The Praying Church

The Praying Church

• Last week we saw that God gave the apostles the power to perform miracles.

• And one of the examples that Peter and John performed

• Was the healing of a crippled beggar.

• And because of this healing / This miracle

• It drew the attention of the crowd.

• And once Peter had the crowds attention

• He took the opportunity to preach Jesus and forgiveness of sin in Jesus’ Name.

• The result was that At least 5000 men were saved (4:4).

• Now the priests and religious leaders weren’t happy about this

• They weren’t happy that Peter was preaching Jesus and His resurrection.

• So They locked them up for one night.

• The next morning, these priests and leaders got together in the Sanhedrin court

• And they threatened Peter and John

• And told them not to speak in the name of Jesus any more.

• When they were released,

• They went back to the church and told everyone what had happened.

• And the result was almost instantaneous.

• Ac 4:24 Then all the believers were united as they lifted their voices in prayer

This is what we need to learn to do,

• That Every time that we gather to worship and pray

• We need to raise our voices together in prayer.

• I don’t think anyone will argue the fact that There’s power in prayer.

• But There is even more power when we pray together.

We see hear that they all prayed to God

• And we see in Ac 4:28 that In fact, everything they did occurred according to your eternal will and plan.

• This is amazing.

• They trusted Completely That God knew what was best!

• This crisis didn’t dampen their spirit.

• They believe that the God

• The One who “made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and everything in them is still running the show.

• This wasn’t a tense moment.

• There wasn’t any anxiety or fear

• Instead, we see that it was a time of worship and prayer.

They went on to pray for Boldness to preach

Ac 4:29 And now, OLord, hear their threats, and give your servants great boldness in their preaching. Ac 4:30 Send your healing power; may miraculous signs and wonders be done through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” Help us “speak Your Word with great boldness.”

• Now I can expect them to pray for a change in the environment,

• Or maybe to remove the problem.

• Like Make it easier for us to preach, Lord.’

• But instead, they pray for boldness to preach on in the difficult circumstance.

This show the heart of a true servant of God

• And what we can learn from this is that

• If we are servants, then we’re here to serve

• And we’re not here to do what we want (Elab)

• We’re here to submit to His purpose and fulfill His will.

The way these faithful servants are praying reminds me of a prayer I heard,

A PRAYER OF GOD’S SERVANTS

We are God’s servants.

We put God’s love for all people first.

No race is superior to another.

No government is more loved than another.

No nation is dearer than another.

We do not put our nation’s economy before God’s economy.

He tells us to seek first His Kingdom, He will then meet our needs.

We are driven to action daily, with the knowledge that billions do not know our Saviour. Our passion in life, our unquenchable desire, is to take God’s love to them.

No task is too small for us. All that limits us

is our unwillingness to believe God can enable us to do it.

We are sold-out to Jesus Christ our Savior and Lord, nothing less.

We understand following Him means absolute death to ourselves.

It costs everything to be His disciples.

Don’t give us blessings. Give us grace to be unquestionably obedient to Your every last command & desire.

Don’t give us status. Give us a place to serve.

Don’t give us things for our use. Use us.

Don’t give us a mansion to live in. Give us a springboard to take Christ love to the whole world.

Don’t give us good jobs. Put us to work.

Don’t give us comfort. Command us.

Don’t give us pleasure. Give us perspective.

Don’t give us satisfaction. Teach us sacrifice.

Don’t give us entertainment. Enable us.

Don’t give us good salary. Give us strength to do Your will.

Our great joy in life is in pleasing our God, and there is no other joy comparable.

We’re tired of playing religion, tired of seminaries and bible schools that pump out thinkers who have no action.