Prayer: Devoted To Prayer

Intro

Good morning, I’d like to invite you to turn with me in your Bibles to Acts 4:23-31.

This is our final sermon in our series on prayer:

where we have been looking at several stories of faithful prayer in God’s word,

and then drawing from them instruction and encouragement for prayer in our own lives.

This week we are concluding our series by looking at how the disciples pray in Acts 4.

Context

In the first couple of chapters of the book of Acts we see the beginning of the Christian Church .

After Jesus had been crucified, risen from the dead, and ascended to heaven,

the disciples received the Holy Spirit.

From that moment on, they began witnessing in Jerusalem to the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Several times in these early chapters we see that more and more were added to the number of believers.

Three thousand people had come to believe in Jesus Christ in one day from Peter’s sermon on Pentecost in Acts 2.

Another two thousand had come to believe in Jesus after the Apostle Peter’s sermon in Solomon’s Portico.

As Acts 2:47 tells us, “the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.”

Because of all the people who were turning to faith in Christ because of Peter’s preaching,

and because Peter had healed a man who had been lame from birth.

the Jewish leaders and the temple rulers had Peter and the Apostle John thrown into prison for a night.

When Peter and John were been brought before the council of the Jewish leaders the next day, they were warned not to preach in the name of Jesus.

There is much more to this story and I would encourage you to read it for yourself in Acts 4.

Ultimately Peter and John were released after receiving their warning.

Now, we need to remember this was less than two months since Jesus had been crucified.

There was a very real danger that Peter and John, and all the disciples of Jesus Christ, could lose their lives because of their preaching of Jesus resurrection from the dead.

But we see the Church’s response to this warning not to preach in the name of Jesus in our passage in Acts 4:23-31.

Acts 4:23-31

Acts 4:23–31 ESV

When they were released, they went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them. And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, “Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them, who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit, “ ‘Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathered together, against the Lord and against his Anointed’— for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place. And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.

Exposition

They Devoted Themselves (v. 23)

This passage takes place, not just at the beginning of the Christian church,

but as we’ve already seen, it takes place in a time of incredible growth in the number of believers.

But it wasn’t just the preaching of the word that was drawing so many people to repentance and faith in Jesus Christ.

We see what the disciples were doing before any were added to their number in Acts 1:14. It says,:

Acts 1:14 ESV

All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.

They were devoting themselves to prayer.

We also see this later on in Acts 2:42 where it says,

Acts 2:42 ESV

And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.

This takes me to the first lesson we learn about prayer from the early church:

Point 1: The Church is Devoted to Prayer

1. The Church is devoted to prayer.

From it’s very beginnings; the Christian church,

the gathering of believers in Jesus Christ devoted themselves to prayer.

And I want to be clear, I am not saying “an effective church, a faithful church, or a spiritual church is devoted to prayer.”

I am saying the church is devoted to prayer.

A devotion to prayer in the church is such a basic requirement that if you don’t have that, it can be hardly said that you have a church.

Praying Together

Now obviously there are different arenas through which the people who make up the church can pray.

We pray in our worship services,

at small groups,

at prayer gatherings.

as families,

and as individuals.

Obviously individual and family prayer is something that we want to encourage,

it’s something that is basic to the Christian life, and it is something that we want to see happen in the households of our church.

But if we look back to Acts 1:14, it says: “All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.”

Theres a unity that’s expressed here,

we see that same unity, that same sense of togetherness in Acts 2:42, “And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.”

This is something that they did together,

they gathered as the church to pray.

In our main passage in Acts 4:23-31 we also see that the believers are together as they pray. We read in v.24

Acts 4:24 (ESV)

“And when they heard [Peter and John’s report], they lifted their voices together to God,”

The church was devoted to praying together.

Prayer was not merely an exercise of personal piety, but it is something that the church gathered specifically for, to cry out to the lord “as of one accord.”

On this occasion the church gathered to pray in response to the report that Peter and John brought back.

When they had been arrested,

when they had been imprisoned for a night

when they had been warned by the Jewish rulers not to preach the name of Jesus.

The church’s first response was to gather for prayer.

And from vv. 24-30 we are able to read the words of this prayer.

You can divide up the prayer in this passage into four parts.

and each section teaches us about how we ought to pray as individuals, and as the gathered church devoted to prayer.

1. Adoration (v. 24)

The first section of the prayer is adoration of God as we read in the second half of v. 24.

V. 24 says,

Acts 4:24 ESV

And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, “Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them,

The believers being their prayer by identifying and worshipping God for who he is.

Here they confess him as the “Sovereign Lord”.

Sovereign meaning that he is in control of all things.

We talked about God’s sovereignty several weeks ago when we looked at the story of Esther,

that God is in control of his creation, he is control of history, and he is in control of situations.

He is Sovereign. That’s what it means, he is in control.

And he is Lord, king, ruler over all that is in creation.

Because he was the one who created it all.

This is God.

Holy.

Totally unlike any other being or thing in existence.

Existing outside of his creation, but sovereignly acting within it.

And it is because God is the way that he is, that we can trust that he will hear our prayers and act.

He has the power to hear,

he has the power to act,

and he has the authority to act as the Sovereign Lord over all creation.

And the church worshipped him for these attributes in their prayer.

2. Promise (vv. 25-26)

In the second section of the prayer we see the gathered believers being reminded of a promise from God.

In vv. 25-26 we read,

Acts 4:25–26 ESV

who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit, “ ‘Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathered together, against the Lord and against his Anointed’—

Here the believers reference a prophecy that was given through King David roughly 1000 years before the time of Jesus.

When they mention David speaking by the Spirit, this is in reference to prophecy.

As 2 Peter 1:21 tells us, “For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”

David spoke the words of God by the power of the Holy Spirit.

And he prophesied what was to come.

And then the prayer quotes directly from Psalm 2:1-2

Psalm 2:1–2 (ESV)

“Why do the nations rage

and the peoples plot in vain?

The kings of the earth set themselves,

and the rulers take counsel together,

against the Lord and against his Anointed,”

Remember God is the sovereign Lord of all creation.

And this Psalm (Psalm 2) is about the nations of the earth setting themselves up against God and his anointed one.

As well as God’s response to those kings and rulers of the earth who rebel against him.

But this Psalm also prophetically describes for us the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

This is what the disciples recognize in their prayer in vv. 27-28.

3. Fulfillment (vv. 27-28)

They say,

Acts 4:27–28 ESV

for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place.

Here we see that the Apostles saw a prophetic fulfillment of Psalm 2 at the cross of Christ.

They believe that this prophecy was fulfilled less than two months before at Jesus’ crucifixion.

And that they were witnesses to it.

If you compare the prophecy in vv. 25-26 and its fulfillment in vv. 27-28, you can see it’s all there.

We have the whole cast of characters present, involved with the murder of Jesus the Messiah, the anointed one.

a) We have the people of Israel, who called for Jesus to be crucified.

b) We have the gentiles, the Roman soldiers who beat, scourged, and then crucified him.

Just to show what a strange partnership this is, I want to note that generally the Jews and the Gentiles hated each other,

yet they were united against the Lord’s anointed.

c) We have Pontius Pilate, who sentenced Jesus, a ruler.

d) And we have Herod, a king of the earth.

Once again, they make an odd pair.

Luke 23:12 tells us that after Herod had mocked Jesus and sent him back to Pilate to be sentenced to death,

that “Herod and Pilate became friends with each other that very day, for before this they had been at enmity with each other.”

They had been enemies with each other, but were united against the Lord’s anointed - Jesus Christ.

Predestined to Take Place

But do you see what it says in v. 28?

It says that God brought together these people, who were enemies with each other,

Acts 4:28 ESV

to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place.

Though all of these people shared the wicked desire to crucify Jesus,

God in his sovereignty predestined it all.

As I said two weeks ago when we looked at Jesus’ prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane,

“That Jesus would die on a cross to pay for the sins of the world was God’s plan from the beginning.”

Even though in their wickedness, these people sought the death of Jesus,

without knowing it, they were fulfilling the sovereign plan of God.

Without knowing it they were pushing forward the mission that Jesus came to accomplish.

Something that I just love is how God can use even the people who rebel against him, even the people who hate him,

to accomplish his good a perfect plan.

It’s interesting that if you look at the next lines in psalm that is quoted in vv. 25-26.

It goes:

Psalm 2:1–4 (ESV)

Why do the nations rage

and the peoples plot in vain?

The kings of the earth set themselves,

and the rulers take counsel together,

against the Lord and against his Anointed, saying,

“Let us burst their bonds apart

and cast away their cords from us.”

[But what does God do in response? It says,]

“He who sits in the heavens laughs;

the Lord holds them in derision.”

See, though the enemies of God though they had won a victory by crucifying Jesus.

His crucifixion was how he would win the victory.

For someone that can rise from the dead, death is not a loss.

And thats what Jesus did. He rose from the dead.

He did the impossible because he was and he is the Son of God.

And this was the plan of God from the beginning.

Jesus death on the cross and resurrection from the dead was the whole point.

So that those who repent of their sins and believe in Jesus Christ,

could have their sins forgiven and receive eternal life with God.

Why?

Now you might ask, why would the early church include this section in their prayer?

What does Psalm 2, or its fulfillment in Jesus’ death on the cross, have to do with the situation they are praying for?

What does it have to do with the danger they are in if they continue to preach about Jesus?

It’s because Jesus faced this danger too.

He not only faced it, he was killed.

But it was all according to the plan of God.

And just like the danger that Jesus faced was according to the plan of God,

And even his death was in fulfillment of God’s plan,

the danger that the disciples faced in the same way was part of the plan of God.

They know that the situation they face is a part of the grand narrative of the redemptive plan of God.

The story of Gods plan of salvation

included the death of Jesus on the cross,

and his resurrection from the dead.

But it also includes them at this very moment.

They are a part of the story.

Which brings me to the second thing we learn from this prayer.

Point 2: The Church is Part of the Story

2. The church is part of the story of the redemption of the world.

The story of the salvation of the world didn’t end with Jesus resurrection.

It began with it.

This is why Jesus told his disciples in Acts 1:8

Acts 1:8 ESV

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Through the witness of the disciples more and more people would come to faith in Christ

receiving salvation from sin and death, and eternal life through faith.

More and more people would be added to their number.

And their witness would go out, across lands and centuries

expanding over time and space.

Starting in Jerusalem, then all Judea, then Samaria, then to the ends of the earth.

So that we here in Huntsville Ontario, a world away, and two thousand years in the future,

can hear and share the same good news:

that Christ has risen from the dead and through faith in him you can be saved.

The church is part of the story of the redemption of the world.

This was true of the disciples and early church of the first century.

But it is also true of you and me.

We are inheritors of this witness to the Good news of Jesus Christ.

Whoever hears that message and believes it, is a part of the story.

You and I have a role in this story.

Do you live like you’re a part of it?

Do you pray like your a part of it?

See the disciples knew they had an important role in the spread of the Gospel, in furthering the kingdom of God.

This is why they devoted themselves to prayer.

And their role in the story didn’t just serve as the reason for devoting themselves to prayer,

but it also set the agenda for what they asked for.

4. Request (vv. 29-30)

We see their requests of God in vv. 29-30 of our passage. They say this:

Acts 4:29–30 ESV

And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”

Wee see in the prayer that they requested two things:

A) Boldness

The first thing they requested from God is boldness in v. 29

Acts 4:29 ESV

And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness,

Instead of asking for safety, instead of asking for a way out of Jerusalem,

they asked the Lord that they would be bold in proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Even under threat of punishment, imprisonment, or death,

they ask that they would continue to proclaim the Gospel with boldness.

This had already been demonstrated by Peter when he was brought in front of the Jewish rulers earlier on in the chapter.

We read in Acts 4:13,

Acts 4:13 (ESV)

“Now when [the Jewish rulers] saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished.”

So now the disciples pray that they had been threatened by the Jewish counsel,

they pray that they would continue to speak with all boldness.

Boldness in proclaiming the word of God, comes from God himself, through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Do you pray for boldness to proclaim the Gospel to those around you?

B) Signs and Wonders

The Second thing that the disciples ask for in this prayer, is that God would do mighty works in their midst. We see in v. 30,

Acts 4:30 ESV

while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”

God had already done mighty works in their midst.

Many of these disciples gathered for prayer had been witnesses of the greatest miracle of all.

Jesus’ resurrection from the dead.

But one of the reasons why Peter and John had been imprisoned and brought before the counsel,

was that Peter had healed a man lame from birth, and he had healed him in the name of Jesus Christ.

The disciples are asking that God would continue to heal and perform signs and wonders in Christ’s name.

That through these signs the Gospel might continue to spread.

Now here’s a question?

Should we ask for that?

I mean, obviously it makes sense to ask for boldness in proclaiming the Gospel.

But should we ask God for miracles and signs and wonders?

It’s been well documented that in our time there are movements and ministries that talk a lot about miracles, and signs, and wonders.

And I’ll tell you in checking out some of these movements for myself I’ve seen far more lies, and fraud, and false teaching,

than I have seen legitimate healings and miracles.

Theres a lot of nonsense out there.

But that does not mean that God does not do miracles.

We need to be careful not to overcorrect and end up in error in another way:

to where we don’t believe in God healing or performing miracles.

Or to where we don’t ask for them.

While I believe that there were specific gifts of the Holy Spirit that acted as sign gifts

to show the authority of the Apostles as they preached the Gospel in their time,

I also believe that God works miracles nowadays, especially in answer to prayer.

We see the early church asking that God would heal and work miracles in order that His mighty power in the church would be known.

And this is something that we can ask for too.

It’s something that we should be asking for.

But we need to ask with the right motives.

Not that our name would be made great,

not for our own comfort

or that we might just be witness to something.

But so that Christ’s name would be made great!

James 4:2-3 says,

James 4:2–3 (ESV)

You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.

Let’s ask that God would do mighty works, so that Christ’s name would be made great!

Point 3: The Church Asks to be Empowered for the Mission

These two requests takes me to the final thing that we learn from the disciple’s prayer here in Acts 4.

3. The Church Asks to be Empowered for the Mission.

This is why they asked for boldness in proclaiming the Gospel,

This is why they asked that God would do mighty works in their midst.

That they might be empowered, made effective for their role in the story.

That the Great commission might be fulfilled through them.

Application

This ultimately was why the disciples, the early church dedicated themselves to prayer.

This is why they gathered together to cry out to the Lord.

Because they are part of the story.

And because they are part of the story,

they asked to be empowered for their role in it.

Response (v. 31)

And they received God’s response to their prayer immediately.

We read in v. 31

Acts 4:31 ESV

And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.

Now let me ask you this question: Do You Want This?

Don’t You Want This?

I want this!

I want to be shaken up,

I want to be filled with the Holy Spirit,

I want to speak the word of God with all boldness.

Do you want this?

This is the result of being dedicated to prayer.

So if we as Faith Baptist Church,

if we as Christians in Canada want this.

What we need to do is dedicate ourselves to prayer.

Dedicated to prayer as individuals.

Dedicated to prayer as families.

But also dedicated to prayer “as of one accord”, as a church!

If we want to see the Holy Spirit move in our midst,

using us in a powerful way in our part of the story of the salvation of the world.

If we want to see a spiritual awakening in Canada

It begins with us crying out to the Lord.

Conclusion

Faith Baptist Church, or even if you’re here visiting us this morning,

I want to challenge you to dedicate yourself to prayer.

Not just for those personal things that are on your hearts,

but especially for the part of the story that you and I are in.

That we might be equipped for the mission.

That we might be bold in proclaiming the Gospel that is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes.

And that we might see God doing great works in our midst.

Let’s dedicate ourselves,

lets dedicate our families,

but lets also be dedicated to gathering as a church.

There are many opportunities for our church to gather for prayer: in men’s and women’s groups, and in small groups.

You can find the details for when those meet on our church calendar.

But when we begin our regular prayer gatherings again this fall,

my hope is that you’ll join us in crying out to the Lord for him to act in a mighty way in reaching this region, and this country for Christ.

We will have a date for that soon, but I hope you’ll join us when we gather.

So that we might be shaken up,

filled with the Holy Spirit,

and proclaim the Gospel with all boldness.