Praying through Acts- Chapter 4

Intro:

We’ve been praying through Acts. Tonight we will focus on Acts 4.

As Christians, we come to church and we spend time with other Christians. Sometimes it is easy to become insulated and lose touch with those outside the church think.

For instance, when someone gets saved we rejoice.

When someone is baptized in the Holy Spirit we are thrilled.

When someone gets healed, we trust that the sickness will not return

When someone says, I feel like God spoke to me, we want to hear what they have to say.

That is how we should view it when something like this happens in the church. But what does the world think about us? How do people who do not have faith perceive what I mentioned?

When someone gets saved they might think, oh they got religion, they think they are better than me.

When someone speaks in tongues, others might think, now they are fanatics.

When someone is healed, others might think, just wait until it comes back!

When someone hears God’s voice, they might belittle or mock the experience.

This is something I have witnessed in my life and in those who’ve surrendered to Jesus. Those in the church celebrate, but those who are far from God will sometimes diminish what God did.

That is what happened in Acts 4. There were no chapters or verses when scripture was written. All of that came later. So Acts 4 is a continuation of Acts 3.

Remember what God did. The lame man was healed. There were times of healing, times of repentance, and times of refreshing.

I would have loved to been there when the man was healed, but not everyone was happy. We read that the leaders of the temple arrested Peter and John.

They were upset they talked about Jesus, but they did so with supernatural power, and they had to stop that!

But even in persecution, the church grew to 5,000 men, not including women and children.

I want us to keep something in mind as we look at this chapter, and it is important for us to remember for ourselves and those we’re mentoring or discipling.

Sometimes those closest to us who are not right with God will pull back from us when we surrender to Jesus.

Often they are under conviction and do not realize that’s what they feel. But the enemy will attempt to deceive them!

But God will help us. There are three areas of prayer I want us to notice— [Untold Wisdom], [Unashamed Testimony], and [Unrestrained Boldness].

Let’s begin

1. Untold Wisdom

Peter and John stayed in jail overnight. I would say they were not overly surprised. Jesus told them persecution was inevitable.

But let’s set the scene. The names of the high priest mean little to us. But it meant a lot to Peter and John.

The leaders who had Peter and John arrested were in power when Jesus was arrested. In fact, Caiaphas came up with the idea to kill Jesus.

This would have intimidated many people, but what did Peter and John have? Really, I should ask, who did Peter and John have?

They were baptized in the Holy Spirit. They had the same power Jesus had when He stood before these religious leaders.

They questioned, who gave you this power to heal this man? By what power or authority did you do this?

Peter and John were filled with the Spirit and God spoke through them. Before we look at what they said, notice the wisdom God gave them.

They were direct and respectful. But they did not shy away from the fact that Jesus did the work and the leaders were responsible for His death.

They quoted Old Testament prophecy and then made a promise in FRONT of the ones who crucified Jesus.

They wanted everyone to know that ONLY Jesus can save. I’d say they knew the wisdom of:

Proverbs 11:30 NKJV

30 The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, And he who wins souls is wise.

One of the reasons for the Holy Spirit is to be a witness to those who need Jesus.

God will give us wisdom in dealing with those who are lost or backslidden.

All we have to do is pray for God’s wisdom and He will give us untold wisdom and we will have...

2. Unashamed Testimony

The religious leaders were shocked. They could tell that Peter and John were unlearned. Literally, they could tell they were not religiously trained.

Peter was a fisherman and John was a disciple of John the Baptist and then a disciple of Jesus. They did not degrees or prestigious training like the Sanhedrin.

But what they lacked in outward success, they made up for through inward help. They had a testimony, the lame man was healed.

He was not ashamed of his healing, and Peter and John were not ashamed that God used them to heal the man.

When God does something for us, we must share it with others. Our testimony could be what draws people closer to Jesus.

The council sent them out of the room to conspire. The testimony was undeniable. But they were concerned with allowing Peter and John to continue to preach and teach about Jesus.

So they threatened them to stop talking about Jesus. But they had a testimony.

Peter again spoke with wisdom, but also continued to glorify God for all He did for and through Peter and John.

The leaders physically punished Peter and John and they released them. The enemy did not like what God did through Peter and John and he used people to come against them .

But God gave them untold wisdom and they shared their unashamed testimony. Then they prayed for...

3. Unrestrained Boldness

I love how Peter and John responded. When they left and returned to the church they told them what happened.

First, I believe that the church prayed for them. They came to testify what God did for them and then they all prayed together.

They first established God’s position. As the Creator and Owner of the world, nothing is too hard for Him.

Second, they quoted scripture. They went back to the words of the Psalmist who declared that the plots of the kings of the earth who attempt to come against God will come to nothing.

Then they prayed. They did not pray for protection or safety. They prayed for boldness. They wanted God to continue to use them in a supernatural way.

They trusted that God would confirm His word with signs following.

IF they spoke of salvation, they believed God would save people.

If they preached about the Holy Spirit, they wanted Him to arrive!

If they talked about healing, they looked for healing.

They wanted God to assist them with the help of the Holy Spirit to extend His Kingdom and share the good news.

God always responds when we pray for His help!

Notice two details, God responded and sent His Spirit. EVERYONE was filled with the Holy Spirit. Remember, Peter and John were there. They had already been filled with the Holy Spirit,. SO God refilled them!

Second, they went forward speaking with UNRESTRAINED boldness. Nothing could stop them because of God’s power working in and through them.

Close:

As I have prayed for our service this evening, I read Acts 4 asking God what He wants us to see.

I have preached and taught out of this chapter more than once, but I viewed it through a different lens this time.

We’re living in a day that is increasingly against the church. As we get closer to Christ’s coming the spirit of the antichrist will rear its head more and more.

Here is where we need God’s help. We are the people of God, but sometimes the flesh can rise.

It’s hard to always show kindness. As the world continues to come against the church, sometimes we want to fight fire with fire. That is a PLOY OF SATAN.

If we react in anger, lost people and those against the body of Christ will say, see and they call themselves Christians.

So what we need, is the help of the Holy Spirit. Through His help, we will have:

Untold Wisdom

God will help us know what to say, and when it needs to be said

Unashamed Testimony

God will help us share our testimony and give us more testimonies.

Revelation 12:11 NKJV

11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.

Unrestrained Boldness

He will give us boldness to pray, to praise, to worship, to witness, to seek Him, and to live for Him unashamed!

God wants to do this, and it will happen when we pray!