Praying through Acts- Chapter 21

Intro:

Acts 21:13–14 NKJV

13 Then Paul answered, “What do you mean by weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” 14 So when he would not be persuaded, we ceased, saying, “The will of the Lord be done.”

As we continue to pray through Acts, we will focus on chapter 21.

Prayer is a vital part of our lives for many reasons. But one reason I love prayer is that when I communicate with God, He speaks. He gives direction. It is wonderful that we can know what to do as we hear from God.

I think about my life, and there have been different times I have recieved advice. Some of the advice even sounded really good. However, when I prayed about it, it did not align with what God wanted.

There have been opportunities that sounded great, but when I prayed about it, God did not give me peace.

There have been situations that looked good on paper, but when I prayed about it, God did not give me peace.

Then there have been times when God spoke to me and it didn’t make sense to some.

Moving to Missouri

Becoming a Pastor

are two that come to mind. Some people questioned me, but I knew I had heard from God.

When Jesus told His followers to wait for the Holy Spirit, He had a number of reasons. First, they would need power to witness.

But also, they needed to have a way to get the mind of God.

When we pray, the Holy Spirit gives us the mind of Christ, showing us what God wants us to do.

Let’s review what God did through them:

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

Acts 18- Paul prayed and God helped him reach the city of Corinth.

Acts 19- Paul put what he prayed for and believed into practice and God answered

Acts 20- Paul prayed as he headed to Jerusalem, knowing difficulties laid ahead

Now, from Acts 21 to Acts 28, Paul went into difficult circumstances, but he knew he was led by the Holy Spirit.

I have three points, [The Warning], [The Worry] and [The Willingness].

1. Pray When We are Warned

Acts 21:4–5 NKJV

4 And finding disciples, we stayed there seven days. They told Paul through the Spirit not to go up to Jerusalem. 5 When we had come to the end of those days, we departed and went on our way; and they all accompanied us, with wives and children, till we were out of the city. And we knelt down on the shore and prayed.

In the last chapter we read that Paul left the Ephesian leaders with an explanation, I am bound in the Spirit to go to Jerusalem. He knew that trouble awaited him, but he wanted to be in God’s will.

Now, he has arrived to a new place and the local believer welcomed Paul. But notice, they prophesied that Paul should not go to Jerusalem.

Does this mean that the Holy Spirit gave contradicting information?

I think that they knew that the Lord revealed that trouble awaited Paul when he arrived in Jerusalem. Then they warned him that he should not go because of the impending trouble.

But notice, Paul took them and knelt with them to pray. Why did Paul pray?

If I was in Paul’s position, I would want to make sure that I heard from God and I was doing what He wanted me to do.

After Paul left that city, he went to the home of Philip who had four daughters who prophesied.

Acts 21:10–11 NKJV

10 And as we stayed many days, a certain prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. 11 When he had come to us, he took Paul’s belt, bound his own hands and feet, and said, “Thus says the Holy Spirit, ‘So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man who owns this belt, and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.’ ”

Philip was the one who went to Samaria to spread the gospel when Paul persecuted the church at Jerusalem in Acts 8.

Now Paul shared all that God has done in his ministry at Philip’s home. Philip had seven daughters, and I love how he included the fact that all of his daughters prophesied, meaning, they were used in the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

As they lodged at Philip’s home, the prophet Agabus came and shared a prophecy. Remember, Agabus prophesied in Acts 11 that a great famine would hit Jerusalem.

In dramatic fashion, Agabus grabbed Paul’s belt, a long linen cloth that was wrapped around Paul several times, then he took the excess fabric and wrapped it around his hands.

He used this as an object lesson to show Paul what awaited him at Jerusalem.

Paul was warned about the future. Therefore, he took what people said and prayed about it in light of what God wanted him to do.

We have to pray about what God wants us to do. When we have His direction, we trust He will go with us despite what might come our way.

2. Pray When We are Worried

Acts 21:12 NKJV

12 Now when we heard these things, both we and those from that place pleaded with him not to go up to Jerusalem.

The warning caused worry for those who were with Paul. Even Luke was worried and concerned; notice that he included himself in this passage of scripture.

This interested me as I studied this story. It was not as though the people had heard what awaited Paul at Jerusalem through mail or word of mouth.

No, the Holy Spirit revealed to these New Testament Christians through a word of wisdom, one of the nine gifts of the Holy Spirit.

(How could these New Testament, Spirit filled Christians worry about God’s word?) Furthermore, if they knew it was a word from God, (how could they advice Paul to stay home and not go?)

Simple, they allowed their perspective of God’s promises to cause them to worry. Instead of operating in faith, they acted out of fear. Their love of Paul ran so deep; they wanted to help him avoid this danger.

This sheds different light on the promises of God.

Often, when we think of God’s promises, we think of the good promises, or should I say the positive promises. We want to think of the promises of peace, prosperity, health or His presence!

But in this case, they received a promise from God and it involved the promise that persecution awaited Paul.

With the best of intentions, they gave Paul well-meaning advice, “please don’t go to Jerusalem.” They meant well, but this wasn’t the will of God for Paul’s life.

Some seasons of our life are not pleasant, but we must pray and trust God that He will lead us through whatever we face.

We have seen the warning, the worry, but let’s look…

3. Pray when we are Willing

Acts 21:13–14 NKJV

13 Then Paul answered, “What do you mean by weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” 14 So when he would not be persuaded, we ceased, saying, “The will of the Lord be done.”

We noticed that the majority of those in the situation were worried, that is except one person, Paul.

Paul was not saddened by their warnings because he knew it was God’s will for him to go to Jerusalem. However, their worry did sadden him.

He even told them that they broke his heart by attempting to get him to stay put. Being bound didn’t bother him; furthermore, he was ready to die, if that was God’s will.

Let’s attempt to understand the importance of this story. From the outlook, it appears as though the Holy Spirit spoke to different words. But that is not the case.

It is not as though the Lord to Paul to go to Jerusalem and then the Lord told Agabus that he should not go to Jerusalem.

Clearly we see that the Holy Spirit was consistent in His revelation as to Paul’s fate when he arrived at Jerusalem; there was a common message, trouble awaited Paul at Jerusalem.

Therefore, we do not have two words from God; instead we have two interpretations to this personal prophecy.

So what do we make of this? When it comes to a word from the Lord, there are few guiding principles we see in this chapter.

Anytime there is a word from the Lord, God will confirm more than He will inform.

Paul was not surprised by the word of wisdom from the Christians in Tyre or from Agabus. God had already showed this to Paul.

He knew that he was going to go to Jerusalem and that chains awaited him. He further said that none of this moved him. Paul didn’t receive new information, instead, he received confirmation.

We must follow God’s leading even when well-meaning advice says otherwise.

Someone once told me to, follow the path that leads to peace.

Only a life of prayer can bring peace. If God gives us peace, He will not take it away.

Close:

Paul was warned, those with him worried, but Paul was not detoured, he was willing to do what the Lord wanted him to do.

Why? Because he was consistent in prayer.

Imagine being so close to God that the Lord spoke to him and showed him what he needed to do and where he needed to go.

Because of his faithfulness to God, Paul was not swayed by public opinion; he followed the leading of the Lord for his life.

Who would like to have this reputation? I would love to be so close to God that he speaks and reveals to me what is ahead.

And I do believe that we can to this place in God, but it requires that we spend time in prayer.

If we will choose to pray everyday, He will prepare us for what lies ahead and give us peace that He will be with us.

And should things catch us by surprise, we can be like Paul and declare, these things do not move me!