Sermon Tone Analysis
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Introduction
As you came in you received 3 Post - its.
We’ll be using them throughout the message.
3 Post - its
On the first Post-It, draw a line.
On one end write a zero.
On the other end write a one.
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.
OR
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.
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