The Plan of God and Prayers of the Church

With the zero representing no time at all and the one being a full hour, draw a vertical line on the scale to indicate how much time do you spend in dedicated prayer each day.

(I recognize that quantity of time in prayer does not always equal quality of prayer)

ILLUST - When Brooks was ___ years old, we were told he had a hole in his heart and would require surgery. We anointed and prayed. Next dr. visit hole was gone - no explanation - power of prayer.

Sundar Singh was raised as a Sikh in the late 19th C. After receiving a vision of Jesus during a suicide attempt, Singh trusted in Christ and committed his life as a missionary to India.

One book recounts the following story about Singh:

“By order of the chief lama of a Tibetan community he was thrown into a dry well, the cover of which was securely locked. Here he was left to die, like many others before him, whose bones and rotting flesh lay at the bottom of the well. On the third night, when he had been calling to God in prayer, he heard someone unlocking the cover o the well and removing it. Then a voice spoke, telling him to take hold of the rope that was being lowered. He did so, and was glad to find a loop at the bottom of the rope in which he could place his foot, for his arm had been injured before he was thrown down. He was then drawn up, the cover was replaced and locked, but when he looked around to thank his rescuer, he could find no trace of him. The fresh air revived him, and his injured arm felt whole again. When morning came he returned to the place where he had been arrested, and resumed preaching. News was brought to the chief lama that the man who had been thrown into the execution well had been liberated and was preaching again. Sunday Singh was brought before him and questioned, and told the story of his release. The lama declared that someone must have got hold of the key and let him out, but when search was made for the key, it was found attached to the lama’s own girdle.

- F. F. Bruce, The Book of Acts

Believing you could see that kind of powerful response to prayer, on the same scale, draw an X on the scale to indicate the amount of time you would spend in prayer each day.

*The question before us is this: do we not pray because we do not see the power of prayer, or do we not see the power of prayer because we are not praying?*

Flow of chapter 12:

Our plans unexpected.

Church’s prayer unceasing.

God’s power unbelievable.

Gospel plan unstoppable.

2 things that cause this story to turn out the way that it did:

- The plan of God.

- The prayer of the church.

*The power of prayer is in God's plan.*

Our plan … unexpected (1-4)

Have you ever had the plans of your life take an unexpected turn?

Your company is downsizing and and you have the least seniority.

Your marriage doesn’t look the way you expected 16 years ago.

Perhaps you didn’t expect to be single again.

Maybe the call from the doctor means you need to make decisions you never thought you’d need to make.

Let’s be honest. Sometimes even when we think we are doing everything right, life can hit us in an unexpected way.

This was the case for some of the leaders of the Early Church.

1 About that time Herod the king laid violent hands on some who belonged to the church.

HEROD

Killed James

James the brother of John, the sons of Zebedee.

b/c it made the Jewish leaders happy, he arrested Peter also

3b This was during the days of Unleavened Bread. 4 And when he had seized him, he put him in prison, … intending after the Passover to bring him out to the people. 5 So Peter was kept in prison,

intending … to him out - Herod’s intention was to kill Peter like he had killed James.

Peter had been given the keys to the Kingdom by Jesus, and now he is behind a locked door of a prison.

Not was Peter expected.

“All that training Jesus for this? To die at the hand of Herod?”

Ever feel like God is just wasting what you believe would be good because of what he is allowing to happen?

2 He killed James the brother of John with the sword, 3 and when he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also. This was during the days of Unleavened Bread. 4 And when he had seized him, he put him in prison, delivering him over to four squads of soldiers to guard him, intending after the Passover to bring him out to the people. 5 So Peter was kept in prison, but earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church.

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

God’s plan may be painful

Not hopeless

Be honest.

This isn’t a consequence

Prayer is expected when life is unexpected.

Prayer (5) (Christian response)

Is this how we respond?

Why do we not respond in prayer?

Why do we not expect in prayer?

Peace (6) (Christ’s promise)

“if you do this, you will experience God’s peace. . .”

The degree to which you trust God’s plan is the degree to which you can have peace in the prison.

^Even though Peter’s plans took an unexpected turn ...

Church’s prayer … unceasing (5)

5 So Peter was kept in prison, but earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church.

I can just picture Luke as he is interviewing people to compile his account that we find here:

“So James is dead, Peter is caught, thrown in prison, heavily guarded, bound by chains, behind locked doors, and perhaps a few hours from being executed himself. What happened next?”

The church prayed.

Not - we came up with a great plan, we wrote Peter off, we formed a group of Christian commandos … We just started praying.

Not - Peter was released due to a clerical error, sleepy guards, loose chains, a rickety door. The account of those who witnessed this event claim Peter’s release is a direct result of a prayer meeting at church.

Earnest Prayer

The word translated as “earnest” is only used in different variations three times in the New Testament - twice by Luke and once by the main character of this story and the beneficiary of this earnest prayer, Peter.

The last and only other time Luke used this word was when he was describing the intensity of Jesus’ prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane on the night before his death.

The ‘earnest’ prayer of Jesus was so intense that caused Jesus to sweat drops of blood.

That’s how the church was praying about the situation.

The tense of this word used to describe this prayer suggests the church was continuing in earnest prayer.

Have you ever prayed like this?

This is not a distracted prayer

This is not an as-you-go prayer

This is not a “bless this food” prayer

This is serious prayer

>I believe it’s time for us to have some serious prayer.

>I believe it’s time for YOU to participate in some serious prayer.

Paul, who in all likelihood was part of the church praying for Peter, tells the Ephesian church (in the context of spiritual warfare) that we are to be ...

18 praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints,

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

By the Church

This likely means the whole church in Jerusalem (not the small house gathering we find later), but the church as a whole (5000+?).

Prayer is the privilege of the Church

ILLUST - While at Devon Oasis we learned that Muslims are asking Christians to pray for them and even praying themselves on the steps of Christian churches. Why? Because, they say, while they may not know much else about our faith, they know that the Christian God answers prayer.

If Muslims are praying to our God because he answers prayer ...

Why do we NOT pray?

“One might pray and not be a Christian, but one cannot be a Christian and not pray.”

R.C. Sproul. Does Prayer Change Things? (Crucial Questions Series) (Crucial Questions (Reformation Trust)) (Kindle Location 22). Kindle Edition.

R.C. Sproul. Does Prayer Change Things? (Crucial Questions Series) (Crucial Questions (Reformation Trust)) (Kindle Locations 21-22). Kindle Edition.

1. We don’t really believe prayer changes anything.

If God is sovereign and his plan will happen, why pray at all?

Ever pray ‘earnestly’ about something only to have God NOT answer the prayer they way you expected?

“I am convinced God does nothing except in answer to prayer!”

— John Wesley

Usually built on two false premises:

ONLY purpose of prayer is petition

God is my genie

ILLUST - suppose I asked my wife to make a special meal for me just the way I like it and she declines - perhaps she knows she doesn’t have the ingredients necessary or she is already cooking something I will like just as much. Would it be wise for me to assume from that interaction that it is pointless for me to speak with my wife? Would I have any right to assume that she is not my wife, that perhaps she doesn’t even exist?

2. My prayers are always best.

Prayer is for God’s glory and my good - ALWAYS in that order because when God is most glorified - I experience the “most goodest.”

ILLUST - When your child asks if they can eat nothing but candy all day and you refuse, if asked they might say you are unkind and not giving them what they believe is best for them. Although you know what is best

God has promised to

1. God commands us to pray. It is not an option for a Christian. If for no other reason, this would be enough.

“One might pray and not be a Christian, but one cannot be a Christian and not pray.”

R.C. Sproul. Does Prayer Change Things? (Crucial Questions Series) (Crucial Questions (Reformation Trust)) (Kindle Location 22). Kindle Edition.

2. Prayer is for God’s glory and your good - in that order.

2. We have sin in our lives.

Psalm 66:18

18 If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.

the Lord would not have listened.

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

John 9:31

31 We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him.

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

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

3. We think prayer is too difficult.

We don’t want to take the time or put in the effort to practice at prayer.

1. God commands us to pray. It is not an option for a Christian. If for no other reason, this would be enough.

“One might pray and not be a Christian, but one cannot be a Christian and not pray.”

R.C. Sproul. Does Prayer Change Things? (Crucial Questions Series) (Crucial Questions (Reformation Trust)) (Kindle Location 22). Kindle Edition.

Why should we pray at all?

Why don’t we see God’s power in our prayer?

^Because the Church’s prayer was earnest and unceasing …

God’s power … unbelievable (6-17)

Peter has been in prison for days and now about to be executed.

between two soldiers

bound in chians

Locked in a cell

guarded by sentries of soldiers

Locked in a city by a large gate.

What happens? God sends an angel.

Angel supernaturally leads Peter out.

With all that the angel needed to supernaturally do, why not just ‘beam’ Peter out?

Peter needed to believe and be obedient follow what God had planned - even if it was unexpected.

We tend to have short-term memories when we think about Gods’

God’s power is unleashed when God’s people pray.

The phrase “but prayer” is the turning point in the story. Never underestimate the power of a praying church! “The angel fetched Peter out of prison,” said the Puritan preacher Thomas Watson, “but it was prayer that fetched the angel.”

Wiersbe, Warren W.. Be Dynamic () (The BE Series Commentary) (p. 175). David C Cook. Kindle Edition.

11 When Peter came to himself, he said, “Now I am sure that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting.”

This is the center of the passage - Peter’s realization that God had rescued him in a powerful way to continue his mission.

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

12 When he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John whose other name was Mark, where many were gathered together and were praying.

smaller group was gathered together - STILL praying in the middle of the night!

Wiersbe, Warren W.. Be Dynamic () (The BE Series Commentary) (p. 175). David C Cook. Kindle Edition.

13 And when he knocked at the door of the gateway, a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer. 14 Recognizing Peter’s voice, in her joy she did not open the gate but ran in and reported that Peter was standing at the gate. 15 They said to her, “You are out of your mind.” But she kept insisting that it was so, and they kept saying, “It is his angel!” 16 But Peter continued knocking, and when they opened, they saw him and were amazed.

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

I hope that we might be amazed at what God does in and around us but never disbelieving.

We tend to have short-term memories

like the Israelites - all ten plagues then worried about the Red Sea

The power of Christ’s church is found in prayer!

We obey God in the ordinary.

We trust God in the outcome.

God’s power is unbelievable.

The church’s prayer is unceasing.

Every time the church really prays in Acts, things explode!

: They pray in the Upper Room for 10 straight days; the Holy Spirit comes, Peter preaches, and 3000 are saved. (0’s)

Spirit comes, Peter preaches, and 3000 are saved. (0’s)

: they pray, and God fills them with such boldness that they turn the city of Jerusalem upside down. By the end of , the church in Jerusalem is over 10,000 people big and some of the harshest critics (like the Jewish priests, and eventually Paul himself), are getting saved.

they turn the city of Jerusalem upside down. By the end of , the church in Jerusalem is over 10,000 people big and some of the harshest critics (like the Jewish priests, and eventually Paul himself), are getting saved.

Here in : they pray, and God blows up a prison and strikes down Herod, their persecutor, with worms.

In the next chapter, 13: they pray, and God raises up Paul to be a missionary, the greatest missionary the world has ever known.

**Until the church today is done with puny prayers it cannot experience the real power of God**

Every major season of awakening in Christianity—whether that’s in a church, on a college campus, or in a workplace... every single one has been characterized by intense, persistent corporate prayer. Every single one.

The one concern of the devil is to keep the saints from prayer. Our enemy fears nothing from prayerless studies, prayerless work, prayerless religion. He laughs at our toil, mocks at our wisdom, but trembles when we pray.

“The one concern of the devil is to keep the saints from

• •

More for our community. More for your families.

And I believe the Lord has told me it will not come apart from prayer.

Samuel Zwemer: “The history of missions is the history of answered prayer... I am convinced that when we stand before God...we will discover that every soul ever brought to a knowledge of Christ was in some way related to intercessory prayer.” (Dick Eastman)

So, let me ask you—a church is made up of a bunch of individuals: What’s your personal prayer life like? D. A. Carson says that if you really want to embarrass the average Christian, just ask them to tell you about his or her private prayer life. That’s the one thing most Christians are woefully deficient in.

Carson cites a survey taken in a prominent evangelical seminary among students training to be missionaries... only 6 % could testify to regular quiet times, times of reading the Scriptures, of devoting themselves to prayer. 6%! And these are the elites!

Carson said, “It would be painful and embarrassing to uncover the prayer life of (even a lot of our) pastors, (much less our people).”1

Summit: What if God had a lot more for us—for our schools; our community; for our families—but we never got it because we simply didn’t really know how to ask?

Now, some of you, if you are honest, are kind of SKEPTICAL l on the whole subject of prayer... because sometimes you see that you pray and things happen; but sometimes you pray and they don’t; prayer. Our enemy fears nothing from prayerless studies,

Prayer turns ordinary mortals into men of power. It brings fire. It brings rain. It brings life. It brings God. There is no power like that of prevailing prayer.”

“bless this food. . .”

prayerless work, prayerless religion.

fire. It brings rain. It brings life. It brings God. There is no

He laughs at our toil, mocks at our wisdom, but trembles

-Samuel Chadwick, The Path of Prayer

power like that of prevailing prayer.” -Samuel Chadwick, The

When we pray according to God’s will, we may be surprised at how God chooses to powerfully change the plan.

If God is sovereign and his plan will happen, why pray at all?

[Wesley quote]

Why don’t we see God’s power in our prayer?

when we pray.

Path of Prayer

What kind of prayer unleashes God’s power?

Powerful prayer is consistent.

[13] Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. (ESV)

“Prayer is not overcoming God’s reluctance. It is laying hold of his willingness.”

— Martin Luther

As we pray consistently with God’s will, we are not trying to manipulate God but trust in his promises.

Powerful prayer is persistent.

- persistent widow

Luke 18:1-8

18 And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. 2 He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. 3 And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ 4 For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.’ ” 6 And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says. 7 And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? zWill he delay long over them? 8 I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

does not mean we need to ‘bug’ God until he is irritated enough to give us what we want.

Most of us, I’m afraid, probably have the opposite problem

Jesus making the case from “how much more”

11 What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; 12 or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

5 And he said to them, “Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, 6 for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; 7 and he will answer from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything’? 8 I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs. 9 And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 11 What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; 12 or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

What do you need to ask God for … again?

Powerful prayer is expectant.

Ephesians 3:12

12 in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him.

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

Hebrews 4:16

16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

I’ve lamented before how dumb the average Christian’s prayers sound. We fill them up with clichés and platitudes, spending most of our time asking God for things he’s really already promised us:

sound. We fill them up with clichés and platitudes, spending most of our time asking God for things he’s really already promised us:

o “God, be with us.” God says, “Didn’t the gospel guarantee I’d never leave or forsake you. Ask me something else.”

o Or, we spend the whole time asking God for things that really aren’t supposed to be the main focus:

o “Help me with my test.” Fine, nothing wrong with that. But God says, “Why don’t you use the brain I gave to study and quit depending on me to transmogrify information into your lazy mind?”

o “Bless this food.” He’s like: “You’re eating a 1⁄2 lb hamburger topped with 3 strips of bacon and onion straws. I can’t bless that. Go get some broccoli—they got a pre-built-in blessing you don’t even have to ask for.”

o “Give us traveling mercies.” What the heck are those? Traveling mercies. I think God is probably like, “Put on your seatbelt and drive the speed limit and stop texting when you drive. There’s your traveling mercy.”

o PRAY SCRIPTURE; CLAIM THE PROMISES OF GOD!

but you get my point, don’t you?

When we pray what God has already said we can be confident we have his power behind it!

When we expect God’s will to be done we can be confident it will be done!

1 John 5:14,15

14 And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. 15 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.

Pray for God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers - if it be us then send us!

Pray that we might be enabled, empowered, and excited to make disciples of the nations and our neighborhoods.

Pray that the gates of hell that push against the doors of this church will not prevail but that this will be a house of prayer where the gospel is preached and lives are changed.

Pray for the Spirit empowering each one of us that we might live a life that is sent for the gospel of Christ and the glory of God.

Pray for our marriages to reflect the image of Christ and his Church.

Pray for the fruit of the Spirit to become more evident.

We pray:

consistent with God’s will

persistent to God’s heart

expectant of God’s power

2nd Post -it

blank one - keep in Bible - reminder of the limits of God’s power through prayer

^God’s unbelievable power is to continue his ...

Gospel plan … unstoppable (24, 25)

Herod dies - eaten by worms. When it seemed the church would be stopped, God proved the movement of the gospel to be unstoppable

walkie-talkies not intercom

“Prayer is primarily a wartime walkie-talkie for the mission of the church as it advances against the powers of darkness and unbelief. It is not surprising that when we try to make it a domestic intercom to call upstairs for more comforts in the den...Until you know that life is war, you cannot know what prayer is for: Prayer is for the accomplishment of a wartime mission.”

mission of the church as it advances against the powers of

darkness and unbelief. It is not surprising that prayer

malfunctions when we try to make it a domestic intercom to

— John Piper, Desiring God

call upstairs for more comforts in the den...Until you know

that life is war, you cannot know what prayer is for: Prayer is

for the accomplishment of a wartime mission.” John Piper,

Desiring God

24 But the word of God increased and multiplied.

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

The result of God’s power through the prayer of the church is always the movement of God’s plan for God’s glory.

25 And Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem when they had completed their service, bringing with them John, whose other name was Mark.

Saul would likely remember this incident when he would find himself in prison in .

Seeing the power of prayer in you - telling your story of God’s goodness to his child through the power of prayer could affect someone who will go through the exact same situation.

Could God have allowed Peter to go through what he did for Paul’s sake?

*The power of prayer is in God's plan.*

Conclusion

Last Post-It - Write on it a request - one that requires God’s power - one that will be in line with his plan. Bring it forward and let’s pray.

During last song:

pray for healing physically, that our people will be able to

Related Media

Related Sermons