When The Church Prays – part 4
John Maxwell writes in his book, Partners in Prayer;
In the summer of 1876, grasshoppers nearly destroyed the crops in Minnesota. SO in the spring of 1877, farmers were worried. They believed that the dreadful plague would once again visit them and again destroy the rich wheat crop, bringing ruin to thousands of people.
The situation was so serious that Governor John S. Pillsbury proclaimed April 26 as a day of prayer and fasting He urged every man, woman and child to ask God to prevent the terrible scourge. On that April day all schools, shops, stores and offices were closed. There was a reverent, quite hush over all the state.
The next day dawned bright and clear. Temperature soared to what they ordinary were in midsummer, which was very unusual for April. Minnesotans were devastated as they discovered billions of grasshopper larvae wiggling to life. For 3 days the unusual heat persisted, and the larvae hatched. It appeared that it wouldn’t be long before they started feeding and destroying the wheat crop.
On the fourth day, however the temperature suddenly dropped, and that night frost, covered the entire state. Result - it killed every one of those creeping, crawling pests as surely as if poison or fire had been used, It went down in the history of Minnesota as the day God answered the prayers of the people.
That is an awesome story!
BUT UNDERSTAND – it was NOT the first and certainly was NOT the last time, that Almighty God answered the prayers of his people.
LISTEN - when we pray we connect our lives and our church - to THE All powerful God. We connect our lives to the very same God WHO spoke this world into existence [The God who – formed the Swiss Alps; carved the Grand Canyon; planted the rain forests and put every single star in it’s place…]. When we pray we connect our lives and our church to the very same God, THAT – parts the seas, rains down manna from heaven, and brings down powerful empires with a breathe from his mouth.
AS we begin today I want to read a Psalm that David sung after the Lord had rescued him all his enemies and from Saul.
READ – Psalm 18:1-18
NOW - that’s an Awesome picture of how our God responds to the cries and prayers of His people! We are in our 4th week of a message series that we are calling, “When The Church Prays…” LISTEN – when God’s people pray stuff happens. We said a couple of weeks ago that the church we see in the book of Acts – was a praying church. It was a church that was launched, empowered and sustained by prayer, from start to finish…
OKAY – let me tell you what I want us to do today…Do you remember back on June 9th – when we looked at the first 2 chapters of Acts – and we found six awesome things that happen when The Church Prays?
We become united
We receive divine guidance in important kingdom decisions
We unleash the power of God
The word of God comes alive
People get saved
AND – when the church prays – the church prays more…
WELL - the principles that we see revealed in Acts 1 & 2 we see lived throughout the rest of the book of Acts… AND – what I want to us to do today, in an effort to really nail these 6 thing down – is to thumb through the pages of the book of Acts – and take a look at a few snapshots… today…
PRAYER…
LISTEN - These are 6 things we most definitely want to see happen at our Central…
WHEN the church prays…
We Become United…
LISTEN - the church that Luke describes for us in the book of Acts was without a doubt, a united church. Ten times in this book, Luke uses a Greek word to describe the early church that meant – that they were on the same page, that they had the same agenda, that they were of one mind – that they were together…
AND LISTEN - UNITY is absolutely essential for the church…. Jesus said that ‘our unity’ is the only way the world will know that we are his disciples. That is why Satan with unrelenting intensity attacks the unity of the church…
QUESTION - do you remember what his number one weapon is against the unity of the church? Your tongue & mine… UNITY is essential – and the early church was united…AND WE NEED TO UNDERSTAND – that a major component in that unity, a key factor in the unity becoming reality was prayer… LET’S – take a look at a passage in Acts chapter 4 that really underscores this truth…
BUT FIRST – let me give you a little background on the passage. Peter & John had just been released from jail. They were in the custody of the Sanhedrin (the Jewish supreme court – the same group of guys, who a few months earlier convinced Pilate to crucify Jesus.)
NOW - the reason for the arrest – was that Peter & John had healed a 40 year old man that had been crippled since birth, they healed him at one of the gates of the Temple and they healed him, in the name and through the power; of Jesus.
NEEDLESS to say, none this made these Jewish leaders too happy – after all they hoped that they had gotten rid of this Jesus guy on the cross – but here, just a couple months down the road, his name comes up again…
NOW – as you read Acts 4 it is pretty obvious that these goobers were not really sure what to do with Peter & John. (UNDERSTAND - they would have killed them right there on the spot, if they felt they could of gotten away with it)… BUT they were not quite sure which way the political winds were blowing, SO they did what every spineless political leader does they floated off a couple of trial balloons and took a few polls, gathered their crack team of analyzers together – AND decided that the best political move at the time would be to simply threatened Peter and John and tell them to stop speaking in the name of Jesus or things would get even worse…
QUESTION - What would you do if you Peter & John – and you were just given this stop speaking or else order, by the Sanhedrin? Think about it – Peter and John are standing before the very same men who just a few months ago had Jesus (their Lord, Master & friend) crucified.
I love the response of Peter and John [they are NOT the same Peter & John that had denied Jesus and fled into the dark Judean night.]
“Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to obey you rather than God. For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen & heard.”
Hat’s so awesome….AND let me tell you, that really had to tick off those Ol’ boys off in a big way.
QUESTION - do you see how these words trapped those Jewish leaders and backed them into a corner? YOU SEE - if they answered that it was right to obey God then the John & Peter could keep on speaking… BUT - if they answered, “no you guys stop speaking”, then they were guilty of rebellion against God.
SO – they did what you & I do – when we are not sure of how to answer a tough question – they ignored it, pretended they didn’t hear it, hoped no one was really listening…
Those words of Peter & John remind me of what Jeremiah spoke in Jeremiah 20:9; NOW - the message God gave Jeremiah to preach caused him some SERIOUS trouble; beatings, rejection, jail..etc.. AND at times, because of the cost – Jeremiah entertained the idea of keeping his mouth shut of not speaking the words of the Lord…
[QUESTION - have you ever entertained such thoughts when sharing God’s truth got a little hot? BUT LISTEN - Jeremiah, like Peter & John found that he just couldn’t stop speaking for the Lord; Check these words out they rock…
“But if I say I will not mention him or speak any more in his name, his word is like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones, I am weary of holding it in; indeed I cannot…”
The Sanhedrin let Peter & John go – BUT not before they puffed out their chest, waved their fingers and threatened them some more – to which Peter and John probably said something to the effect of ‘whatever..’
Now let’s pick up our text….and see a snapshot of prayer uniting the church.
READ ACTS 4:23-35
23-30
“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. When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God. "Sovereign Lord," they said, "you made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and everything in them.”
23; On their release where did Peter & John go? Why?
24; What did the church do – they prayed…
NOW – this is really an awesome prayer; In your outline – I put what I see as the 5 main points of this prayer.
q God you’re in control [24,25]
q Why do earthly rulers think they can mess with you [26,27]
q They have no ‘real’ power [28]
q Consider their threats and give us boldness [29]
q Do your God thing [30]
When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God. "Sovereign Lord," they said, [master, one who has absolute ownership and unlimited power] "you made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and everything in them. You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David:
" ’Why do the nations rage
and the peoples plot in vain?
26The kings of the earth take their stand
and the rulers gather together
against the Lord
and against his Anointed One. Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed. They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen. Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus."
After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.
That’s an awesome prayer…
q God you’re in control [24,25]
q Why do earthly rulers think they can mess with you [26,27]
q They have no ‘real’ power [28]
q Consider their threats and give us boldness [29]
q Do your God thing [30]
QUESTION - did you notice what they didn’t pray for… [“Lord keep us safe; don’t let them get us; make them go away”] AND check this out – it’s after this God honoring & building shaking prayer meeting – that Luke gives us an awesome snapshot of what unity in a church looks like.…
”All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all. There were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had need. “
QUESTION – do you think it is a coincidence that right after that powerful prayer meeting – a prayer meeting that literally shook a building – that the church experienced this wave, this tsunami of incredible unity?
LISTEN – when the early church prayed they became united, they became one in heart and mind…… AND – AS Central prays – as we turn this place into a house of prayer - we will begin to experience a unity around this place like never before…
This past Thursday at our prayer meeting we broke into 5 small groups for prayer. I sat on the floor in my office and prayed with; Heidi, Mike Armstrong, Dina, David Burgess & Ben Siddall (a single mom, 2 teenagers and 2 older guys). After we had cried out to God on behalf of his church we closed our small group by joining hands and praying once more – and you could feel the unity building between us….
LISTEN AS CENTRAL PRAYS… Our unity will grow stronger. We will become one in heart & mind.
QUESTION – why does prayer do that? BECAUSE when you pray with someone you get a glimpse into their heart; because people who pray together are reminded of who they are and what they are supposed to do.
We Receive Divine Guidance…
AND – when the church prays we also receive divine guidance…
Listen – God has always wanted to give his people guidance. UNDERSTAND – it is not God’s desire that his people live their lives as blind men stumbling around trying to find the right path… God wants us to seek guidance and direction from him.
CHECKOUT – what your God says in Isaiah 48:17,18;
“This is what the Lord, who saves you, the Holy One of Israel says, ‘I am the Lord your God, who teaches you to do what is good, who leads you in the way you should go. If you had obeyed me, you would have had peace like a full flowing river. Good things would have flowed to you like the waves of the sea.”
God wants to give us His divine guidance, He wants to lead us – BUT the problem is either we don’t seek it – OR we seek only after we’ve made our own decision – that doesn’t work out so good and we need God to bail us out…
In Acts 6 we see a snapshot of the early church needing some more divine guidance.. The church was exploding – thousands were now a part of it. The growth was awesome – but in created some, problems… The disciples were overloaded to the max…[think about it] They had so much other ‘stuff’ going on that they had little time left for the two most important things – being in the word and praying…
THEY – needed some help. They needed some men to step up to plate – and help with some of the other duties of the church…. They prayed and God led them to select 7 spiritual men – and these guys stepped up big time.. 2 of them you probably heard of – Stephen & Phillip.
The church also needed divine guidance in Acts 15… But this time the church is over 10 years old – and the numbers of Gentiles coming to Christ was exploding – there were probably now, more gentiles in the church then Jews. SO - the church needed some divine guidance in integrating these gentile converts…
AND LISTEN – this was no easy task. The Jewish Christians had been worshipping God a certain way for 1500 years – they had a lot of traditions – they definitely had it fixed in their mind of just how things should be done, how God should be worshipped… Think about it – 1500 years of “we’ve always done it that way…”
They needed God’s divine guidance to help them see what is essential and what is opinion… what was essential and what was foundational… AND God gave it to them…
LISTEN GOD – loves to give guidance to his people… In fact Jesus said in John 16:13, that one of the functions of the Holy Spirit is to guide us into all truth… LISTEN – GET THIS – God still loves to guide his people especially in important decisions about his kingdom…
A little over 4 years ago God gave divine guidance to me and to Central Christian Church… I had sent out about 30 resumes looking for a new ministry and Central had received about the same number of resumes’ as she looked for a new minister… (I saw some of those resumes they looked pretty impressive… From looking at those I saw about 4 guys I would have hired instead of me…) I had several churches I was looking at and Central wasn’t even sure they could pay me… BUT – I know that I prayed for guidance and I’ve been told of the fasting and prayer meetings held as Central as she made her decision…
AND – I contend God gave both us divine guidance…
We Unleash The Power Of God
As Acts chapter 12 opens up the early church is going through some really tough times. King Herod arrested a bunch of Christians. One of them was John’s brother James. One of the three men who were the closest to Jesus (Peter, James & John).
Herod wasted no time and had James beheaded. AND WHEN - Herod saw that this scored him a lot of points with the Jews he had Peter arrested and intended on doing the same thing to him.
Peter is in prison – things are looking pretty bad for the church. QUESTION – what do you think the church is going to do? Let’s take a look at the snapshot of God’s power being unleashed in Acts 12;
“So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying for him. 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. 7Suddenly 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.
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. 9Peter 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. 10They 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.
Then Peter came to himself and said, "Now I know without a doubt that the Lord sent his angel and rescued me from Herod’s clutches and from everything the Jewish people were anticipating." 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.
The prayers of the church – unleashed that power…
AND - in ACTS 16 we see the power of God unleashed again in a mighty way… Paul & Silas were in Philippi… They ticked off some business people in the town when they cast a demon out of a girl who they were making money off in telling fortunes…
RESULTS - Paul & Silas were arrested, stripped, severely beaten and thrown into a prison cell with their feet chained… (And we think we have bad days.) How would you react if you were them?
“About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. 26Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everybody’s chains came loose.
ONCE – again prayer unleashed the power of God.
AND LISTEN – the bible says that our God is the same yesterday, today and forever and one of the things that is the same is his power…The same God who; broke Paul, Peter and John out of jail, shut the mouth of the lion for Daniel, brought down a ten foot giant for David, brought down the walls of Jericho, saved 3 guys from a fiery furnace, - the same God who; parted seas, multiplied food, opened blind eyes and even raised the dead is our God…
He is the same yesterday – today and forever… God has not changed. He is not growing old, His power is not running down… AND that power is unleashed in prayer…
“I PRAY that you will begin to understand the incredible greatness of his power for us who believe in him. This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead….” Eph 1:20
LISTEN – if God was ever able to control nature, change people and alter circumstances, he is still able to do these things – today, now - here!!! [Get It?] [get it?]
AND UNDERSTAND – if stories of God’s power being unleashed today - seem to be rare and few & far between – it is NOT because God’s power is not available – it is because we don’t ask – we don’t pray – we don’t believe…
The Word Comes Alive
“For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” Heb 4:12
As you read the book of Acts you see the word of God coming alive in a powerful way… AND LISTEN - prayer played a major role once again…
I want to take a moment to look back at the prayer that the church prayed in Acts 4 – right after the release of Peter & John from prison… UNDERSTAND – one thing that church specifically prayed for had to do with the word of God… “Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness.
AND – we see that prayer answered throughout the book of Acts in powerful ways. We see it answered; as Peter and the other apostles would stand before the Sanhedrin in Acts chapter 5… AND even though they were all beaten, they spoke the word of God with great boldness;
29Peter and the other apostles replied: "We must obey God rather than men! 30The God of our fathers raised Jesus from the dead--whom you had killed by hanging him on a tree. 31God exalted him to his own right hand as Prince and Savior that he might give repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel. 32We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him."
AND – we see the word come alive and that prayer for boldness answered once again in Acts chapter 7, as Stephen stood before the Sanhedrin and preached a powerful sermon about how Jesus is the messiah, a sermon that cost him his life and ended with these words…
51"You stiff-necked people, with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are just like your fathers: You always resist the Holy Spirit! 52Was there ever a prophet your fathers did not persecute? They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One. And now you have betrayed and murdered him-- 53you who have received the law that was put into effect through angels but have not obeyed it."
AND the word of God came alive and was proclaimed with great boldness, as Paul stood in Athens, before the intellectual and philosophical giants of the day; as he stood before angry mobs in Jerusalem, Roman Governors, King Agrippa and finally as he stood before Caesar in Rome!
The word of God came alive and nothing could stop it – checkout what Luke wrote;
“The word of God continued to increase and spread..” Acts 12:24
“…the word of the Lord spread rapidly and grew in power…” Acts 19:20
Because of prayer the word came alive and was proclaimed with great boldness!!!
LISTEN - Paul understood the importance of prayer to the preaching of the word that is why he wrote to the church in Ephesus;
“And pray for me too. ASK God to give me the right words as I boldly explain God’s secret plan that the good news is for the gentiles too. I am in chains now for preaching this message as God’s ambassador. But pray that I will keep speaking boldly for him as I should…” (6:19,20)
“Yeah there’s a price to be paid for preaching the truth – please pray that I keep paying it….”
Checkout some of Paul’s final words before he too, gave his life for the truth;
Preach the word of God. Be persistent, whether the time is favorable or not. Patiently correct, rebuke, and encourage your people with good teaching.
For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to right teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever they want to hear. 2 Tim 4:2,3 (NLT)
LISTEN – it is hard for the word to come alive IF – we don’t preach it.
QUESTION – what could keep us from preaching it – people may not like it, may cause us trouble, we may not have the numbers we want…
BUT HEY – understand this - when God’s people pray the word still comes alive today… and it is still proclaimed with great boldness and clarity… Many times I have had to sit down with people who love Jesus but have not been taught the truth of the Gospel. AND – at those times I asked people to pray for me… And every time God ahs answered that prayer.
I ask that you pray for me as I strive to proclaim God’s truth…
Boldness
Clarity
Right words
People Get Saved…
LISTEN – Our God is in the salvation business… He is serious about getting people saved. IF you don’t believe me – CONSIDER the cross… Throughout the Scripture both old and new God is called our SAVIOR – and is referred to as the one who brings salvation… the one who rescues and redeems….
Paul wrote the following in 2 Corinthians;
What this means is that those who become Christians become new persons. They are not the same anymore, for the old life is gone. A new life has begun!
All this newness of life is from God, who brought us back to himself through what Christ did. And God has given us the task of reconciling people to him. 19For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. This is the wonderful message he has given us to tell others. 20We are Christ’s ambassadors, and God is using us to speak to you. We urge you, as though Christ himself were here pleading with you, "Be reconciled to God!"
AND – when the church prays people get saved… That is why Jesus told us in Matthew 9, to pray for harvesters – to PRAY that God would send & raise up more people in the church WHO – are passionate about reaching the lost…
THE BOOK OF ACTS – is about people getting saved is about the Gospel message going out.
In Acts chapter one 3,000 people get saved….
By Acts chapter 4; that number had climbed to over 5,000.
And after that Luke gave up counting and just tells us that the church is really growing…
In Acts 6:7; Luke tells us that a large number of Jewish priests got saved
In Acts 8:12 we see Men and women getting saved
In Acts 8:38 an Ethiopian eunuch gets saved
In Acts 9:18 we see Paul get saved
In Acts 10:48; Cornelius a Roman Centurion gets saved
As Paul travels from city – city across the word we see people getting saved. Lydia and her household Acts 16:15 & The Philippi an Jailer and his family in Acts 16:33….
LISTEN – as Paul traveled the world – endured hardships and suffered persecution his mission was not to set up programs, have a BBQ or organize softball games – BUT – to get people saved…
NOW I am not saying programs and softball are bad – but everything we do as a church must have as it’s primary goal to get people saved…. AND to get them saved as soon as possible because Jesus could come back at any moment…
THE EARLY CHURCH – saw the salvation of people – saw reconciling people to God - as their primary mission… They burned with a passion for the lost…that took the Gospel from Jerusalem to Rome in 30 years…
QUESTION – why do you think that it is so important for the church to pray for people to reach the lost… BECAUSE – prayer moves God and moves us..
WHEN – the church prays people get saved…
OKAY – let me take just a moment to promote next week’s message… We are going to step out of our series on prayer for just one week as I share a message called “How – The Son Sets You Free…” In that message we will look at what the bible says a person must do to be reconciled to God…
AND – then beginning on July 7th we will begin a series of messages I’m calling, “Praying Like Jesus.” SURE – we know that When the church prays awesome stuff happens – BUT many of us are not sure how to pray… … This series will try to change that…
The Church Prays More…
Some things the more you do, the more you want to do…
This month that Lakers won their 3rd NBA championship in a row, I’m sure they enjoyed it - BUT I guarantee they want to win more…victory is so sweet
Prayer is the same way; the more you pray – the more you pray, WHY? because God moves through prayer; and victory is sooo sweet…
LISTEN – the church that we see praying in Acts 1 is still praying in Acts 28. AND as you read the letters written to the churches and people that we meet in Acts – you find pray all over the place…[in fact prayer is mention over 100 times in the 21 letter of the NT] It seems like everywhere you turn either someone is praying or is asking for prayer…
As we see the purpose of prayer come to life… AND REMEMBER – what that purpose is?
#1 – advance the kingdom of God
#2 - to deepen our relationship to God
We will pray more….
One night in 1968, the pilot of an airliner bound for New York realized that the landing gear of his jet would not engage. Traveling ever closer to his destination, he continued to work the controls, trying to get the wheels to lock into place, but he had no success. Circling the airport, he asked the control tower for instructions. The ground crew, responding to the impending crisis, sprayed the runway with foam, and emergency vehicles moved into position. The pilot was instructed to land the plane as best he could.
The passengers we asked to prepare themselves for the worst and to put themselves into crash position. Moments before landing, the pilot announced over the intercom: “We are beginning our final decent. In accordance with the International Aviation Codes established in Geneva, it is my obligation to inform you that if you believe in God, you should commence praying.” The plane performed a belly landing, and miraculously, came to a stop with no injury to the passengers.
If the pilot hadn’t found himself in a crisis that day, his passengers would never have known about the airline’s hidden provision for prayer. But isn’t that the way it is for most people? As long as everything’s going smoothly, they rarely think about talking to God. But as soon as a situation becomes life or death, they turn to Him for help.
We want to change that at Central….
