Praying through Acts- Acts 18

Intro:

Acts 18:9–10 NKJV

9 Now the Lord spoke to Paul in the night by a vision, “Do not be afraid, but speak, and do not keep silent; 10 for I am with you, and no one will attack you to hurt you; for I have many people in this city.”

Tonight, we will continue Praying through Acts, focusing specifically on chapter eighteen.

Doing something new for God can feel challenging. I remember the first time I:

preached

taught a Sunday School class

gave a message in tongues

gave the interpretation

witnessed to someone

sang in public

went to further my education

However, doing something new for God is a byproduct of becoming prayerful people. As we pray and seek God, He will speak to us and give us direction on what He wants us to accomplish.

While doing something new might feel uncomfortable or even scary, when it is built on the foundation of prayer, God will walk with us.

The book of Acts shows over and over something new that occured in the Early Church. But everything the church accomplished was a result of prayer.

Acts 1 - promise of power

Acts 2 - received power

Acts 3- exercised power

Acts 4 - prayed for more power

Acts 5- people lied and God displayed His power

Acts 6- conflict arose and God used people of power to help the church

Acts 7- Stephen reminded them of God’s power in history

Acts 8- walked in power to spread Gospel in Samaria

Acts 9- Saul was converted through an encounter with God’s power

Acts 10- the power of God fell on the Gentiles as Peter preached

Acts 11- Peter defended Gentiles receiving power

Acts 12- the church prayed and Peter was released from prison

Acts 13- God sent Barnabas and Paul as a result of prayer

Acts 14- Paul and Barnabas took the gospel to new regions proclaiming God’s message with power

Acts 15- they prayed and God gave powerful discernment

Acts 16- Paul and Silas prayed and praised in prison, and God set them free

Acts 17- Paul stayed consistent in the face of hardships because of his prayer life

Now, Paul is in a new place, attempting to do a new thing. Thankfully, everyone in Acts 18 was prayerful. Let’s look at what God does when He calls us to something new and we stay in close communication with Him: [God Gives to Us], [God Guards Us], and [God Grows Us].

Let’s begin

1. God Gives to Us

Acts 18:1–3 NKJV

1 After these things Paul departed from Athens and went to Corinth. 2 And he found a certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla (because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to depart from Rome); and he came to them. 3 So, because he was of the same trade, he stayed with them and worked; for by occupation they were tentmakers.

Last week we read about the difficulties Paul faced in Athens. He boldly and eloquently shared about Jesus, and the crowd rejected and ridiculed him.

Now, he is in a new place. I wonder how he felt? It is easy to look at Paul as some sort of superhuman. But he had emotions and feelings.

Even when we are in the will of God, rejection is not pleasant. Now, he arrives at a new place— Corinth.

Think about it with me, he is in a new place, not knowing anyone. God knew this and gave Paul exactly what he needed. The Lord directed him to two people— Aquila and Priscilla.

They knew people in Corinth. They helped Paul make necessary connections. But even more than that, notice their occupation. They were tentmakers. Paul was also a tentmaker.

They helped Paul support himself financially as he sought to do something new for God. The Lord knew exactly what Paul needed. Therefore, when he went forward in faith, God gave Paul resources and relationships.

As we remain faithful in prayer, God will give us what He knows we need.

2. God Guards Us

Acts 18:6–8 NKJV

6 But when they opposed him and blasphemed, he shook his garments and said to them, “Your blood be upon your own heads; I am clean. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.” 7 And he departed from there and entered the house of a certain man named Justus, one who worshiped God, whose house was next door to the synagogue. 8 Then Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his household. And many of the Corinthians, hearing, believed and were baptized.

As Paul usually did, he went to the synagogue to speak to the Jews. It was not just a desire, he the Spirit prompted him to go. Of course, many of the Jews opposed him.

Paul did something that was very offensive, but it made the point. He kicked the dust off his feet and determined to move on to someone who would listen to the word of God.

What kept Paul going into dangerous situations where people rejected him?

He knew God would guard him.

Psalm 37:23 NKJV

23 The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, And He delights in his way.

What did Paul do that delighted the Lord? He continued to pray and remain obedient to God’s direction.

They kicked him out of the synagogue and he went next door. There he continued to preach and God saved people. Even the leader of the synagogue and his family accepted Christ.

Let’s remember for a moment where Paul was. He was in Corinth. A wicked and immoral city. Corinth was so bad, to call someone a Corinthian was like calling them a cuss word.

I imagine Paul going to bed praying, I would really like to leave this city. But God spoke to him.

Acts 18:9–11 NKJV

9 Now the Lord spoke to Paul in the night by a vision, “Do not be afraid, but speak, and do not keep silent; 10 for I am with you, and no one will attack you to hurt you; for I have many people in this city.” 11 And he continued there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.

God reminded him in a supernatural vision that He would give Paul the words to speak. No one would hurt him. And many people in Corinth would come to know God.

So for the next year and a half God guarded Paul and helped him.

When we stay in the will of God, He will always take care of us, especially from the enemy’s attacks.

3. God Grows Us

Acts 18:24–26 NKJV

24 Now a certain Jew named Apollos, born at Alexandria, an eloquent man and mighty in the Scriptures, came to Ephesus. 25 This man had been instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things of the Lord, though he knew only the baptism of John. 26 So he began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Aquila and Priscilla heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately.

Paul left Corinth and returned to his headquarters in Antioch. For a moment, Luke introduces us to a man named Apollos. He went to Ephesus. He was well educated and knew the scripture.

He accepted Jesus and knew about the Lord. However, he had room for growth. He only knew of the the baptism of John.

It is evident that Apollos was sincere, but he had room for growth. Therefore, God sent Aquila and Priscilla to him. They taught him the whole truth of God.

I find this part of Acts 18 interesting. First, God knew the sincerity of Apollos. Even though he needed to grow in his understanding, God heard his prayers.

Because Apollos was prayerful, when Aquila and Priscilla corrected him, he did not resist. He was humble in his desire to learn.

Second, look at Aquila and Priscilla. They knew the truth and were not frustrated with Apollos. Instead, they were prayerful in how they approached him to help him grow in God.

Being prayerful and passionate for the Lord will help us grow. Sometimes growth is not fun. I remember as a child having growing pains.

Growth includes correction and relearning what God wants us to know. Nevertheless, when we’re prayerful people, we will want to grow in God.

Even if we have to readjust something we do to align with scripture, we will do it and do it gladly, because we want to be the people God wants us to become.

Close:

We’ve spend eighteen weeks praying through Acts. When we began I explained it is a book of prayer. Everything they did flowed from prayer.

I said it then because I heard it and believed it was true. I repeat it now because eighteen chapters have evidenced what can happen when we pray.

The miracles, healings, signs, wonders, and Spirit baptism recorded in Acts always catches my attention. But I have never focused solely on prayer.

But God had them to do something new in the world— establish the church and build the Kingdom. Therefore, they needed to pray.

As they prayed, God gave to them, guarded them, and grew them.

Now, in 2021, I believe God wants to do a new thing in our lives and in our church. He wants to welcome new Christians who’ve never met Him.

He wants to send a new outpouring of His Spirit upon us.

Therefore, we have to go to a new place in Him.

But here is our hope. God will give us everything we need!

He will guard us from every attack of the enemy.

He will grow and mature us as His people.

When we pray for God to do something new in us, He answers in His way and in His time.