We read in Acts 4:31, “When they finished praying, the place where they were meeting was shaken. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to proclaim God's message with boldness.”(GNB)
As the believers in the early church met together for prayer there was a mighty manifestation of God’s power that day. Their place of gathering was shaken, they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they went out to declare the message of God with much boldness. The early church was strong, and made a tremendous impact on those around them.
Today’s church is in complete contrast to the way the early church functioned. The growth in our churches is biological rather than the inclusion of new believers being added, which is what the Lord desires for the church. Many members of the church today are weak spiritually only because they have not received the anointing and power of the Holy Spirit in their lives.
Church is a place where the Lord resides, and where the Spirit of God moves in a mighty way. When we are part of such a fellowship, we too will be filled with the same power of the Holy Spirit, and the Lord will use us to be a blessing to others. As we gather together to worship we do so with the expectation that the Lord will strengthen us, provide answers to the questions we have, and give us guidance for every decision we have to take. As parents if we want to see our children, and the generations to come being impacted in a powerful way, we must pray with the expectancy that the Lord will bring about a mighty revival, and that our witness be such that those around us will realize that we are a people belonging to God.
Sadly today, many a church has become all about a building, and once the building comes up it becomes the property of the Pastor, his children and their children and what happens as a result is that the vision and burden with which the church began fizzles out. The reason the word of God has recorded the acts of the early church, is to motivate us to understand that all of the mighty deeds that the Lord accomplished then through the apostles and believers, the Lord is willing to perform amongst us even today.
The power and strength of the early church was that they were a praying church. For those who are wondering as to how we too can experience the anointing and power of the Holy Spirit that was so evident in the early church, the secret is to spend time together in prayer. As we pray, we are filled with the Holy Spirit who enables us to be victorious over sin, sickness and the world. Also the Spirit of God removes all fear and inhibitions so that we are able to freely and boldly share the word of God with others.
In Acts 4:24 -31 we read, “So when they heard that, they raised their voice to God with one accord and said: “Lord, You are God, who made heaven and earth and the sea, and all that is in them, who by the mouth of Your servant David have said: ‘Why did the nations rage, And the people plot vain things? 26 The kings of the earth took their stand, And the rulers were gathered together Against the LORD and against His Christ.’ 27 “For truly against Your holy Servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together 28 to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose determined before to be done. 29 Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word, 30 by stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus.” 31 And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness. (NKJV)
Prayer is the foundation for a strong church. The first thing the early church did was they lifted their voice together in one accord, and called on the name of the Lord. They begin their prayer acknowledging that God is the creator of heaven, earth, the sea and everything in it, and the reason for this is to primarily affirm who God really is. It is important and beneficial for us to endorse who God is in every situation of our lives.
In the next part of their prayer, they mention how David had prophesied that the Gentiles and the people of this world would be enraged against the Messiah, and also the kings and rulers would plot against Him to bring him down. This was rightly fulfilled when Herod and Pontius Pilate along with the religious leaders and crowds of people, plotted and sentenced Jesus to die on the cross. The only reason they were all against Jesus was because what Jesus taught was contradictory to the standards they held, and He exposed them of all their evil thoughts and deeds.
When Jesus is Lord of our life, He will use us to accomplish mighty wonders, and when He does this we should not be surprised when those outside the church are angry and upset with us. The call of God to the church is to be His agents who will have a great impact on society. If we compromise, and go along with the standards of this world, we will certainly impact no one. We are an extraordinary people called by an Almighty God to achieve extraordinary things for His glory.
The Lord is willing to use us to be His ambassadors, who will caution and stop those who are going down the path of destruction, and lead them on towards the path of life eternal. We as a church have in many ways become one with the world. Our desires are essentially for the temporal, not realizing that we can take nothing from this world, but only the precious souls whom we have led to the Lord, when we leave this world. The only investment that will stand secure in our eternal account, is the people whom we have shared the gospel with, and led into the saving knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. Everything else will be considered rubbish and of no eternal consequence.
Everything that happened to Jesus including his death, was foretold and prophesied and was all part of God’s divine plan. In Acts 4:27 we read, “They gathered to do everything that you by your power and will had already decided would happen.”(GNB) It’s an incredible thought that everything that happened to Jesus till the very end of his life was preplanned and permitted by the Father in heaven.
We too therefore, can rest assured that when we are God’s children, nothing ever happens in our lives without the knowledge and consent of God. If we take a stand for Jesus, we can be sure that there will always be some who will rise up against us. Many people have blended themselves with the world and its ways, forgetting the fact that we are a chosen people, set apart by God for His great purposes.
In Acts 4:29, they prayed, “And now, Lord, take notice of the threats they have made and allow us, your servants, to speak your message with all boldness. Stretch out your hands to heal, and grant that wonders and miracles may be performed through the name of your holy Servant Jesus.”(GNB)
By taking a stand to live for Jesus and proclaim His message, the apostles were now facing serious threats from those outside the church. In the midst of severe opposition the entire church had gathered together to pray for boldness to preach, and also that the Lord would use them to accomplish mighty wonders and miracles in Jesus’ name.
For those who choose to proclaim the message of the Gospel, we can be sure that we will face opposition in various ways, and if we haven’t been confronted with resistance it is probably because we have not yet taken the risk to share the good news with those around us.
We often find excuses to come together to pray, but the power of the church is only when the members assemble in one accord to pray. We are joyful recipients of all God’s goodness, and yet we think it a burden to spend time praying to our gracious God who is the giver of all good things.
The hand of the Lord is mentioned twice in the above mentioned passage, in Verse 28 where God’s hand had purposed that Jesus be crucified, and in verse 30 when they prayed that the hand of the Lord be stretched forth to perform wonders and miracles. It is by the hand of the Lord that we have been saved and redeemed and it should be our prayer as God’s children, that the hand of God be manifested powerfully through us to touch and bless the lives of those around us.
In Acts 4:5-6 we read, “And it came to pass, on the next day, that their rulers, elders, and scribes, 6 as well as Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John, and Alexander, and as many as were of the family of the high priest, were gathered together at Jerusalem.” (NKJV)
The opposition and threats to the apostles in the early church came from the rulers, elders, scribes, and high priests and their families, all of whom were actually appointed to serve the people of God. The only reason for their threats was that the Lord had performed a marvelous miracle through Peter and John by healing a man who was crippled from birth, who was over 40 years of age, and many who witnessed this amazing healing, began to believe in the message of the apostles, and put their faith in Jesus. The religious leaders were displeased with the apostles, because they were carrying out the work that the religious leaders failed to do though they were chosen for the same.
When others around us are blessed by us, we can be certain that this will disturb some people who will turn antagonistic only because they are filled with fear and insecurity. Irrespective of where we are placed, our homes, places of study, work etc., we are positioned there by God to be His witnesses, and as we live with this thought, our lives will become a blessing to others. As we serve the Lord truthfully and sincerely, we can be sure that we will be faced with obstruction from people which gives us the assurance that we are in the right path. We must keep going strong and not loose heart knowing that the Lord is with us. We must not be surprised if the resistance to our walk with the Lord often originates from those closest to us. This is Satan’s cunning scheme, and that is what he did even with Jesus and his disciples by turning Judas Iscariot who was one of the chosen twelve against Jesus and prompting him to betray the Lord.
To understand this further we will look at an incident from the Old Testament.
We read in 1 Kings 18:39, “And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said, The LORD, he is the God; the LORD, he is the God.” (GNB)
Let’s take a quick look at the background to this verse. The King of Israel was Ahab and his wife was Jezebel, and during the reign of King Ahab, Israel was filled with idolatry with special allegiance to the god Baal whom Jezebel promoted greatly. The Lord detests idolatry, and the land of Israel had become defiled with idols. The prophet Elijah was so grieved in his spirit, that he called the 450 prophets of Baal to Mount Carmel, and challenged them with this test. They were to offer a sacrifice to Baal, and Elijah would sacrifice to the Lord, and the God who answered by fire from heaven would be declared the true God. The prophets of Baal called out all day to their god and nothing happened. Elijah rebuilt the altar and sacrificed to the Lord, and the Lord sent down fire, and consumed the sacrifice entirely. It is at this point that the people fall down on their face, and acknowledge that the Lord is God indeed. All those who were divided in their allegiance were now fully convinced that the Lord was God indeed. The 450 prophets of Baal were all killed after the failure at Carmel. King Ahab who heard this message was silent, but his wife Jezebel was furious and this is what she did.
We read in, 1 Kings 19:2 She sent a message to Elijah: "May the gods strike me dead if by this time tomorrow I don't do the same thing to you that you did to the prophets." (GNB)
When the prophet Elijah heard this threat from Queen Jezebel, he was filled with fear and ran for his life. That was almost the end of Elijah’s ministry. After he ran and hid himself, the Lord graciously encouraged Elijah, but the Lord also handed over the mantle of Elijah’s ministry to Elisha.
The early church too was threatened in the same way, but they prayed, and the Lord strengthened and encouraged them in such a way that they went out to speak the word of God even more boldly.
Let us not lose heart when challenged by threats of any kind. Challenges could also be in the form of sickness, finances, work related or in relationships and no matter what our situation we must go the Lord in prayer immediately. It is important we uphold one another in prayer so that the Lord can intervene in every situation, and do the miraculous. In the midst of all sorts of dangers and peril we must gather together to pray to experience God’s divine deliverance.
Prayer alone can change any and every situation no matter how difficult or complicated it may be.
Let us be a praying church through whom the Lord will do His mighty wonders. As individuals, as families, and as a church let us join together to pray whenever and wherever it is possible. When confronted with antagonism let us be strong in the Lord, and not run in fear as Elijah did but come together to pray and be encouraged and strengthened to serve the Lord with boldness. Let us spend much time with the Lord and in prayer, as only prayer can help us overcome the cunning darts of the enemy. May we also be those who stand in the prayer on behalf of others.
Rev. F. Andrew Dixon
Transcribed by: Sis. Esther Collins
