Acts 4 23-37
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· 727 viewsDont only pray when shaken, pray till you are shaken!
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Power From Prayer
Power From Prayer
Prayer,
We have been doing a study on prayer for the past 6-7 weeks,
Prayer isn't petitioning God with our will, but rather seeking Gods will.
Unless.... Our will is Gods Will.
Jesus said to pray and ask In His Name and what ever we ask will be done according to God Will.
And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.
Why is it that all to many times we only pray when we are shaken about something?
And yet at at times we pray after we have already done all that we can do about a sistuation.
I beleive the key to this is believing that God can do, and that God will do.
When this faith is present you become a prayer warrior!
You become something that the devil dosent want any part of!!
We pray when we are beat up, when we are sick, when we are in need. When we are fearful.
And this isnt wrong either, We are told to come boldy to the throne of grace.
We are told to bring all of our petetionse before God.
In our text today we see prayer,
we will see what brought on the prayer, we will see who prayed, why they prayed, what the prayed for. and we will see the result of their prayer.
Last week we lookes at
Lets pick up in : verse 13.
13-
Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus. But seeing the man who was healed standing beside them, they had nothing to say in opposition. But when they had commanded them to leave the council, they conferred with one another, saying, “What shall we do with these men? For that a notable sign has been performed through them is evident to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it. But in order that it may spread no further among the people, let us warn them to speak no more to anyone in this name.” So they called them and charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus.
But Peter and John answered them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.” And when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way to punish them, because of the people, for all were praising God for what had happened. For the man on whom this sign of healing was performed was more than forty years old.
Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus. But seeing the man who was healed standing beside them, they had nothing to say in opposition. But when they had commanded them to leave the council, they conferred with one another, saying, “What shall we do with these men? For that a notable sign has been performed through them is evident to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it. But in order that it may spread no further among the people, let us warn them to speak no more to anyone in this name.” So they called them and charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.” And when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way to punish them, because of the people, for all were praising God for what had happened. For the man on whom this sign of healing was performed was more than forty years old.
Now we see that Peter and John have been released,
what did they do?
What would you have done?
What would I have done?
Would we have ran, hid?
Lets see what they did, where did they go, who did they see?
When they were released, they went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them.
They went striaght to their friends… who were thier friends? The Greek word for friend here is ideos, it means Church, Fellowship, Unity.
They went striaght to the beleivers, the New Church that had been birthed.
the verse here says that they gave report as to all that had taken place, the healing, the arrest, the being put into jail for the night, the trial and what the leaders had told tham and commanded of them not to do or say any longer.
verse 21 says that they furthered threatened them, I wonder with what threats they put against them?
And when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way to punish them, because of the people, for all were praising God for what had happened.
I want you to notice that in verse 23 what we dont see in this verse ,
Peter and John wasnt strssed out, they werent discourged, they werent depressed,
Neither were they filled with fear either.
They had been tried by the supreme court! but they were not defeated or silenced.
Peter and John were not puffed up either!
They never said they dont scare us!
They never boasted, they never bragged about being super servants for Christ either.
The concern of Peter and John was to encourage the church. and to warn the church of the coming persecution that lay ahead of them!
Notice something else from the previous verses, whether or not to continue preaching Jesus was never up for debate!
Jesus commanded beleivers to go out and preach the Gospel to every creature.
Mark
And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.
This left the church with only one thing to do..
To Lift their voices to the heavens.
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,
I want to look at this verse closely..
They.... Not He or she but they… meaning the collocted group of people, the church prayed .
Together.... meaning in one accord, in unity.
Now this dosent mean they all stood and prayed reciting the same exact words in complete unisome, it means that the purpose of prayer and the petition of prayer was the same.
Their prayers were of the same request. Their minds were not wondering about.
None were half hearted praying. They were all in one accord.
These prayers are the prayers that God hears and responds to in a hurry and in a big way!
Mt
Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.
Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.
You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.
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,
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,
Sovereign Lord they prayed..
Sovereign… Creator, power over all, It was their conviction that God was Power of all, over everything
Lord… He was their master, He was the number one in their lives, their was nothing of more important in this world to them than the Lord..
Sovereign Lord, who made the heavens, who made the earth, who made the sea and everything in them.
You God alone are God, you have the power to create all, therfore their is no one, no one person, no one being, no one ruleing , no one nation, not even the world itself that can stand and stop His Will and Power!
This was the Chruch’s conviction of God’s Power!
This is why they prayed, because they beleived it!
I beleive they church today beleive this as well, well half way.
So much of the church beleives God can, but then when it comes to the faith that He will is where the breakdown comes in.
The church beleives that God did it once, but they cant seem to wrap around the idea that He will do it again or at least for them.
This is a seed planted from the enemy! Its a lie!!
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.
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?
Man will oppose God, … God through david foretold their oppesistion is scripture.
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,
God’s plan, His working all things out for good had already been proven.
Davids prophecy and the death of Jesus had already proven it!
The Kings and rulers stand up together against God and His Christ, Jesus..
They stand against and stand in an opposite direction, They stand in oppostion and hostility to God and Christ!
They did it in this day and they are still doing it in 2018! Nothing has changed!
The only thing that has changed is the church!
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.”
The church had a conviction of God’s mission and of God’s concern.
Their mission was to speak God’s Word!
Note here that this was their mission and they knew what they needed to eneble them to carry it out.
Also note here what they prayed for and what they didnt pray for.
Lets look for words we dont see.
They didnt ask for the persecution to be removed.
They didnt ask to be protected from the persecution either.
I pray that God would remove any persuction from us that wont bring Him Glory. I do pray this.
They never prayed that evil men would be taken out.
They never prayed for the persecution to stop.
They never even prayed that God would allow them to stop witnessing until things quieted down either.
So what did they pray for?
They prayed for Boldness!!!!
they prayed for more courage to bear testimony of Jesus Christ!
No matter the abuse or the danger, they asked to be fearless, for God to remove their fear.
They asked for all Boldness!
My wife ha sprayed and asked for patientce and also asked they God give it NOW!
I have always said really, Lord forgive her for she knows.....
lol
Look at the beggining of verse 29 here,
And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness,
Do you see it,
NOW Lord!!!
This word is stressed in the Greek. there is a heavy emphasis upon it.
The Church needed its fear to be removed and it wanted a strong courage to get about its busniess of telling of Jesus! They didnt want to wait they wanted it now!
Look upon, Lord, Look upon....
the word look upon has the meaning of the Greek word… epide-epi , it means to look upon.
The Church was directing God’s attention and concertration and to focus upon the persecution.
To deal with it and to over rule the enemy, to give what ever was nesscary to endure through it all.
while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”
Their need was also for power to heal and for signs and wonders, for a demonstration of God’s power to prove their claim.
The claim that God’s Son did come to earth.
That God’s Son did die.
That God’s Son did arise.
That God’s Son was exalted to the right hand of God.
That God’s Son was still active and working in people’s lives today!
Healing, we beleive in God performing healings today.
Many here today can testify of this.
I have seen God do healings before my very eyes! and on more than one occasion.
We hear of God healing cancer in those who have been sick.
But what we are concerned with is a healing from the most deadliest sin of all. Sin!!
Cancer is bad stuff, but it cant send no one to hell. But Sin can and does!
We want to see healing come from this deadly diease called sin!
So that signs will be seen.
You say you are a Christian, what you are saying is you are like Jesus Christ. a mini Jesus so to say....
If thats the case that should be a sign for all to see. Your family, co-workers, neighbors .
They should see a sign in you, a change in you that will create a wonder in their minds!!!
I wonder what happened in their life that changed them.
I wonder how they can take that the way they do?
It will create a wonder that all around you without Jesus will have!
But also note this..
Thay asked for this kind of power,
The Power only lays in the Name of Jesus.
The Power is for the Glory of Jesus alone!
So waht was the result of a prayer like this, even when they asked for The Lord to Act and to act Now.
Verse 31
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.
We see that it was not the shaken people who prayed, but that the praying people were shaken!
These people were shaken
The place they were at was shaken, this was a maricale, a sign from God showing He was in control! A sign that showed them He was in control of the universe just as they had prayed!
They were filled with the Holy Spirit!
They needed a special manifestation, a fresh pouring of His Spirit upon them.
Also note that this is the third time the Holy Spirit has come upon them also.
The Filling of the Holy Spirit is a re-occuring event given as much and as often as needed by God for the Glory of His Son Jesus Christ!
They had received what they had asked for, they spoke with great boldness sharing the Word of God and bearing wittness of Jesus Christ!
What brought on the Prayer?
Persecution of the church.
Who Prayed?
The Church prayed.
Why Did they pray?
Because it was their convictions that God was sovereign, He was the Creator and over and above all. That God had power to overcome the enemy.
What did they pray for?
Boldness, to exalt the Name of Jesus and to Bring Him Glory!
What was the result of the prayer?
They received the filling of the Holy Spirt, that they received boldness and had no fear.
That healing, signs and wonders would come and exalt Jesus Christ!
Church, persecution is here, its all around us.
If we are only exating Jesus on one day of the week then we arent exalting Him at all. We are only in a ritual.
Its time to exalt Jesus, Its time to Know Him and to make Him Known!
And we need help in doing this.
I think we no where our help comes from?
Come and join me as we ask for His Help. Will you join me?