angel came and released Peter and the others, commanding them to go into the temple and preach the gospel. Herod Agrippa wanted to make sure Peter was not going to get out of prison so easily this time.
It was Herod’s desire to KILL HIM RIGHT AWAY. And don't misunderstand. This temporary stay of execution wasn't due to some hidden streak of kindness in Herod's nature. No, it was simply another example of Herod's desire to be popular with the Jewish religious leaders. You see scripture says that Peter was arrested during the PASSOVER - the feast of unleavened bread. And according to Jewish Law no trial or execution could be carried out during this week so Herod could not kill Peter until the week had passed-or he would risk losing the popularity he had gained by arresting him in the first place. Perhaps Herod thought that waiting to kill Peter after Passover on that SUNDAY – the day the Christians claimed Jesus had risen from the dead-would especially please the Jewish religious leaders!
Because this was now the third time Peter was arrested and put in prison, we must ask: Why did the Jews think Peter was so terrible? What had he done to deserve being arrested three times? What is the answer? Peter had done nothing deserving arrest. Like his Master, Peter had been going about doing good all these years--healing the sick, casting out demons, performing miracles, and preaching the gospel to the poor. These are all good works, not works deserving imprisonment. But Satan hates the gospel and the freedom that people receive when they believe the gospel, and so he incited Herod Agrippa I to arrest Peter.
In the text, we find something taking place that seems to be missing in many churches today – that is church folk praying for church folk. Not Church folk quitting and walking away whenever we don’t agree with what is going on. In this particular case, a church member was 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. 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. 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 IN THE HOUSE PRAYER MEETINGS.
The situation appeared to be grim for Peter. It looked like an impossible dead end - like there was no way out -- The text says - BUT - THE CHURCH WAS IN PRAYER! Look again at VS.5 - "So Peter was kept in prison BUT the church was earnestly praying to God for him." Prayers were being uttered by the church for Peter and this situation! Now before we go any farther let's pause and consider another very important truth. The scripture says that THE CHURCH was UNITED in PRAYING for Peter and this is the way it should be - the members of a church should pray TOGETHER! When Jesus drove the moneychangers out of the Temple do you remember what He said? He said, "MY HOUSE SHALL BE A HOUSE OF PRAYER – AND YOU HAVE MADE IT A DEN OF THIEVES." In other words Jesus taught that one primary purpose for us to gather in this place-HIS HOUSE-is to pray together!
It is important that we understand how the Church responded to James’ death and Peter’s imprisonment – THEY PRAYED- Did not get on Phone, ‘Man did you hear….”. In Acts 12:5 we read, "Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him." And in Acts 12:12 we read, "When this had dawned on him – what dawned on him – CHURCH WAS IN PRAYER - he went to the house of Mary the mother of John, also called Mark, where many people had gathered and were praying." In this time of great trouble and confusion, the church sought God through prayer. It may be that the church at that time met together in several houses rather than in one large building. When we read the New Testament, we don’t find even one mention of a building being used as a church for a large group. But we know members of the early church met frequently in various houses.
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.”
I can’t help but to wonder today, do we all believe that great things happen when the church really prays? The Old Testament people of God knew that. We could cite many occasions when God came to them in answer to their prayers, but one that should come to our mind this morning is when God addressed His people in II CHRONICLES 7:14 “IF MY PEOPLE, WHICH ARE CALLED BY MY NAME, SHALL HUMBLE THEMSELVES, AND PRAY, AND SEEK MY FACE, AND TURN FROM THEIR WICKED WAYS; THEN WILL I HEAR FROM HEAVEN, AND WILL FORGIVE THEIR SIN, AND WILL HEAL THEIR LAND.”
He was instilling in them, yes in a different dispensation I acknowledge, but yet something that comes to our dispensation is the fact that great things happen when the people of God join together and really pray. I could have cited to you many instances of that in the New Testament, even from the book of Acts, but the one example that we are given from this chapter tells us all that we need to know - that the church, when it really comes to grips with praying to God, we can see GREAT THINGS - SUPERNATURAL THINGS -- MIRACULOUS THINGS HAPPEN! And praise God, there's still a few people today that believe that things haven't changed!
My brothers and sisters, I want you to know that there is great power and great deliverance through prayer. You can check the record on that for yourself. The PAGES OF THE GOOD BOOK 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
• ELIJAH prayed and God sent fire down from Heaven
• JONAH prayed and God brought him out of the belly of the whale
• PAUL and SILAS prayed and God opened the Jail Cell
• The thief on the cross prayed and God gave him eternal life
• Momma prayed and your Saved Today
• Saints prayed and PPWC was birthed
• I tell you, the real saints know how to get in touch with God!
Because they knew how to get in touch with God – and because many people were being healed of sickness and disease, and because many were being delivered from the bondages of sin, the early church grew! Let me PULL-UP TO THE CURB FOR A SECOND AND DROP A QUARTER IN THE METER to tell you that: If you want our church to grow – PRAY MORE! If the church would just pray - we’d see many great and wonderful things! But now I need to provide you with this DISCLAIMER and 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 increased - so did “the rumblings of the discontented.” There’s always somebody in the church who’s discontented. It makes no difference how smooth things are running, there is ALWAYS SOMEBODY MAD OR UPSET ABOUT SOMETHING. I’ve learned after almost 23-years of Pastoring - 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! 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 IS WHY JESUS WEPT OVER JERUSALEM. He said in ST. 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 had then 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 given 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 the rich Jewish population happy. (Tell somebody, “It was a messed-up situation!”)
But let me just tell you that as long as the devil is permitted to live - the church will have problems! That’s why, as God’s people, we must learn to PRAY IN THE MIDST OF PROBLEMS! I didn’t say QUIT IN 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!"
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!” 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 Japan after Earthquake, and we believe God moves in Japan
• We pray for Afganistan, and we believe God moves in Afganistan
• 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 of us don’t believe when we pray that God will move right now, right here where we are!
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!
• Notice that the people relied upon prayer
• The people of the church didn’t appeal to the civil authorities
• They took their case directly to the highest court where Jesus “ever liveth to make intercession for them
“Suddenly,” an angel from the Lord appeared, and light flashed around in the cell. It was a dark predicament, 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!”
Angel told Peter – FOLLOW ME -- Peter FOLLOWED ANGEL.
• Jesus said - FOLLOW ME AND I WILL MAKE YOU TO BECOME FISHERS OF MEN
• Blessed when we learn how to Follow the Lord
• All too often we want to get out and front and take the lead
Well - it’s time for me to quit this sermon, but before I take my seat, 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 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 folks that prayed for Peter while he was in prison, but they are shocked and amazed when he actually shows up at the door. I’m going to my seat when I tell you that: “CHURCH, WE HAVE 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!”
This shows that God answers our prayers even when we DON’T FULLY BELIVE He can and this is in line with the Scripture, because Jesus said that we don't need a great deal of faith when we pray.
Remember in ST. MATTHEW 17 He said that even if you only have, "FAITH AS SMALL AS A MUSTARD SEED NOTHING WILL BE IMPOSSIBLE." But the fact is our prayers-even if our faith is so weak all it enables us to do is ask-our prayers change things. God acts in us and through us in response to our prayers. God wants us to cooperate with Him and often He will not act through us without our asking. Why-why would our almighty God act in this way? Why would He wait on our prayers? Well, because He created us for fellowship with Him. We were made to partner with Him. This is what Jesus meant when He told Peter in ST. MATTHEW 16:19, "WHATEVER YOU BIND ON EARTH WILL BE BOUND IN HEAVEN AND WHATEVER YOU LOOSE ON EARTH WILL BE LOOSED IN HEAVEN."
IF THE CHURCH WOULD JUST PRAY:
• Gossipers would stop gossiping!
• Liars would stop lying!
• Cheaters would stop cheating!
• Back biters would stop back-biting!
• Drunkards would stop drinking!
• Sniffers would stop snorting!
• Smokers would stop smoking!
• Problems would be lifted!
• Sinners would become Saints!
• Storm clouds will pass over!
• Troubles, Heartaches, Pain will soon be over!
• Empty Pews would become Full
• Heavy Hearts would be Lifted
• Love Will Abound
• Holy Spirit would Usher Us into another Realm
• Love and Treat our Neighbor Right
--Prayer is Unique in its Relevancy
--Prayer is Unique in its Successes
--Prayer is Unique in its Simplicity
--Prayer is Unique in its Healing
