The Prayers Series

“THE PRAYERS” Acts 12:1-5

FBCF – 3/20/22

Jon Daniels

INTRO – We talk a lot about prayer around here. We do a lot of praying around here. We believe in the power of prayer around here.

Listen to these quotes about personal prayer:

- Pastor David Jett’s daily prayer: “Lord, SPEAK to me today – SEARCH me today – SHOW me today – SEND me today.”

- “The saint who advances on his knees never retreats.” (Jim Elliot)

- “Be sure that no time is so well spent as that which a man spends on his knees.” (J.C. Ryle)

- “Pray without ceasing.” (1 Thessalonians 5:17)

Then these about corporate prayer:

- “It is not possible that the Lord will be deaf to His people when they are in earnest about a matter that concerns His glory.” (Charles Spurgeon)

- “The prayer meeting is the pulse of the church…The prayer meeting is the rallying point where the power of faith in the church concentrates, & takes hold on the arm that moves the world…” (JB Johnston)

- “The thermometer of a church is its prayer meeting.” (Vance Havner)

- “No matter what I preach or what we believe in our heads, the future will depend upon our times of prayer.” (Jim Cymbala)

- “What the church needs today is not more machinery, not new organizations or more & novel methods, but men whom the Holy Ghost can use, men of prayer, men mighty in prayer. The Holy Ghost does not flow through methods, but thorugh men. He does not come on machinery, but on men. He does not anoint plans, but men, men of prayer.” (EM Bounds)

- “Pray without ceasing.” (1 Thessalonians 5:17)

Today, our focus is on corporate prayer – the prayer of the ChURch.

APPLICATION – Gathering for corporate prayer is essential to our individual spiritual growth & our growth as a chURch.

EXPLANATION: Acts 12:1-5

Let’s see what’s going on now w/ the early church. Getting better established. Drawing more attention from a lot of different people – some who are responding to the ongoing preaching of the Gospel by giving their lives to Christ & becoming a part of the Church, & some who are responding to the ongoing preaching of the Gospel by arresting & persecuting those who are proclaiming the Gospel.

Obvious that prayer – specifically corporate prayer – was a vital component of the early church’s life & health, even their survival as persecution got more widespread & more intense. When you see your leaders arrested, jailed, beaten, stoned, & executed (Stephen – Acts 7; James – Acts 12:2), you realize that you better be praying.

2 specific periods of persecution of the early church:

- Part 1 – Acts 8:1-4 – Saul persecuting the church from religious hierarchy

- Part 2 – Acts 12 – Political persecution led by King Herod – 1st time church experienced political persecution. This King Herod was the grandson of Herod the Great & is known as “the devil’s point man” in Jerusalem (Steven Ger). Might remember that Herod the Great was king when Jesus was born & had all the baby boys killed to try & kill Jesus.

Verse 1 gives us a pretty clear picture of the kind of man Herod was. He “laid violent hands on some who belonged to the Church.” He was very intentional about bringing harm & injury to the members of the Church. And as at other times, this was immediately following a time of strong ministry when the Church at Antioch was working hard to get ready to take care of other believers as a severe famine was coming (Acts 11:27-30).

Then Herod killed James & imprisoned Peter. Serious times for the Church! But serious times call for serious prayer! And that’s exactly what the CHURCH was doing – praying earnestly – continuously for Peter.

The early church believed in the importance of corporate prayer. Throughout the book of Acts, there are at least 10 different references to a group of believers or the entire church coming together to prayer.

WHY SHOULD THE CHURCH PRAY? – Simple answer: B/c we need to! There’s a tremendous need for the church to pray. We are powerless, clueless, directionless without prayer. We are limited to our feeble human efforts apart from prayer. The church should pray b/c we have to pray!

UNITY – We should pray b/c it brings unity to the Body. It’s hard to stay embittered or out of fellowship w/ another brother or sister in Christ when you are praying together w/ that person. Prayer breaks walls down, reveals needs, reminds us that we need one another, & that we have the same Savior, Jesus Christ.

POWER – We should pray b/c it brings the power of God on His work.