IMPRISONMENT OF CHRISTIANS IN CHINA is on the upswing. One report says there has been a drastic increase of assaults on Christians over the last year. That’s China, but that’s not the only place it’s happening. You can probably guess the other countries that are among the most hazardous for Christians. If you’re thinking North Korea, Iran, and Somalia, you’re right. And that’s just a start. Put Nigeria and Cameroon on your list. And there are many, many more.
Meanwhile, here in the West, secular militants seek to discredit, neutralize, and marginalize the church and its witness. Janet Folger in her book, The Criminalization of Christianity, documents how people in New York have been fired from their jobs, kids in California have been suspended from school, pastors in Sweden have been sentenced to prison—and their crimes involve nothing more than exercising their religious freedoms.
Powerful forces are at work to contest the reign of God. But it’s nothing new. The Book of Acts records how Peter and John, way back in the First Century, healed a beggar at the gate of the temple. And the next thing they knew, they were being detained by the authorities, and they wound up spending the night in jail. The next day, when they were brought before the magistrates, they were ordered “not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus” (Acts 4:18). Not “at all!” Even when they were released, they could still hear the threats ringing in their ears.
But they knew what we know. And what we know is that, no matter what the opposition and no matter how fierce it may, God will extend His reign—His kingdom—and He will do it through our witness to the name of Jesus. And while there is no doubt that He will expand His sovereign rule, He nevertheless calls on us to pray for it. Isn’t that what Jesus tells us to do the Lord’s Prayer? Doesn’t He teach us to say, “Thy kingdom come”?
And here in Acts 4, we see three ways we can pray that God’s kingdom will come, that His reign will increase. We do it by turning to one another for prayer, by turning to God in prayer, and by turning to the world with prayer. Let’s see how it works.
I. BY TURNING TO ONE ANOTHER FOR PRAYER (Acts 4:23)
“When they were released, they went to their friends and reported
what the chief priests and elders had said to them.”
First, we turn to one another for prayer. Look at verse 23. There we read, “When they were released”—that is, when Peter and John were free to go—“they went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and elders had said to them.”
And that’s what we need to do. In the face of opposition to our faith and our witness, we need to come together and ask for prayer. God has put us together in the church so that we may support and encourage one another, and one of the ways we do that is through praying with and for each other. And we should never be hesitant to ask others for prayer.
II. BY TURNING TO GOD IN PRAYER (Acts 4:24-30)
“And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God…” (v. 24).
So, one way we pray for the advance of God’s kingdom is by turning to one another for prayer. Another way, of course, is by turning to God in prayer. That’s what we see Peter and John’s “friends” doing when they hear about what these two men have been through. Verse 24 says, “And when they heard it, they lifted up their voices together to God.” In other words, they turned to God in prayer. And what did they say? Right here in Acts 4, we have the transcript of their prayer. And what that means is that we have a template for our own prayers. What are we to do in prayer?
1. In Prayer We Acknowledge the Greatness of God (v. 24)
“Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them…”
Well, the first thing they did was to extol God. The rest of verse 24 gives us the very words they prayed. They said, “Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them.” Now, if we follow their lead—and why wouldn’t we?—we see that in prayer we acknowledge the greatness of God.
2. In Prayer We Assess the Gravity of Our Circumstance (vv. 25-28)
“For truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the people of Israel…” (v. 27).
If we read further, we also see that, in prayer, we assess the gravity of our circumstance. As these early Christians prayed, they exposed the forceful opposition to God’s reign. And look at how they did that. They started by citing Scripture. If you look at verses 25 and 26, you’ll see that they recalled the words of Psalm 2, which says, “Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathered together, against the Lord and against his Anointed”—that is, against His Christ.
So, they quoted Scripture—a very fitting thing to do in prayer—and, after that, they took stock of their own circumstances. Verse 27: “for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel….”
They looked back to the past, to the reality described in Scripture, and they looked around in the present, to their own reality. This is what we are to do. We are to pour our hearts out in prayer. We are to tell God how and where evil has managed to get a foothold and how it thrashes about, seeking to distract us and demoralize us and even destroy us. Wherever you find evil, you’ll find that behind it is the Evil One—and what did Jesus say about him? That he “comes only to steal and kill and destroy” (John 10:10).
3. In Prayer We Ask for the Grace to Respond
“And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness…” (v. 29).
But there’s more to prayer than just telling God how bad things are. In prayer we ask for the grace to respond. We ask God to help us to do what honors Him. That’s what those early Christians did. Check out verse 29. Those folks said, “And now, Lord, look upon their threats”—that is the threats of the opposition—and what? Spare us? Insulate us? Spirit us away? No! What did they pray? They prayed, “Grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness.” This is a brave prayer. These people weren’t looking for a way out. They were looking for a way in. They weren’t hoping to escape. They were mounting an offensive.
III. BY TURNING TO THE WORLD WITH PRAYER (Acts 4:31)
And that’s the third way that we pray for God’s kingdom to come, for His reign to expand. First, we do it by turning to one another for prayer. Then we do it by turning to God in prayer. And, third, we do it by turning to the world with prayer. We want our prayers for the world to be fervent, and we also want them to be effectual. This vile world is not a friend to grace. Therefore, our witness to the world needs to begin with prayer, and it needs to continue with prayer. Why? Two reasons:
1. Our Witness Must Be in the Power of the Spirit (v. 31a)
“And when they had prayed…, they were all filled with the Holy Spirit…”
First, our witness must be in the power of the Spirit. In the first part of verse 31, we read that, “when they had prayed…, they were all filled with the Holy Spirit.” This is essential. We can’t do God’s work without God’s Spirit. Hebrews 9:14 calls works we do without God’s Spirit—works we do in our own strength—it calls them “dead works.” We may do good things, but they won’t have lasting effect. This is hard to remember, but it is essential to grasp. Our witness must be in the power of the Spirit.
And how can we be sure that it will be? How can we be sure that we are filled with the Spirit? There are three things we need to do. First, we must deal ruthlessly with sin. We’re going to talk more about this in the future—Lord willing—but for now, let me just say: we need to expose our sin, confess it, repent of it, and abandon it. Then, we must cast ourselves upon Jesus as the only One who can rescue us from sin and its power. And, third, we must yield ourselves to the Holy Spirit, seeking His power to overcome sin, obey the Father, and bear witness to Jesus. And all three of these steps are acts of prayer: first, a prayer of contrition; second, a prayer of faith; and third, a prayer of surrender. In short, we must pray our heart out. Without such fervent prayer, our witness to the world will be hollow. Our witness must be by the power of the Spirit.
2. Our Witness Must Be by the Power of the Word (v. 31b)
“…and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.”
And, if we’re to turn to the world with prayer, our witness must be by the power of the Word. We see in the latter part of verse 31 that those early Christians “continued to speak the word of God with boldness.” That’s what they had prayed for, isn’t it? Back up in verse 29, they prayed, “Grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness.”
There are two pairs of concepts that are essential for Christian living. One pair has to do with God’s movement toward us. And that pair is Word and Spirit. Never separate these two. You cannot understand the Word or even obey it without the Spirit. And you cannot follow the Spirit without the Word. The Spirit will never lead you in a way that is contrary to the Word, and the Word will never take effect in your life without the power of the Spirit. Keep that in mind. That’s one conceptual pair, and it has to do with God’s movement toward us.
The second pair has to do with our movement toward God. And that pair is repentance and faith. When God’s Word addresses you and God’s Spirit moves you, you must respond. And you must respond in repentance and faith. In repentance, you turn away from sin—from anything that displeases God—and, in faith, you turn toward God—trusting His mercy and grace and relying on Him for His power.
Powerful forces are at work to contest the reign of God. Never underestimate them. But never over-estimate them either. God is advancing the cause of His kingdom. He is expanding His reign over His creation. And He has called us to pray for His kingdom to come. As we have seen, we do that by turning to one another for prayer, by turning to God in prayer, and by turning to the world with prayer. So, what else are we to do? Let’s pray our hearts out.
