Fervent Prayer | Acts 4:23-31

These are values that we share with our international family of churches all around the world called the Great Commission Collective… but really they are essential characteristics of health for ANY church...

God wants churches who WORSHIP CHRIST… that we are CONSUMED with his glory… that we live our lives for him alone…

And he wants churches who SEND OUT HIS PEOPLE into the harvest field… that we CAN’T HELP but tell others about who Jesus is and what he has done...

We want to be that kind of church… We want to be a church who has a front row seat to see God at work in our lives and the lives of the people around us.

We want to be a church who has a front row seat to see God at work in our lives and the lives of the people around us.

And the first value that we embrace that we want to look at today is FERVENT PRAYER.

Fervent means that there is heat… intensity… enthusiasm… behind our prayer…

That we really care about prayer because we realize how dependent upon God we are… and we really believe and expect that he works through prayer!

We want to be a church that WORSHIPS GOD with the way that we PRAY FERVENTLY for his glory to be revealed...

Often when people find out I’m a pastor, I get asked about our church… which is great, because I love telling people about you all… you’re my family… but it’s always interesting what they will ask, because it reveals their first thoughts about the church and what it is…

First, I almost ALWAYS get asked about how many people attend…

Did you ever read your Bible and think, “I wonder why God moved in such clear ways back then, but I don’t always feel like I see him working quite that way now… I wonder what made the difference?

I get asked if we have an old or young congregation...

How many kids we have in our church… what we do for a kids’ ministry...

This summer, we have something new happening at the Miller home: we are watching a leopard Gecko named Nicolai for the summer...

Nicolai is Levi’s 1st grade teacher’s pet gecko… and she wanted him to go to someone else’s house over the summer… and somehow out of all the kids, we were chosen...

I know… I hate that thought too...

And so we are learning a lot about lizards… and probably the biggest thing we are learning is that they need a certain type of environment that is very different than the environment of our home...

That can be sort of discouraging… right?

I get asked if our church is active in the community or not...

They need to eat live crickets… not dead crickets… live crickets… and so we are needing to keep live crickets in a feeder so that we can feed this thing…

They apparently don

It was Levi’s class pet last year and his teacher apparently didn’t want him for the summer, so we ended up with him!

They need it to be hot… and so we have to have a heat lamp on top of the terrarium...

But all of the sudden you have a need to find another church to participate with… what would you be looking for?

And so we are learning about the environment in which leopard Geckos need to thrive…

And usually when I answer these questions, most people are satisfied with the answer (at least verbally) and say, “Oh, that’s a good number...” or “Oh, kids in a church is a sign that a church is healthy...”

They need to have LIVE crickets to eat…

I think most of you would put preaching the word somewhere high on the list...

They need

They need to have water that keeps the air moist so that they can absorb it through their skin...

And I wouldn’t disagree that our church is healthy… those may just not be the best indicators of our health...

And most of all, they need to have the right amount of HEAT...

You may consider the truth that is sung on a Sunday morning...

And thankfully leopard geckos are pretty resilient as far as lizards go...

It’s always interesting to me what people think makes for a healthy church.

It doesn’t really matter WHAT the temperature outside is… it doesn’t matter what the temperature in the room is… what matters is the temperature inside the terrarium...

And they need

You probably want to know that the people love each other and are fulfilling the one anothers in scripture...

But we still need to create an environment where this little guy can thrive.

Because rarely do I get asked about how our church is applying the word of God together...

They need to have the right environment in order to thrive...

You may have some other things you would hope to see: kids and youth being discipled in the faith… outreach happening to the lost...

Rarely do people want to hear stories about how people in our church are sharing the gospel with the lost...

We need

And I was thinking about this question this week: what is the environment in which a church will thrive?

Really, that captures a little bit of what we are talking about in this series, “A Worshiping and Sending Church.”

And never once have I been asked about the health of our prayer life as a church. That’s scary.

Because really, that should be at the top of questions if trying to get to know the heart of a church.

But let me ask you this: would the prayer temperature of the church end up on your list?

What kind of church does God want… and what needs to exist in the environment of a church in order for it to THRIVE?

A church’s prayer life reveals the activity of God in that church…

it reveals that church’s sense of dependence upon God… that they can do NOTHING apart from him...

A.W. Tozer is famous for saying, “If the Holy Spirit was withdrawn from the church today, 95 percent of what we do would go on and no one would know the difference. If the Holy Spirit had been withdrawn from the New Testament church, 95 percent of what they did would stop, and everybody would know the difference.”

And it reveals that church’s expectation for God… that ALL they want is to see God work...

They aren’t so concerned about felt needs and entertaining programs...

All of that stuff is a cheap trick compared to what God wants to do in a church.

Because as I read my Bible… as I look at Acts and the New Testament epistles... the HALLMARK of the early church that I see is Spirit-filled prayer.

And starting today, we are going to look at SIX values… SIX distinctives… that are essential indicators that we are fulfilling God’s purposes for our church…

Six values that we share with our international family of churches all around the world in the Great Commission Collective…

That we are WORSHIPING Christ… that we are CONSUMED with his glory...

And that we are LIVING SENT… that we CAN’T HELP but tell others about who he is and what he has done...

And in this, we want to be a church whose eyes are fixed on Christ… a church that believes JESUS CHRIST is ALL TO US…

We want to be a church who has a front row seat to the glory of God.

And yet as I read my Bible… as I look at Acts and the New Testament epistles, the HALLMARK of the early church was prayer.

And we’ve seen from that God wants his people to be first and foremost CONSUMED with his glory… that he wants us to be a WORSHIPING CHURCH...

You see, a lot of people think that the church needs

A.W. Tozer famously said, “If the Holy Spirit was withdrawn from the church today, 95 percent of what we do would go on and no one would know the difference. If the Holy Spirit had been withdrawn from the New Testament church, 95 percent of what they did would stop, and everybody would know the difference.”

We must think VERTICALLY first… “What does GOD want for his church,” not “what do WE want from our church” or “what does the world want from our church...” but what does GOD want???

But I think we need to reconsider and begin to question, “What would happen if we prayed the way that they did in the early church.

And when we truly get our eyes fixed on the glory of God… we will become consumed with that glory to the degree that we SEND one another out to tell others about Jesus and his glory...

D.L. Moody once said, “Every great movement of God can be traced to a kneeling figure.” — D. L. Moody

Worshiping churches are sending churches… but sending churches MUST FIRST be worshiping churches...

We have to make sure that the temperature in the terrarium is regulated to the heat of the glory of God...

And the heat lamp that sets the temperature for worship in any church is prayer...

Without prayer, the lifeblood of the church freezes.

What he’s saying is that too many times in the church, we can be too reliant on our own plans and pragmatism, and not reliant enough on prayer and the power of the Holy Spirit.

And it is OUR GOAL to make sure that quote is not true in OUR church.

So here’s how I hope we would respond to God’s word today:

- they were told to wait in Jerusalem until they received power from on high… and what did they do while they waited?:

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

- 3000 people are added to their number those who were saved… and what did they do?:

“And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.” (, ESV)

- the task of caring for the physical needs of the church gets too great for the apostles to handle on their own… so what do they do?

They appoint men filled with the Spirit to manage the task so that the apostles can devote themselves to PRAYER and the ministry of the word...

- Cornelius is a God-fearing Gentile who is about to become the first non-Jew to be saved by the Jewish Messiah...

And how does that whole event come about: he’s described as a man who prayed continually to God.

And Peter went up on a housetop to pray and God showed him a vision…

- Herod starts persecuting the church… he kills James, the brother of John, and he arrests Peter… it’s not looking good for the church… so what do they do?

“So Peter was kept in prison, but earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church.” (, ESV)

- When Saul and Barnabas are sent out on their first missionary journey, what are they doing when they are set apart?

They were worshiping and fasting.

And then after they heard this word from the Holy Spirit, before they sent them off… they made sure they prayed some more:

Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off. (Acts 13:3)

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

- Paul and Barnabas go on their way, plant a bunch of churches, strengthens the believers to continue in the faith...

“And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed.” (, ESV)

The story of the early church is a story of the Holy Spirit acting powerfully through the fervent prayers of his people.

And I believe the Holy Spirit wants to work in powerful ways TODAY as his church seeks him in prayer.

Prayer is the environment in which our relationship to God receives life.

Big Idea: Fervently pray with dependent expectation to see the powerful work of God.

The story of the early church is a story of the Holy Spirit acting powerfully through the fervent prayers of his people.

Today we want to go to Acts chapter 4 to see an impromptu prayer meeting that resulted in God working POWERFULLY in and through the church.

Context - - Shortly after the church was born, Peter and John into the Temple to pray… the early church still met in the temple courts regularly together… and as they are walking into the temple, they see this lame beggar…

And they say to this guy, “We don’t have money for you, but what we do have we will give… in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!” And he does...

And Peter sees everyone gawking… “Whatcha looking at us for… Jesus did it… you remember that Jesus who YOU killed not so long ago… yeah, it is by HIS power that this man is walking today…

And right about now would be a good time to think about repenting... turn back that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord and that Jesus might return to set up his kingdom...

But the priests and captain of the temple and Sadducees don’t want to repent… they are just GREATLY annoyed…

They thought they had dealt with this Jesus, but he just won’t die… and so they ARREST Peter and John… and put them on trial the next day…

And during the trial, Peter gives them the same answer he gave the crowd in the temple: “We did this in the power of Jesus… you know the guy YOU rejected and killed and is now the cornerstone of our faith?!?!”

And the council was astonished at how well they answered… but they couldn’t do much because the guy they healed was right there next to them…

And so they basically just said, “Just don’t speak in the name of this Jesus again… and they threatened them and released them...”

Do you think they were scared??? Like if our church had just been planted… or even if this happened in our church today… and we went through an experience like this… where Dwight and I were arrested and threatened and released... what do you think would be our response?

Would any of you consider throwing in the towel? Going to another church where it was a little less dangerous?

Not gathering anymore because you want to protect your kids? Or keep your job?

First real test of the Christian community… let’s take a look at their response...

Read 4:23-24a [stop at ...they lifted their voices together to God.]

They’ve just endured their first major trial as a church… one that would rock any church to the core... to have your leaders imprisoned… and what is their first response? PRAYER.

We are going to see them respond in “Fervent prayer with dependent expectation to see the powerful work of God.”

If we want to see the work of God, we need to be DEVOTED to fervent prayer.

If we want to be a worshiping church that is FIXATED on the glory of God… and a SENDING church that LONGS for the world to know and worship him... we MUST be marked by a culture of fervent prayer.

Of course, if we decided somewhere along the way to go after some other goal...

If we decided that we didn’t want to be a worshiping and sending church… and we settle for the routine of going through the motions and having our little social gatherings… and making sure our kids get to Sunday school...

Fervent prayer could go out the window at that point…

In fact… where worship and mission is no longer our goal, our need for fervent prayer will be cease.

But when we get after GOD’S purposes for us, fervent prayer will be our natural response of dependence and hope.

That’s what we see happening in the early church in Acts 4...

And as we look at their prayer, I want us to see three ingredients that grow the fervency of our prayer life…

Fervently pray, dependent on the character of God. (4:24)

Explain:

Notice the beginning of their prayer: Read

They fix their heart on the character of God.

They acknowledge his Sovereignty… that he is the Lord in ultimate control… that nothing happens outside of his decree.

They acknowledge the REASON and the SCOPE of his Sovereignty...

He’s the Sovereign Lord because he MADE… he CREATED… the heaven and the earth and the sea… and everything in them… that pretty much covers it, doesn’t it?

If you ever wondered if the doctrine of Creation matters… look no further than this verse...

If we don’t have a God who created and sustains all things, we don’t have a God worth praying to.

And they allow the size of our God to increase the fervency of their prayer.

They don’t start with the situation… they start with their understanding of God.

They are like, “The thing we need most right now is to acknowledge the One who is in control of all things.”

That is a pretty hard thing to do when your leaders have just been arrested and threatened...

They are effectively saying, “God, we know that what just happened was ENTIRELY in your control.”

Some of us would feel uncomfortable acknowledging that...

That the painful things… that the scary things… are not outside of the control of God… and yet they still happen.

But think about what else they are saying when they acknowledge God’s Sovereignty...

They are saying, “You are the Sovereign Lord, we are not. Your ways are not our ways, your thoughts are not our thoughts.”

They are also saying, “These rulers and authorities who are arresting us and threatening us… they are not ultimate. God, YOU are ultimate. YOU are the Sovereign Lord.”

“God, YOU are ultimate. YOU are the Sovereign Lord.”

They are saying, “We can’t see the whole story right now… but we know the God who was there in the beginning, and we know the one who will remain standing in the end...”

You see, the thing we need most in our prayers is not the ability to say the right words or make the right requests, but to know the right God.

When we know God as the Sovereign Lord, everything else will fall into place

This isnt’ some prayer that they thought about a ton before they gathered this prayer meeting...

They simply knew the one whom they believed in… and they acknowledged who they were talking to…

And it was the expansive character of God that fueled their fervent prayer. We need to pray the character of God.

Our prayers will only go as deep as we perceive God’s character to be.

Illustrate:

The character of God

We need to get the words out… take the time… acknowledge who God is…

Remember who you are talking to.

The 19th century missionary to South Africa, Andrew Murray once said, “Each time, before you intercede, be quiet first, and worship God in His glory. Think of what He can do, and how He delights to hear the prayers of His redeemed people. Think of your place and privilege in Christ, and expect great things!” — Andrew Murray

Apply:

This takes time and focus.

I’ll be honest… when I am most busy… and when my request list for God is the longest and pressing in the hardest…

Those are the times when it is hardest to slow down and just worship God.

And those are the times when it is most necessary.

You can think of it this way: I need the presence of God before I need the presents of God.

We need the PRESENCE [spell] of God more than the PRESENTS [spell]… the benefits of God.

We must seek his face before we seek his hand… because it is only then that we will understand what his hand wants to do.

If you are struggling to pray FERVENTLY… intensely… dependently crying out to God, expecting him to work… then maybe your concept of God is too small.

Maybe you have forgotten who you’re talking to.

The deeper we dive into God’s character, the higher we will soar in our fervency in prayer.

So here’s a practical application… and I want you to think about this not only in your private prayer… but also in your CORPORATE prayer…

Remember v. 24 - they lifted their voices TOGETHER to God…

By and large, prayer is NOT a privatized activity in the Bible. It is PRIMARILY corporate.

So here’s a practical application for your prayers… as you begin to pray consider at least one attribute that you can acknowledge before God in worship...

And I know many of you know this… but it can be so easy to rush past this, can’t it?

So I’ve put a list of attributes of God in your bulletin…

Infinite, unchanging, self-sufficient, all-powerful, all-knowing, all-present, wise, faithful, good, just, holy, righteous, merciful, gracious, glorious, sovereign, comforting...

And the goal isn’t to merely say the words… the goal is to BELIEVE and interact with the character of God in prayer...

Which attribute of God really speaks to the situation that we are facing?

So if you are leading a corporate prayer on a Sunday morning… or you are praying in the 11am women’s class… or maybe you are praying in your GC… slow yourself down and ACKNOWLEDGE who you are talking to...

We want to be a church who is consumed in our attention with the glory of God… we want to be a WORSHIPING CHURCH... and we see his glory in his character.

That’s what drives fervent… dependent… expectant… prayer...

That’s what prepares our hearts to see the powerful work of God.

Pray the character of God...

But they didn’t just stop there… they also prayed the word of God...

Fervently pray, dependent on the word of God. (4:25-27)

Read

Explain:

So as they are looking at this situation play out in front of them, it causes a scripture to come to their mind… ...

And they include this Psalm in prayer...

is a pretty cool Psalm...

It’s a coronation hymn… it’s meant to be sung at the crowning of the Davidic King...

“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.” He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision. Then he will speak to them in his wrath, and terrify them in his fury, saying, “As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill.” (, ESV)

So the church looks at this scripture and understands it in it’s proper context… that JESUS is the King who sits on David’s throne...

They understood that God had come in the flesh… born of a virgin… born in the line of David...

And that he was baptized by John and at the same time anointed with the Holy Spirit… that God had said, “This is my beloved Son with whom I am well-pleased...”

That’s from , by the way, too.

And that Anointed King rode into Jerusalem proclaiming peace and victory for his people…

but by the end of the week the rulers of Israel had rejected him and delivered him over to the Gentiles to be crucified...

But that cross was an act of WAR with God’s enemies… not Israel’s physical enemies… but with the enemy of our souls…

That ancient serpent, the devil…

And while WE LOST the battle with Satan and Sin… and we deserve death

Christ CONQUERED the grave and won the victory over Satan, sin AND death...

And he ascended on high… seated on the throne of heaven at the right hand of God… waiting to return to judge the living and the dead.

That’s the gospel they had believed… that’s the gospel that I preach to you here today at Oak Hill...

THAT’S THE GOSPEL you can put your faith in!

That’s the gospel that you MUST put your faith in.

Because it’s clear in that MANY will rise up against God’s king… against Jesus…

And at the same time, that when God’s King is on the throne, any opposition to Christ will be trampled upon...

Any stunt that the nations would try to pull against God’s King is futile… God WILL accomplish his purposes...

It’s THAT GOSPEL… revealed in God’s word that gave the early church hope… and that gives us hope today.

They are like, “This is what God said would happen in his word… and we are seeing it play out right before our eyes...

And notice… as they pray… they RESPOND to the Psalm with the things that are burdening them....

They acknowledge that both Herod and Pontius Pilate, these Gentile rulers, are against the anointed one (even though that’s not the event that sparked this exact prayer meeting)…

because the real kicker is that ISRAEL is against the Lord’s anointed one too.

ISRAEL is acting just like the Gentile nations...

This helps them make sense of their situation.

That ISRAEL’S LEADERS have now joined the ranks of the gentiles and THEY are now the faithful Israel who are on the side of God’s anointed...

Praying the word had this stabilizing effect on their prayers.

You see, as they prayed the scriptures, GOD was speaking to them even as they speak to him.

They pray HIS words back to him.

This further settles their heart on God’s Sovereignty...

They even acknowledge it in verse 25 - David said it… but he said it BY THE HOLY SPIRIT…

YOU told us this would happen…

Illustrate: I have this tendency that I have to really guard against in conversation… and that’s talking over someone when they are talking to me...

My mind tends to move VERY quickly…

and someone says something that excites me or sparks a thought... and I just want to interject it…

but they have more to say… and they aren’t done talking... and I’m learning how to just shut yapper…

And I think that most of us would agree that prayer is simply talking to God…

Except when we pray, we often dominate the conversation with our own words.

“Each time, before you intercede, be quiet first, and worship God in His glory. Think of what He can do, and how He delights to hear the prayers of His redeemed people. Think of your place and privilege in Christ, and expect great things!” — Andrew Murray

I’ll say, “go put away the legos in the sunroom...”

We often spend a ton of time talking, and little time truly hearing the voice of God.

And they wil

God doesn’t need us to preach him a sermon… he wants us to engage with him in conversation...

Now I don’t want you to misunderstand what I am saying here...

And in that conversation… because he is the Sovereign Lord…

I’m NOT telling you to sit there quietly and empty your mind and try to hear some audible voice or pay attention to random thoughts that pop into your head...

I’m saying, “ask the Spirit of God to bring his word to your mind. Acknowledge what you know the word says about what you are praying who God is and what he has done.”

We can know that we’ve heard from God when we engage with his word in our prayer in an appropriate way.

Perhaps if your prayer life is lacking fervency, it’s because you are doing all the talking.

Perhaps you’ve said all you can say and it doesn’t change anything because you aren’t responding to what GOD has to say.

And our prayers should be led by God’s word… the scriptures.

Apply:

This has been a goal of ours in our GCs for the past few months now… and I want to make sure we are making this a priority...

We are going for Spirit-Led, Scripture-Fed, Worship-Based prayer.

And I’ve heard from many of you that this has GREATLY benefited your prayer times in your GCs and your perspective on why you are there for the night.

I hope that this is changing your personal AND corporate prayer life as much as it is mine…

That we GATHER TOGETHER to encounter the living God...

HE speaks to us through his word… and we directly respond to him in prayer.

And your Gospel Community leader (I’m sure) does a great job preparing a specific scripture for you...

But I would challenge you… allow yourself to pray other scriptures that come to mind too...

As you are reading the word throughout your week… respond to God in prayer...

Develop a conversation about God that expresses your faith in what he has revealed…

And then carry that with you when you gather with the other people from your Gospel Community...

I guarantee you, it will take your prayer life to new depths of encountering God.

This church in is just praying what was already in their heart… the scripture was hidden in their heart...

This was a Psalm they would have sung in their Jewish homes growing up… they probably knew it well...

And they look at their situation… and the Spirit brings this Psalm to their mind… and they allow it to fuel their prayer...

Make this a discipline in your prayer life...

Don’t settle for merely YOU talking to God...

Listen to God in his word.

Take the time to open up God’s word and pray it back to him.

Now in order to do this effectively, we have to understand the scriptures properly...

In , they are praying the scriptures… but they are also interpreting the scriptures as they do… they are seeing God’s word as one big unfolding story of which they are just a part…

They see that this Psalm was pointing not just to King David or one of his immediate sons… but that this Psalm was ultimately fulfilled in King Jesus… the anointed one of God…

Notice that they also stop at an interesting point in the Psalm...

They stop at recognizing that the nations naturally will rise up against God and his anointed...

And they don’t continue to the part that says God laughs at the nations and will judge them… they COULD have asked God to cast down fire on their oppressors… I think that would have been completely natural and even expected…

But look at how they continue the prayer… Read ...

They understand that the Anointed One has taken his throne… and they understand that the nations are against him...

And they understand that the nations are against him...

But they also understand that the judgment of God is still at a fixed point in the future… it’s not time for that yet…

They understand that NOW is the time for God’s message to go out with boldness…

because Jesus said that you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and Judea/Samaria and to the uttermost parts of the earth…

...and they were only as far as Jerusalem.

There was more work to be done.

So their WORSHIP of God’s character set their dependence on God’s word…

which then filled them with a sense of expectation that God was going to keep working his plan...

That’s the last habit of fervent prayer that I want you to see today…

Fervently pray expectant for the plan of God. (4:28-30)

They understand that there is one big story that is unfolding throughout the Bible...

And so as they pray dependent on the character of God… and dependent on the word of God… and they conclude by praying the plan of God.

Pray the plan of God. (4:28-30)

Read

Explain:

Notice verse 28 - the Gentiles and the leaders of Israel are gathered against your anointed TO DO WHATEVER YOUR HAND AND YOUR PLAN HAD PREDESTINED TO TAKE PLACE.

They understand that all of this is just part of God’s plan.

It started with his character from the beginning of creation… was proven through his word revealed through King David… and now is being played out in real time in front of their eyes.

And so they COULD say, “Look upon their threats and take them out...”

They COULD say, “Look upon their threats and change their minds about persecuting us...”

They COULD say, “Look upon their threats and give us SAFETY.”

But instead they say, “Look upon their threats and grant your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness.”

“We KNOW their threats will continue… we even know this could cause us pain and suffering… just give us the boldness we need to face whatever comes our way.”

Just praying that prayer is a miracle itself...

They understand that suffering for the name of Jesus is just part of the plan of God…

it’s part of what you sign up for when you say you are going to follow a Savior who died on a cross...

We’ll come back to that thought…

They also continue their request… while we speak boldly, we also ask you to heal and do signs and wonders that prove that Jesus is greater than his enemies.

Do things that are going to validate your message before people’s eyes...

Remember, they had just seen that happen… they healed the lame guy, and BECAUSE he was standing there beside them at the trial, the counsel couldn’t do anything to him.

He was PROOF that their message was true.

So they weren’t just asking for God to heal and make people feel better… they were asking for God to heal people so more people would KNOW AND WORSHIP JESUS…

Illustrate: If we are going to pray expectantly, we have to know and understand God’s plan.

He was a missionary to China in the late 1800s

One of the biggest phrases we are working on eradicating in our house right now is this response when we ask our kids to do something or not do something…

The phrase is this: “No, but I just want...” (followed by a reiteration of whatever thing we are correcting them about)

And then, after Jeff ended up moving into his area, this guy just so happened to find the Bible… and just so happened to start reading it… and didn’t understand a word.

It’s a major problem because it shows a sense that one of my children thinks they know better than mom and dad… and what’s best for the whole family...

So he prayed to God, “Send someone to help me understand what I’m reading.”

And then the guy just so happened to come into contact with Jeff… and found out that Jeff was a follower of Jesus… and asked Jeff to explain God’s word to him...

But don’t we often say the same thing to God in prayer...

God says, “Count it all joy my brothers when you encounter trials of various kinds...”

And we pray… “No, but I just want you to take away the trial as fast as possible...”

And that’s one of the more mild stories of what we see happening around the world.

God says, “Deny yourself, take up your cross and follow me.”

And we pray, “No, but I just want you to make me feel safe.”

God says, “Go into all the world and make disciples...”

And we pray, “No, but I just want my kids to be well-behaved.”

God says, “I use the weak things of the world to shame the strong and the foolish things of the world to confound the weak.”

And we pray, “No, but I just want this thing that will make me feel successful.”

If we are going to pray expectantly, we have to know and understand God’s plan.

Apply:

M says, But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

says, But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

God will give us everything we need… everything we need to fulfill HIS plan of building his kingdom… not our own plans of building our own kingdoms.

Do you see the difference? Do you understand the difference?

Do you understand the difference?

Do you understand that God doesn’t just want you to call yourself a Christian… he wants you to seek the glory of Christ in your life.

He doesn’t just save you by grace so you can coast your way into heaven when you die… he saves you by grace to free and empower you for good works that he has prepared before the foundation of the world for you to walk in...

He doesn’t just want you to come to some church programs and sign your name on some membership form...

He wants you to participate as a member of the body in his church… speaking the truth in love to one another… building others up in the faith by excercising your spiritual gifts…

THAT’S his plan.

If you find that your prayers lack fervency… that you lack motivation and intensity...

Check to see if you are expectant… eager… to see GOD’S PLAN fulfilled… or your own.

Because our plans fail to satisfy… they fail to fill the heart with the true awe for which we are created… but his plan is never boring.

When we stop striving for our own plans and start seeking his… he starts to do AWESOME… supernatural things!

Look at 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.

There is this awesome sign that God heard their prayer.. the place in which they were gathered was shaken… there’s this little localized earthquake...

But I believe there’s an even greater miracle than THAT…

I think it is an even greater miracle that they were ALL filled with the Holy Spirit… and they ALL SPOKE… with boldness.

Not just Peter and John… not the guys who had the guts to go into the temple courts in the first place...

Now ALL were filled and ALL spoke…

They ALL picked up their part to play in God’s plan.

God was EAGER to answer this prayer that was dependent upon his character… dependent on his word… and expectant for his plan.

And as we pray fervently as a church, we need to understand the plan of God and expect that God will work when our hearts are focused on his plan.

We don’t pray our plans and expect God to get on board...

We don’t rattle off our list of desires and expect him to give us everything we WANT...

We pray HIS plans… God, THESE are the priorities you have made known to us. Lead us in YOUR plans. And then we expect him to work in awesome ways.

So let’s just think about some of the things we are praying about as a church right now...

We were discussing our current challenge of needing more GCs… and we want to be praying about that...

We prayed for that because we know from God’s word that part of his plan for his church is for it to be led by a plurality of biblically qualified men.

And as we prayed, we also prayed for supernatural unity and love to be shown in the process… and God has done that work.

We were discussing our current challenge of needing more GCs… and we need to be praying about that...

We don’t just want more GCs because that’s the program we have and we want him to make it successful...

We don’t just want more GCs because that’s the program we have...

We are seeking to most effectively live out God’s plan for the one anothers… we are seeking to raise up leaders who have the heart of a shepherd for God’s people...

Who have a Spirit-filled desire to facilitate discipleship and care of God’s people…

And if he wants to change the way that we do that because he has another idea, we want HIM to lead us clearly!

We are praying for a worship leader...

We believe that God wants his people to SING psalms hymns and spiritual songs and make melody in our hearts to him...

We believe that there is precedent in the Old Testament with the Levites that there were those set apart for that the task of leading musical praise skillfully before God...

And we are praying for God to lead us to the right person… who is a disciple-making disciple of Jesus first and foremost… and who loves to lead others through music...

We are praying for a building...

But in our prayers, we always need to remember that the church is more than a building… and a building is a resource that God can choose to give...

We need to be praying for God to open up doors for evangelism in our community…

That WE would be filled with BOLDNESS...

What if each one of us prayed FERVENTLY… EVERY DAY… based on the character of God and the word of God… to show us someone he wants us to share the gospel with...

And we prayed FERVENTLY… EXPECTING that he will do it… to give us the boldness we need to speak up…

I believe God will work in AWESOME ways if we get after that…

And the last thing I want to mention is a church planting cohort with the GCC as well as a mission trip to one of our partners...

We don’t want to just pick a place and a church planter off of a list somewhere and ask God to bless it...

I don’t want us to just go somewhere on a mission trip just for the sake of saying we went…

We are asking God to make it clear when and where he wants us to go… and how he wants us to participate in his mission… because we believe that he wants to use us...

In , they were worshiping the Lord and fasting… and the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work that I have for them…”

And then they prayed and fasted even MORE before they sent them out...

That’s what we are seeking the Lord to do...

We need him too much to rush into some plan without him...

And we EXPECT that he will reveal the opportunity he has for us as we SEEK HIM FERVENTLY in prayer.

I can’t wait to see the ways that God is going to move us and shake us as we get fervent in prayer...

These are things that I’m calling us to SUSTAINED, CONCERTED, FERVENT PRAYER over, especially as we work through this series… and then beyond until God gives us clarity on where HE wants us to go.

But I don’t just want the results… ultimately I want these things because I believe GOD wants these things… and I want to see God.

Prayer… at it’s core… is about believing the character of God… and believing the word of God… and wanting nothing but the plan of God.

Prayer is a means to an end… but the end is not the thing we are requesting… but the God who we are seeking.

The end goal of prayer is God himself.

So right now, I want us to pray...

And I’m going to ask a few of YOU to pray about a few of these things...

Pray fervently… pray God’s character… pray God’s word… pray God’s plan...

New GC leaders and wisdom in how to multiply the current GCs

Worship Leader

Building

Evangelistic opportunities

GCC Church planting opportunities and potential mission trip

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