The Power of the Perfect Prayer

The First Martyr

English Standard Version Chapter 7

54 Now when they heard these things they were enraged, and they ground their teeth at him. 55 But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 56 And he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” 57 But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together at him. 58 Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. 59 And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60 And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

Stephen ends his life and ministry with a prayer that is spoken out of a heart that is aligned with Christ. We see again that he is “Full of the Spirit,” as Pastor Sean reminded us last week. This fullness and peace that Stephen existed in in this moment was met with an anger that is comparable to that extreme emotion mentioned in when Jesus describes the end of times. This gives us insight into the spirit that was operating in the hearts of the Jewish people during this event.

Conversely, we see Stephen, in complete peace, address them and remind them of exactly who they are. In Stephen lays out the historical precedent for their behavior and for who God is. He provides a lineage of who God had been to them from Abraham to the crucifixion of Christ and ends by laying the blame solely at their feet.

Additionally, we see that the end result of Stephen’s story is his Coronation. He exists in

52 Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered, 53 you who received the law as delivered by angels and did not keep it.”

So what was so special about Stephen’s prayer?

In Stephen’s prayer we see an example of what could be deemed to be the “perfect prayer.” Stephen utters a two fold prayer as he sees the end coming. He prays, “ Lord, Jesus Receive my spirit” in vv 59 and then in vv 60 he prays “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.”

In this moment, Stephen receives the end result of this encounter - His coronation in heaven.

Israel received a different result altogether. They had permitted John the Baptist to be killed and in doing so they sinned against the Father who had sent him, asked for Jesus to be killed and sinned against the Son of God, and now, they had killed Stephen themselves effectively sinning against the Holy Spirit residing in him. This progression of sin led to what can only be deemed as Condemnation.

Two-Fold Prayer

This prayer is directly linked to the commandment given by Jesus in

English Standard Version Chapter 22

38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

English Standard Version Chapter 22

37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

English Standard Version Chapter 22

38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

English Standard Version Chapter 22

37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

Two fold is a prayer that reflects two principles -

Prayers of Position

and Prayers that Prevail

What is a Prayer of Position?

We see Stephen first pray, in v. 59, “Lord Jesus receive my spirit.” This prayer directly reflects Stephen’s position in relation to God. He’s not praying for deliverance from his enemies, vindication, revenge, or even help as he faces death. His only concern is that his position will remain with Christ.

As we walk out our faith each and every day we often find ourselves uttering prayers of help to the Father. We pray God give me grace, God help me remember, God vindicate me, and we love to quote scriptures that remind us that God is our defender, our revenger, our healer, and our deliverer, and He is all those things - certainly. But our prayer, above all other things should be, God let me be where you are so that I may reflect Who you are.

We see this same type of prayer prayed by Moses in .

English Standard Version Chapter 33

15 And he said to him, “If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here. 16 For how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people? Is it not in your going with us, so that we are distinct, I and your people, from every other people on the face of the earth?”

Moses defines here that it is our position that sets us apart - God resides with us, and we with Him. If he did not, or we did not, we would be no different from all others we encounter.

If we are content to move forward without the presence of God, we in turn lose the power of God in our lives. As we see with Israel and their progression of sin, this is not something that happens over night. We lose our position with God when we make a series of choices that move us ever further from His presence, promise, and power.

Moses understood that while going to the Promised Land without God’s blessing would give them a small portion of what they had been promised, it would not give them the fullness of Christ if they were positioned apart from Him.

This recognition led Moses to an impassioned conversation with the Creator. He was not willing to separate himself from God, regardless of what the earthly instant gratification may offer.

“God’s gracious promises, and mercy towards us, should not only encourage our faith, but also excite our fervency in prayer.” - Matthew Henry

Fervent is defined as “having or displaying a passionate intensity”

Stephen was intensely passionate about being with the Lord. He was so passionate about it, that his first thought upon his impending death was to ask that he would still be positioned with his Lord and Savior when he had left this world. Moses was equally passionate - he was willing to forego the promise to guarantee the position.

Are we willing to the do the same? Are we willing to sacrifice the promise to ensure that we are constantly positioned in the presence of God?

The second portion of Stephen’s prayer was a Prayer that Prevails

To prevail is to be victorious or to persuade

If the second commandment is to “Love our neighbor as ourselves.” Then we are to prevail for the souls of those around us so that they may know Christ as we know Christ.

Stephen’s second prayer is found in v. 60 when he prays “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.”

In this moment, Stephen is prevailing for the very people who are intent upon his death. He is asking that God would be persuaded to forgive them, despite their actions against Stephen. What a testimony of grace and intent.

In this moment Stephen has every right to ask God to be all those other things that God is - Comforter, Healer, Defender, Avenger, Redeemer. Instead, he simply asks God to be what He sent His son to be - the Forgiver.

We can see Stephen’s heart for the people so clearly in this moment. His safety aside, he seeks only to ensure their continued ability to find God.

We see another prayer that prevails - or focuses on the future of those around us - in .

English Standard Version Chapter 3

5 At Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by night, and God said, “Ask what I shall give you.” 6 And Solomon said, “You have shown great and steadfast love to your servant David my father, because he walked before you in faithfulness, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart toward you. And you have kept for him this great and steadfast love and have given him a son to sit on his throne this day. 7 And now, O LORD my God, you have made your servant king in place of David my father, although I am but a little child. I do not know how to go out or come in. 8 And your servant is in the midst of your people whom you have chosen, a great people, too many to be numbered or counted for multitude. 9 Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this your great people?”

This prayer is not the same as Stephen’s in that Solomon is not prevailing for the Salvation of others, but for the wisdom to lead God’s people in a Godly manner.

Prevailing prayers are more concerned with the people around us than with our current circumstances. Solomon pleased God, because instead of praying a prayer that could have impacted his current circumstance with riches, kingdoms, or wives, He prayed a prayer that would lead to the Godliness of God’s people.

This prayer could have cost Solomon greatly. He had watched his father fight many battles as he endeavored to lead in a Godly manner. He had seen the persecution firsthand that can come against those who lead as God would have them, but he still prayed this prayer.

Prevailing prayers will often cost us our own comfort. When we become concerned about the state of others, we become less concerned with our own circumstance and become willing to sacrifice of ourselves to see others lifted towards God.

Stephen understood this. His prayer for the souls of his murderers disregarded his safety for their salvation.

As a result, we later see Saul (Paul) turn to Christ. The death of Stephen never left Paul’s mind () and two chapters after Stephen’s death in we see the same Saul who had condoned the death of Stephen meet the Lord on the road to Damascus and become Paul.

While Stephen received his coronation and Israel received condemnation, Saul eventually received Salvation.

Finally, when position and prevailing are brought together in one prayer, we see the perfect picture of who God desires us to be and change is wrought in the Kingdom of God.

Stephen’s prayer echoed very closely the prayer prayed by the very Savior of the World in , .

English Standard Version Chapter 23

34 And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

English Standard Version Chapter 23

46 Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last.

Jesus prayed that His position would return from this earth to the Father’s side, while also praying that the forgiveness of the Father would be granted to his persecutors. When He did this, He broke the chains that had bound the creation in sin since the fall of man and created an opportunity for all to know Him personally.

Likewise, when Stephen prayed his two fold prayer and passed into his reward, his death created liberation for the church. They had been focused on witnessing to the Jew first since Pentecost had occurred, but we see in the very next verse following Stephen’s death, that they were scattered through Judea and Samaria, giving rise to the spread of the gospel to the Gentile people.

Stephen’s final breath positioned the church at large to prevail now, not just for the Jews, but for the Gentile people so that all may know of what Christ had done for them.

So what does this mean for us?

What are we praying? Have we focused our prayers on our current circumstances, or are we praying prayers that position us next to God?

The perfect prayer occurs when our heart aligns perfectly with the heart of God and we speak with HIS wisdom and HIS Spirit in accordance with HIS will.

This is what Stephen did. This is was Moses, Solomon, and our Savior did. They put aside their circumstance, their pain, their future, and their comfort to make sure that they were With God and For God’s people.

This is what we are called to in prayer - we must position ourselves next to the Savior and prevail for His people.