Make Time Take Time
Extending your Arms in Prayer
Acts 12:5-16
July 01, 2011 5:53 PM
INTRODUCTION
Off-duty cop rescues family asleep during house fire
A Midland County family escaped a house fire last just after midnight. No one was injured, although the family lost everything. They are now staying with nearby family.
The father and two young kids were at home asleep at the time of the fire, but were woken up by an off-duty police officer.
Who saw the fire and automatically responded. The automatic response of one save another.
What if our prayers are supposed to work the same way. They are our automatic response that moves the kingdom of God.
Imagine what would happen if prayer became our first response in every circumstance.
The early Church appears to have developed prayer that way.
Luke remembers a number of examples of prayer being the first response of the church. Turn with me to his second book written to his friend, Theopolis, ACTS
Acts 12:5-17
New International Version (NIV)
5 So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him.
6 The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries stood guard at the entrance. 7 Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up. "Quick, get up!" he said, and the chains fell off Peter's wrists.
8 Then the angel said to him, "Put on your clothes and sandals." And Peter did so. "Wrap your cloak around you and follow me," the angel told him. 9 Peter followed him out of the prison, but he had no idea that what the angel was doing was really happening; he thought he was seeing a vision. 10 They passed the first and second guards and came to the iron gate leading to the city. It opened for them by itself, and they went through it. When they had walked the length of one street, suddenly the angel left him.
11 Then Peter came to himself and said, "Now I know without a doubt that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from Herod's clutches and from everything the Jewish people were hoping would happen."
12 When this had dawned on him, he went to the house of Mary the mother of John, also called Mark, where many people had gathered and were praying. 13 Peter knocked at the outer entrance, and a servant named Rhoda came to answer the door. 14 When she recognized Peter's voice, she was so overjoyed she ran back without opening it and exclaimed, "Peter is at the door!"
15 "You're out of your mind," they told her. When she kept insisting that it was so, they said, "It must be his angel."
16 But Peter kept on knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished. 17 Peter motioned with his hand for them to be quiet and described how the Lord had brought him out of prison. "Tell James and the other brothers and sisters about this," he said, and then he left for another place.
Background:
1 It was about this time that King Herod arrested some who belonged to the church, intending to persecute them. 2 He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword. 3 When he saw that this met with approval among the Jews, he proceeded to seize Peter also. This happened during the Festival of Unleavened Bread. 4 After arresting him, he put him in prison, handing him over to be guarded by four squads of four soldiers each. Herod intended to bring him out for public trial after the Passover.
* King Herod violent against the church
* James is put to the sword (v.2)
* It was deemed favorable by the opposition.
* Peter arrested and sentenced to die (v3)
Herod was charged to keep peace in the region to stay in favor with the Roman gov. Rome demanded peace and quietness at ANY cost. So Herod saw what a commotion was going on with the church and saw that the religious leaders were creating a movement that was disrupting the pax romana.
So after killing James, and finding it approved he has peter arrested during one of the holidays, confines him to prison and sentences him to die within the week.
Extending our arms in prayer will mean . . .
Developing a discipline of prayer
IN USCG, throwing a monkey fist heaving line. Is used by search and rescue boast to pass a larger twoign line to to a disabled vessel in high seas. First you made you own, soaked and stretched the line, tied a monkey fist knot, dipped it in red paint. Then you practiced throwing it. We use to set up a bucket it in the yard outside the boatswain's shop and we practiced throwing the line so it would fall within arms reach of the bucket.
A discipline that is practice regularly that it is automatically turned to in time so of crises.
5 So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him.
Developing the Discipline will require practice.
The Early church was born in prayer and prayer marked the lives of the earlier leaders and followers.
Acts 1:14
14 They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.
Acts 2:42-43
42 They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43
Acts 3:3 (The day they see a lame man and speak to him to walk)
3 One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer -- at three in the afternoon.
Acts 4:23-24 (The first Time peter was imprisoned)
23 On their release, Peter and John went back to their own people and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them. 24 When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God.
Developing the discipline will change the quality of our prayers.
5 So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him.
Earnestly praying. Literally the greek word used meant without ceasing, meant fervently and intently
Extending our arms in prayer will mean . . .
Believing and trusting in the power of prayer
Skye Jethani, from the sermon "Church: The Wisdom of God on Display," Preachingtoady.com
A few weeks ago I was in Cape Town, South Africa, for a gathering of world Christian leaders from 200 countries. One of the speakers was the Anglican archbishop of Jos, Nigeria. His name is Benjamin Kwashi, and he shared a story that was horrific and inspiring at the same time. Jos, this city in Nigeria, has been rocked by sectarian violence for years now, primarily between Christians and Muslims. There have been endless cycles of violence and vengeance and hundreds of people killed. In March of 2009, a gang of people broke into the bishop's house to kill him. He wasn't home, but his wife was. They did unspeakable things to her, and they beat her and left her for dead. He found her, and she was still alive, but she spent most of the following year in recovery. A year to the day after this gang beat her, in March of 2010, they came back. They broke into his home again, and this time they did find Benjamin. They dragged him out of his house, and they were about to kill him. They had machetes and clubs. Benjamin asked for just a moment to pray before they began. So he knelt there on the dirt and began to pray.
A moment later he felt someone holding his hand. He looked up, and it was his wife. I still can't believe the courage of that woman. She could have run, but instead she broke through this line of the same people who had attacked her a year ago and knelt with her husband to pray with him, knowing that her life was over as well. And then a moment later, he felt someone holding his other hand. He looked, and it was his teenage son. Benjamin begged his son to leave so that he wouldn't be killed as well. And his son said, "Father, they've all left. They're all gone."
Why did they leave? Benjamin said he has no idea. And he knows they'll be back. I'd like to believe that the reason they left is that when this bishop and his wife were kneeling in the dirt in prayer, the manifold wisdom of God was put on display before the powers and authorities in the heavenly realm. There was wisdom and power there that these people could not comprehend, and they became afraid and they fled.
We will have to get past the two biggest stumbling blocks or excuses
We have to believe prayer is powerful even when we don't know what to prayer
Hiding behind the excuse that we don't know how to pray makes no sense. The work says none of us know how to pray. But prayer can be learned by anyone.
Rom 8:26-27
26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. 27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will.
What would you says an adult who said that he didn't brush his teeth because he didn't know how.
We have to believe prayer is powerful even when we don't see the answer.
12 When this had dawned on him, he went to the house of Mary the mother of John, also called Mark, where many people had gathered and were praying. 13 Peter knocked at the outer entrance, and a servant named Rhoda came to answer the door. 14 When she recognized Peter's voice, she was so overjoyed she ran back without opening it and exclaimed, "Peter is at the door!"
15 "You're out of your mind," they told her. When she kept insisting that it was so, they said, "It must be his angel."
16 But Peter kept on knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished. 17 Peter motioned with his hand for them to be quiet and described how the Lord had brought him out of prison. "Tell James and the other brothers and sisters about this," he said, and then he left for another place.
Peter was already released, but they were still praying.
Extending our arms in prayer will mean . . .
Making time and taking time for prayer.
We need to do it. Two fold Challenge:
We need to make time to pray.
Don't settle for popcorn prayer that springs up here or there. Make time to pray, deliberate intentional guarded set aside time. Set a reasonable goal in this next week. Don't know ah tot prayer for? I've given you a prayer card with four key kingdom issues to pray about.
Challenge: Do it at least twice in this next week.
We need to take time to pray.
The early church gathered together to pray. They did it often and they did it regularly. Somehow we seem to think it has no importance or significance. This next week I'm going to lead two 33 min prayer gatherings. Short times for some of us to gather together and pray.
Imagine what would happen if we really believed our prayers and our prayers gatherings advanced the kingdom of God.
Let's Make and Take time.
