Lessons on Prayer (5)

Imagine the scene, it’s just another day as the believers are heading to the temple for worship, as they do they come across a lame man. Someone that has been unable to walk since birth and is now 40 years old! The disciples have probably seen this man before, but this day is different! And as they see him they are filled with faith to believe that God wants to heal. So in the name of Jesus Christ they command the man to stand up and walk, and God grants this miraculous healing! The crowd can’t believe their eyes, and Peter then begins to preach. He shares the good news of Jesus Christ, the One who brought healing to this man, and the One who can bring spiritual healing to these people! And as people hear, many respond in faith, many turn to Jesus as their Lord and Saviour! What a day, what a joy as the church grows!

But some aren’t so excited, and the disciples are arrested, they’ll held overnight and then brought before the rulers! The religious leaders are not one bit happy with what has happened, and these men are not to be messed with. The disciples know that, the crucifixion of Jesus Christ would have been fresh in their minds! But there’s something about the disciples the rulers can’t ignore! There’s a boldness that they just can’t explain! After all these guys aren’t educated, they’re not scribes and rabbis, the only thing they know is that they’ve been with this Jesus! So they threaten them...So they called them and charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus…()

The disciples know that’s not possible, they’ve seen too much, Jesus was dead but is now alive!!! But what do they do, they’re faced with this very real threat! There’s the temptation to fear! What would you do? How would you react? If today the police came into this building and arrested some, warning everyone not to speak of Jesus again, if your manager in work called you into his office tomorrow and told you were could not mention the name of Jesus, if your teacher in school ask you to wait behind and said ‘I know you’re a Christian, but don’t you dare try to share that with anyone else or you’ll be in trouble!’ What would we do? Or let me ask another question, would it change anything?!!

Let’s read … and see what the disciples do and see what we can learn...

They Prayed, Lifting their voices Together (v.23-24)

Imagine Jesus was still with us in bodily form. We could see Him, touch Him, speak to Him, listen to Him. Anytime anything came up that we were unsure about, concerned about, fearful of, we could go straight to Him! We would do that wouldn’t we?! If Jesus was here, and problems arose, you’re not going to first go and form a committee to think through the issues, you’re not going to research your rights and safeguards, you won’t put in place a plan of action to address the problem, and you won’t sit and worry and fret! You’d go to Jesus, He’ll know what to do, He’ll look after you, He’ll help you, it’ll be ok!!

That’s the mindset the disciples had as we read Acts. They really believed that Jesus was with them by His Spirit. They really believed that any problem they faced they could go to the Father, through Christ, and He would hear them. So they prayed! They prayed about the threats, they prayed about new doors for ministry, they prayed about choosing leaders, they prayed believing that the Christ they walked with, still walked with them, and they needed Him now more than ever!

Oh what peace we often forfeit, oh what needless pain we bear, all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer! Do you believe this morning that although Jesus is not here in bodily form, He is amoungst us by His Spirit? He dwells in and with His people. We can, we must go to Him with all of our issues, big and small!

But look at our passage again, because I want you see that the prayer here is not an individual thing! It says that ‘they went to their friends...’ (or ‘their own people’, ‘their companions’). The church was their place of support, it was their place of safety, of encouragement! The church family were the ones that these disciples went to and reported back to. But it wasn’t just for the sake of talking, because after reporting back it says, they lifted their voices together to God.

When faced with this threat, they went to the church, they identified with their people! They all were united, they all had a focus and passion to follow Jesus and make Him known, and when we

And therefore

This word together is used 12 times in the NT and 11 of those times is in Acts. Luke wants to emphases the oneness of the believers. They lifted their voices ‘with one mind’ it could read. There was a unity, a fellowship. These believers shared everything with one another, from possessions, money, joys and troubles! And although just like in any church today the individuals would have been very different, there was an overarching passion and focus that meant they were one, and that was Jesus Christ. And so, together, with one mind, they prayed! They lifted up their voices corporately to seek their God!

Let me ask you this morning, what do you do when threat comes? How do you deal with crisis in your life? Who do you look to as ‘your own people’ when trouble comes? Who is it that you feel a oneness and unity with, that enables you to go to them and share? Is it the church? Is it brothers and sisters in Christ? Or is there another passion that you share with others that trumps that of Jesus Christ? Or do we keep it to ourselves, go it alone, try to work things out by ourselves?

Have you recently known the joy and unity of praying with others, lifting your voices to God with brothers and sisters when in need, or to support them in need? Have you known the joy of praying with one mind together with the family of God? God has called us in Christ into a body, a family, and He wants us to live in the good of that! Our Christian lives aren’t just personal things, they’re corporate, we need one another. And one of the greatest privileges then is to come together before the Lord in prayer! Who can you pray with this morning?

They Prayed, Remembering Who God is (v.24)

In life it’s really important that we speak to the right people when we’re in trouble! How many times can you think of when you’ve had issues, and you’ve spoken to countless people, sometimes being passed from pillar to post, and never getting the help you need, never speaking to someone who really knows, who really gets it. But then, finally you do you have that conversation, and this person can help! In fact they nearly know what you need before you even explain it all! It’s such a joy, such a relief when we speak to the right people!

As these disciples come together to pray, they begin by remembering who it is that they’re speaking to, they begin by remembering that they speaking to the right person! ‘Sovereign Lord...’ This is a term used of a slave owner, a ruler of unchallenged power. They’ve just been commanded not to speak of the name of Jesus by the highest religious authority of the nation, the Sanhedrin. In all matters of the day to day governing in Israel, this was the ruling counsel, this was the authority!

But the disciples here lift their voices to One who they remember is not controlled or dictated to by any other! They turn in prayer and remember the One who is unrivaled, unchallenged, unmatched in power and authority! He is the Lord, the sovereign One, the ruler of everyone and everything!!

To whom then will you compare me, that I should be like him? says the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high and see: who created these? He who brings out their host by number, calling them all by name, by the greatness of his might, and because he is strong in power not one is missing. ()

And it’s not that they just remember Him as the Lord, they also acknowledge Him as the creator! The One who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them. They approach the God who spoke the world into existence, the One who said, ‘let there be light’ and there was light! He made man, He made everyone of those on the ruling council! The disciples know who their authority is, they know who the ultimate authority of all is, no matter what man may say! And what a difference that makes?!!

When we come to pray, when we turn to God in our times of need, do we do so with generalities? A general God who is over general things? Or are we specific? Do we remember who He is, who He’s revealed Himself to be in our times of need! He is always the right person to talk to!! When we’re afraid, He’s our rock and refuge! When we’re sick, He’s our healer! When we’re in need, He’s our provider! When we’re weak, He is our strong tower! When we’re lonely, He’s our friend that doesn’t leave or forsake us! When we’re hurting, He’s our comforter! When we’ve fallen in sin, He’s our redeemer, our saviour, our rescuer! God has revealed Himself in so many specific ways, as we come to pray we must remember who He is, who we have access to in Christ!

They Prayed, Remembering What God has said (v.25-26)

This God they turn to in prayer in not only Sovereign Lord and creator, but He has spoken! He’s not silent in the troubles and trials of life! And the disciples remember His Word here. A word spoken by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of a man, King David. They remember . In this Psalm we see the futile raging of the peoples against the Lord and His chosen King, as the Lord sits enthroned and laughs at the absurdity of such a rebellion! Can you imagine, a group of little ants deciding to go to war with a man who stands over them with his foot ready to come down on them! The only hope for these rebels is that they run to the Lord’s anointed for mercy and refuge!

And it’s this Psalm, this truth that the disciples call to mind as they come to pray. It’s God’s Word that helps them interpret the world around them and then enables them to pray with faith according to God’s will. As they look at the situation they’re in, the threat they face, God is not silent. This is exactly what God has said will be, it’s exactly what they’ve seen played out in the recent arrest, and crucifixion of Jesus Christ! Jesus was the Lord’s anointed, the rulers are Herod and Pilate, the gentiles and the peoples are the Jews and the Romans.

But this raging, this plotting is in vain, it’s empty! Satan and every power of darkness is only able to act in accordance to will of the Sovereign Lord! Only able to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place (v.28). The enemy, whoever that may be, can gather, they can set themselves against the Lord and His anointed, but it’s as pointless! They’re very breath belongs to God, and yet they imagine they can shake their fists in defiance!!! It’s insanity!!!

But for the disciples, and for us, knowing that God has spoken, remembering what God has said, and where it’s all heading, gives guidance, confidence, courage as the we come to pray! Sometimes when we face various trials the greatest distress can come from the unknown! We want to know someone’s in control, we need to be sure someone has got this! And that’s exactly what the believers can gain here as they remember what God has already said! These threats aren’t outside of His power! They don’t happen outside of His control and plan! God hasn’t missed this one!

As we come to pray in the midst of trouble, do we know that God has spoken? Do we come to Him and allow His Word to interpret our world and the things that we face! Does His truth give shape to what we ask for and provide confidence in how we ask for it? How important it is to pray, remembering what God has spoken! Keep your Bible open, use it as we speak with Him, respond to what we see there, make it the lens through which we see every threat, every trial, every trouble! That is what brings peace and stability in the midst of chaos! That is what enables us to pray with confidence and expectation!

They Prayed, Asking God to Act (v.29-31)

Now what would you ask if you were in this situation? Safety? Protection? The threats to stop? The rulers to be taken out?!! But look what these disciples ask for ‘And now, Lord, look upon their threats...’ ‘Concern yourself’ with these threats, make them your problem! There’s no request to remove them, or make sure they don’t come to pass! It’s ‘You worry about these’, and grant your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness...

The threats are just a distraction, trying to keep them from the main thing! But they have work to do, they’re called to something higher, bigger, greater! I was thinking yesterday about bomb disposal people out on the battle field. They have a job to do, disarm that bomb! But as they go there is enemy fire, people trying to take them out! But that’s not their concern, the rest of their team needs to cover them, they need to deal with those threats. The only focus for the bomb disposal guy is the bomb!! And we need that same focus, that same mindset! So often we get so distracted by the surroundings, that we forget the task we’ve been given!!

‘the biggest danger is never our circumstances, it’s never the threats, the wickedness, the injustices outside of us, the biggest danger is our own proneness to disobey, to be unfaithful, to be distracted’!

The disciples knew this, God was in control of the threats, He would deal with those! But it was their own hearts they needed help with! It was their own hearts that they knew could easily shrivel up in fear, hide away in self preservation! So they ask God to help them be faithful, to make them bold, to enable them to live by faith in who He is and what He’s said, instead of living by sight of the threats around them!

And also to add to their witness a demonstration of His great power!

Don’t we need the same today? We all know the world is changing, we all know our culture has embraced an insanity that defies belief! Right is wrong and wrong is right! But our task hasn’t changed one bit! The job we’ve been called to do is the same as it’s been since Jesus ascended into Heaven! There may be differences in how we do it, but we’re still called to speak God’s Word, to make disciples! God knows of the changes and threats! He’s in control of the surroundings, we just need to ask Him to make us bold, fearless, courageous, faithful!! We need to do that together!!!

Luke records the result of this prayer…v.31...

Now therefore, O Kings, be wise; be ware

God gave evidence that He was amoungst them as the building was shaken, and they were filled with the Spirit to what end? That they might speak the Word of God with boldness! Guys we need this!! We need that same power, that same filling, that same boldness!!! So we must pray!!

Let me finish with an invitation, and a plea! This Sovereign Lord can not be stopped! He has a plan, and He is working out every detail of it according to His will! And every rebel is going to be destroyed!! If you are not trusting in His anointed, in Jesus Christ, then you are a rebel! You may not think you’re against Him, but everyone who fails to humble themselves and acknowledge Him as King and Lord is His enemy! But listen to the gracious invitation to even us rebels in ...Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.

When a King captured a foreign people, the captives had to bow and show alligence by kissing the ring or hand of the new ruler! Jesus Christ is that ruler, He’s not a tyrant, He’s not oppressive! He is just, true, righteous, loving, caring, compassionate, glorious! But if you do not bow to Him, He will destroy you, you will perish for all eternity! But today you can come to Him for refuge, and be blessed! Believe, trust, put your faith in Him, call on the name of the Lord and you will be saved! Do it before His wrath is kindled and your chance is gone forever!