Title: Prayer: What Shakes When We Pray?
Place: BLCC
Date: 1/15/22
Text: Acts 16.16-33
[Screen 1]
FAS: Television interviewer and journalist Larry King describes three farmers who gather daily in a field during a horrible drought. The men are down on their knees, looking upward, and praying the skies will open and pour forth a much-needed rain. Unfortunately, the heavens are silent, and the petitioners become discouraged, but they continue to meet every morning to lift up their request to God.
One morning an uninvited stranger approaches and asks the men what they are doing. They respond, "We're praying for rain."
The newcomer looks at each of them and shakes his head, "No, I don't think so."
The first farmer says, "Of course we're praying. We are down on our knees pleading for rain. Look around, see the drought. We haven't had rain in more than a year!"
The outsider continues to nod his head and advises them their efforts will never work.
The second farmer jumps in and says, "We need the rain; we aren't asking only for ourselves, but for our families and livestock."
The man listens, nods, and says he still isn't impressed. "You're wasting your time," he says.
The third farmer can't take any more, and in anger he says, "Okay, what would you do if you were in our shoes?"
The visitor asks, "You really want to know?"
The three landowners answer, "We really want to know! The future of our farmlands is at stake."
The guest announces, "I would have brought an umbrella!" (1) [Screen 2]
LS: Do we, as followers of Jesus really trust in the power of prayer?
I am in the final week in the series “Prayer”. The first week we looked at whom we are talking to. Last week we looked at why we pray. Today we are going to look at [Screen 3] what shakes when we pray.
Let’s go straight to God’s Word this morning. [Screen 4] Acts 16.16-33. Luke tells us about an interesting incident that took place as Paul and his close companion and fellow delegate of the Jerusalem Council, Silas were heading to, believe it or not, a place of prayer in Philippi. As they walked along a slave woman followed them around. She had a spirit within her that allowed her to predict the future. Her owners thought this was a good deal and used her talent to make a good profit from the people that listened to her.
For several days she followed Paul and Silas around and revealed who they were by saying, “These men are servants of the most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved.”
At first you might think Paul would appreciate the woman speaking about them but for some reason he became annoyed it says. I believe it was because the spirit in the woman was evil and was being used by the woman’s owners to make money. Not looked upon very approvingly by God I am sure. (Just my thought).
So Paul called upon the name of Jesus, in other words he prayed, and said, “In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!”
At that very moment the spirit left the woman. A lot of people were around the scene and saw the spirit leave the woman. Of course the owners of the slave woman were furious. Paul had messed up their money deal. They seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to face the authorities. They told the magistrates these men were throwing the city into an uproar with talk of this Jesus and advocating that the Romans should accept the practices of these Christians, not using that title in a very nice way I might add.
A bit of a mob scene broke out and the magistrates ordered that Paul and Silas be stripped and beaten. After they were severely flogged they were thrown into prison. The jailor was commanded to keep a close watch on these two. The jailor knew that meant his own life was at risk if they escaped, so he put them in the inner cell and if that wasn’t enough; he fastened their feet in the stocks. [Screen 5]
Let’s pick this up at verse 25. About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.
Imagine what the other prisoners were thinking. Here are these too crazy guys, probably still covered with blood from their flogging, rejoicing by singing and praying to God. What could they possibly think that would be any good for? But then it happens. [Screen 6] Start Sound Effect
26. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose.
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27 The jailor woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped.
[Screen 8]
28 But Paul shouted “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!”
The jailor feared now for his life. What was this power that had freed these men.
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29 The jailor called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas
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30 He then led them out and asked, ”Sirs what must I do to be saved?”
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31 They replied. “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved-you and your household.
[Screen 12] Stop Sound Effect
32. Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house.
He shared the gospel with them. He shook their world. Just as we are to do, as a church and followers of Jesus, to all who will listen.
[Screen 13]
33 At that hour of the night the jailor took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his household were baptized.
What a story! Ended well for the jailor and his family. But the magistrates and the leaders of the city were discovering this power these men had drawn upon was a real force to be reckoned with. They also found out that Paul and Silas were actually Roman citizens and should not have been flogged as such. They wanted to be shed of these men and requested they leave the city.
[Screen 14]
What was this power? We saw it three times demonstrated in this text.
We saw it first as Paul called upon the name of Jesus to shake the evil spirit from the slave woman. Paul prayed in the name of his Lord to unleash the power of prayer.
Secondly we saw it as Paul and Silas were praying at midnight and the power of prayer and worship was released as an earthquake and the doors shook open to release the prisoners.
Thirdly we saw the power of prayer as the jailor and his whole household were baptized in the name of the father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Here was prayer and power released to save that whole family.
The Bible is the story of God giving away His power to His people. The specks he sees as he looks upon our world. The same specks he desires to take into his presence and love and be loved by.
Yet just about all those He chose to be his instrument turned out to be far from what God would have desired. Look at Adam; he couldn’t withstand the temptation to be like God himself. Abram thought he could take matters in his own hands without God. Moses resisted God so many times. David sure messed up with his desire for Bathsheba. They all fell short in some way or another, yet God used them to further his mission and fulfill his promises.
Jesus spent three short years on this earth putting together a dozen followers who were no less flawed. Yet he entrusted them with the keys to the kingdom of God and put them in charge of sharing it with all people. Against all odds this movement, the “Way” took hold and this human partnership with God has continued through the ages to be with us still today here at BLCC. [Screen 15]
The apostle Paul puts it this way in 1 Corinthians 3.9, For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building.
But sometimes we may not feel as close to God as some of those in the Old Testament. We’ve maybe never heard God talk from a burning bush, but I did say not long ago in another sermon that we do have a burning bush, the Bible where God does speak to us. Samuel literally heard God’s voice as God called to him in 1 Samuel 3. And the disciples got to talk to Jesus, God in the flesh. Maybe we feel a little like we are not as close as they were to God.
But Jesus brought about many changes. In Jesus’ day people had to travel to the temple to be in the presence of God.
But when a Samaritan woman questioned Jesus on where the proper place is for people to worship, Jesus gave this answer. [Screen 16] John 4.23, Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.
Jesus was basically saying God was moving His presence from a building, (which Jesus later predicted would be destroyed and it was) to the most unlikely place. God’s presence would be found in ordinary people like the Samaritan woman and us.
We no longer have to go to the temple to be in God’s presence for He dwells in us as the body of Christ.
There are times when some of us, even me and I should know better, wish that God would bring down the Pharaohs of today with plagues, flatten the Jericho walls of today with the sound of trumpets and scorch the priests of Baal like he did in the Old Testament.
But in reality, after Jesus returned to heaven to be on the throne of heaven with God and left us the Holy Spirit, the relationship we have with God is even closer. The Holy Spirit of God, the counselor works within us to bring us to a peace and strength that only comes from a relationship with our Lord. In this relationship we are to leverage our love not our power over others. We use the power we are given by God for others. [Screen 17]
Prayer is the way for the relationship between such unequal partners. Us, the creation and God, the Creator. Prayer unleashes the Power of God within us.
I quote from Eugene Peterson “Praying puts us at risk of getting involved with God’s conditions…. Praying most often doesn’t get us what we want but what God wants, something quite at variance with what we conceive to be in our best interests. And when we realize what is going on, it is often too late to go back.” (2)
When I pray myself, God communicates in a subtle way with me.
He causes me to realize when I say or do something that may be hurtful to others.
He nudges my conscience when I lean into a temptation a little too close and makes me realize the danger of giving in.
He makes me aware and compassionate about the struggles of others. To see them as He sees them, even when they are headed away from His ideal for them.
God so often only whispers rather than shout to bring peace out of the turmoil this world throws at us. In my prayer I can hear God’s whisper to my soul and mind.
The apostle Paul tries to explain this in his writings: [Screen 18]
Philippians 2.13, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose. [Screen 19]
Galatians 2.20, I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. [Screen 20]
Ephesians 2.10, For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
In our prayer the intimate relationship binds us with God to the point God gives us His power to do all things through us.
We gain the strength, the courage, and the power of God, which is revealed in us as prayer. Yet the most important force that is given by our God as we pray is love. He demonstrated this love at the cross at Calvary. That is the gospel.
I quote from R.A Torry, an evangelist from the early 1900s: We are too busy to pray, and so we are too busy to have power. We have a great deal of activity, but we accomplish little; many services, but few conversions; much machinery, but few results. (3)
There are some who say prayer will lead to inaction or passivity. They say we will depend too much on prayer and not be moved to action.
I look to Jesus as I always do to answer this. Jesus saw no contradiction: He spent many hours in prayer and followed it up with many hours of meeting human needs.
The church in Acts did the same. They prayed for guidance on how to care for its widows and others in need and then acted.
Paul constantly prayed for the early church and then put the prayers into action.
When we pray for God’s will to be done today in our church, we must not just sit and wait for God to do it. We must follow His will. We must follow His Son. The Holy Spirit must guide us.
God will release His power to us as we pray. [Screen 21]
He will make things shake for us if we trust in Him.
It’s kind of like the dad working on his computer on some real important papers. His young son wants to help. So the boy climbs up on his dad’s lap and attempts to help. Of course the boy’s help actually messes up things and slows down his dad’s mission to finish his work and he has to fix all the boy messes up afterwards.
Later the boy runs to tell his mom he had helped his dad with all his work. He was so happy and pleased with himself for being able to help dad.
He said, “Me and dad got all the work done mom.”
And dad quickly agrees. He understands his son’s feeling of joy was more important than the extra time it took to finish the job.
Reckon God feels like that when we pray, when we serve Him, when we worship? God knows we are the ones who get more out of this relationship we have with Him. He could complete his mission here without us but he chooses us instead.
God releases His Power to us. God reveals his gentleness and compassion for us all by using His strength and power to give us the true power to serve others, to preach and teach His gospel and to worship and love Him. [Screen 22]
CT: Prayer still shakes up our lives when we receive God’s power.
Jesus’ prayer is that all will come to Him. As we pray, let God’s power be released in us to bring others to the forgiveness, the true joy, the peace and the undying love of the gospel: The good news of Jesus Christ and the power of the cross at Calvary.
(1) Larry King, Powerful Prayers (Renaissance Books, 1998), p. 243; submitted by Louis Lapides, Thousand Oaks, California
(2) Yancey, Philip (2008-09-09). Prayer (Kindle Locations 2092-2093). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.
(3) —R. A. Torrey, American evangelist (1856–1928)
