“WHEN A CHURCH PRAYS”
Acts 4:23-31
“And when they had prayed...”
This morning I want to ask every member or active attending non-member to join me in a season of prayer for this church. I believe that it is essential that every member be involved in the process of prayer. There is incredible power and resources available to the church that prays. In conjunction with that thought, today I want to talk with you about what we can expect when we as a church pray.
The records of the early church point to prayer as its dominant feature. The early believers knew that they were responsible for each other’s well being. They were to be salt and light to their world. One way they demonstrated that responsibility was by praying for the hurts and needs around them.
Just as the members of the early church prayed for the needs of the people around them, we are to pray. Prayer unlocks the storehouse of God’s infinite grace and power. All that God is and all that God has, is at the disposal of prayer.
As I have already said, this morning I want to extent to you the invitation to enter into a special season for prayer for our church and its effectiveness in this community. Paul likewise asked the church at Rome to enter into special prayer with him. “Now I beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ’s sake, and for the love of the Spirit, that ye strive together with me in your prayers to God.....” (Romans 15:30)
You will remember from last week that Peter and John had been arrested and put in prison for preaching "Jesus the resurrection from the dead" (Acts 4:2). As they appeared before the religious authorities and the high priest, Peter is filled with the Holy Spirit and speaks with great boldness proclaiming about Jesus that there is "no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved." (Acts 4:12) The apostles were then warned and threatened not to teach or speak the name of Jesus. Peter responds by saying, "Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than God, you judge, for we cannot but speak the things we have seen and heard." (Acts 4:19-20) Then after they were further threatened they were released.
“And being let go, they went to their own companions and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them. (24) 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, (25) 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.” Acts 4:23-31 NKJV
What should we do and to whom should we go when we are troubled and have more problems than we can handle? The example of the apostle’s was they went to those who cared for them and would pray for them. It stands to reason that every Christian needs to belong to a local body of believers. Refusal to be a part of and to submit oneself to the authority of a local church opposes the plan of the Lord Jesus Christ, the builder of the church. It also causes such people to miss out because they have no local church to go to when troubles abound. Do you have a church to go home to from the world of persecution, pressures, troubles, trials, and problems? Peter and John did, as we read in Acts 4:23, "On their release Peter and John went back to their own people." We see the same thing in Acts 12. Herod had put Peter, in jail, but the angel of the Lord rescued him. When he realized that he was really free, Peter "went to the house of Mary the mother of John, also called Mark, where people had gathered and were praying" (Acts 12:12). Peter went home to his church.
We need a place to go home to, and the church is that place. There prayer is offered in behalf of those who are suffering and there we share our burdens and joys with our brothers and sisters in Christ. Being a member of a local church is a great privilege and responsibility. In fact, it is a severe punishment to be expelled from the fellowship of a local church.
I. PRAYER AS A RESPONSE TO GOD 4:23-24
A. THEY WERE THANKFUL FOR GOD’S DELIVERANCE
“And being let go....., ” they saw this as evidence of the grace of God at work in their lives! Is God at work in your life?
Have you looked for the evidence? Have stopped to praise him for what he has done for you? Every manifestation of God’s grace was just cause for prayer! “And being let go......they lifted up their voice to God.” vv. 23-24
When the disciples left the council they rejoined the waiting Christians and had an impromptu worship service, thanking God for the outcome of their first significant encounter with the rulers of this dark world. Apparently they broke into prayer instinctively.
B. THEY WERE UNITED IN THEIR DESIRES
“they lifted up their voices with one accord” v. 24
When members of the church heard the apostle’s report, “they raised their voices together in prayer to God.” The effectual prayer is prayer offered to God by people who are united in the unity of the Spirit. “At a horse-pull in Canada, one horse pulled 9,000 pounds, another pulled 8,000 pounds. Together, we might assume that they could pull 17,000 pounds. However, when harnessed together these mighty steeds pulled 30,000 pounds, over three times what either could pull separately!” Similarly, God's power through His church is greater than the sum of His power in our lives individually. It is important to recognize that this prayer is prayed by people just like you and I.
The occasion for this prayer is very dangerous threats against the preaching of God's word in the name of Jesus. There were extraordinary obstacles in the way of the spread of Jesus' name. “This prayer is relevant for us because of its occasion. We face tremendous obstacles too for even short of persecution, the obstacles we face making Christ known are great -- with the anonymity of neighborhoods created by mobility; the entertainment industry that keeps people saturated with the world and numb to spiritual things; a thoroughly God-ignoring culture; a medical technology so advanced and so available that people seldom think of resorting to God for help; and on top of all this the relative weakness of the church very enmeshed in the values of the world they are supposed to confront with a radically different Christ.”
II. PRAYER AS RECOGNITION OF GOD
4:24-28
“(24) 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, (25) 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.”
We find that most of this prayer is an affirmation of the Sovereignty of God!! Notice first of all that they prayed to “Lord, You are God” they literally called upon God as "Sovereign Lord" or "Despot." The Greek word despota is the word we get the English word “despot” from and it means one who has absolute authority and here it means that God has absolute authority over his universe and his church. They were appealing to the highest authority for their protection. They presented themselves as His “servants” (v. 29) literally doulos or slaves. They were not making demands of Him.
A. They recognized His sovereignty as the God of Creation
v.24 “you… made”
We need to have a view of God that is large before we see how small our problems really are. We must understand that this God is the God of creation, who created all, maintains all, rules all, and owns all. The implication of course is that the creator is more powerful than those who He has created.
B. They recognized His sovereignty as the God of Revelation
v. 25 “you… spoke”
Verses 25 and 26 are a quotation from Psalm 2: 1-2 concerning the power of those who are opposed to God. The
Verse says that the nations “rage” which in the original Greek was used to describe the sound produced by high-fed, spirited horses. William Barclay comments, “They may trample and toss their heads; in the end they will have to accept the discipline of the reins.” The enemies of God may have great plans but they are “in vain”, which means empty. Even what seemed as the greatest defeat Christ death on the Cross, God foresaw and turned in the greatest of all victories, salvation.
C. They recognized His sovereignty as the God of History
v. 28 “you… decided”
The church found great comfort in the fact that the God who whom they prayed was the creator of heaven and earth, who was the sovereign God of the universe, who was totally in control of all that happened. Should they be concerned that mere men have threatened them and are seeking to stamp out God’s kingdom? Of course not!!! They are on the right side, the side of God, the Creator of heaven and earth, the Sovereign of the Universe, the God of History, the God of Revelation. What could mere men do to them? Because of their focus on God the apostles and the early church saw the persecution they faced as an ongoing resistance to Christ and his kingdom. And in the light of what God has said, they saw this resistance as futile and foolish. The Kingdom of God cannot be stopped and thus, they could not be silenced.
III. PRAYER AS A REQUEST OF GOD 4:29-30
“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.”
A. THEY PRAYED TO HAVE THE CHANCE TO
CONTINUE TO SERVE
Their concern about the danger around them was not for their safety but that it might rob them of the ability to serve. They prayed for boldness. The threats from the religious leaders were intended to silence the church from speaking the name of Jesus. And so their requests were to have boldness in their speech. The prayer for boldness and confidence was an admission of their own fallibility as Christians. How easy it is to draw back and to “lighten up” when the heat is on! It would be easy to shrink back and pray for safety.
“Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.” Colossians 4:6 (NKJV)
B. THEY PRAYED WITH THE EXPECTION OF
RESULTS v. 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.”
Certainly when we encounter God in a fresh way, one of the first by-products is courage. The revelation of God makes us agree with Paul when he said, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” Romans 8:31 NKJV It is not surprising top find verse 31 ending with the announcement that the believers “spoke the word of God with boldness.”
Conclusion
Is the church in the books of Acts any different than the church today? Should it be? No. The God they prayed to is the God we pray to. The God who shook them is the God who will shake us. The God who filled them is the God who desires to fill us with His Holy Spirit. The God who empowered them to speak is the God who empowers you and I to speak so boldly about Jesus Christ.
What I want to do today is challenge you. I don’t want to be an ordinary Christian and I don’t want to be the pastor of an ordinary church. I don’t really care about the size of our church, I do care a great deal about the spirit of our church. I want to challenge you to do three things with me
1. Wherever you are spiritually, commit your heart anew to God.
2. Commit yourself to the body of Christ.
3. Commit yourself to be used of God in this local assemby.
Now is the time to move off of dead center.
Now is the time to get involved.
We need you to pray for our church.
We need you to work, to reach this community.
We need you to commit your resources.
