Sermon Tone Analysis

Do any of you ever wonder if God is paying attention to you when you pray?

A 5-year-old said grace at family dinner one night.

“Dear God, thank you for these pancakes.”

When he finished his prayer, his parents looked curiously at him and asked him why he thanked God for pancakes when they were having chicken.

He smiled and said, “I thought I’d see if He was paying attention tonight.”

For the past several weeks we have been looking many different prayers from different people that are recorded in the Bible.

We looked at Elijah’s prayer, Daniel’s Prayer and Moses’ prayer.

There are many others that prayed significant prayers.

If you have been reading with us through the Bible this year, we just read in Isaiah where Hezekiah asked God to let him live longer and God gave him 15 more years.

So there are many places in scripture where God’s people cried out to Him.

I hope that during this time your prayer life has increased.

I hope that you are wanting a greater relationship with the Father.

I hope that you are starting to pray some powerful, earth-shaking prayers.

And God shows us that He does pay attention to us when we pray.

But here in Acts 13, we have a unique situation.

We have several leaders fasting and praying and worshipping God, and they have unquestionably gotten God’s attention.

So, if you have your bibles go with me to the book of Acts and turn to chapter 13.

The uniqueness of this prayer is that we don’t know what they prayed.

All we know is they fasted and prayed and the Holy Spirit spoke to them.

Then, they laid hands on Barnabas and Saul and then sent them off on an adventure that would change the world forever.

We don’t know what they prayed, but they got God’s attention.

I want to pray like that.

So, what do we know?

1.

They Fasted and Prayed

People fasted for several different reasons.

People fasted when they were grieving over the death of a loved one.

People fasted when they were repenting of their sin or the sin of their nation.

People often fasted when they sought protection from forces they couldn’t contend with, like Esther.

The only about God that is mentioned in the Bible is we know that Esther fasted before she went before the king.

But, if you look at the scriptures, most often people fasted when they were seeking insight.

They want direction for something.

Antioch was a relatively new congregation, but it had experienced enormous growth.

When the leaders at Jerusalem heard of this situation, they sent Barnabas and Paul to the church to teach these new converts about Christianity.

For a whole year, Paul and Barnabas taught a great number of people.

And… they were so successful that they made a name for the church in the area.

Look at Acts 11:26

Up to this time, Christ’s followers in the early church called themselves “believers”, disciples, those belonging to “the Way”, saints, and the church.

It was not until the message of Christ spread to Antioch were Jesus’ followers called “Christians.”

And it was probably from people outside the church.

The term probably originated as an insult to Christ’s followers, but they considered this name as a mark of honor because it directly identified them with Christ.

The word “Christian” occurs only three times in the New Testament.

So, Antioch is a growing church with powerful teachers and all kinds of potential.

What could they be fasting and praying about?

I’ve prayed and fasted about many things.

At the Beginning of each year, I have the church fast and pray for 21 days concerning our church and the upcoming new year.

We don’t know exactly what they were praying and fasting about but I believe that the leaders at Antioch felt uncomfortable about something.

They were a dynamic church.

They had marvelous leaders and great potential.

However, I believe they were beginning to suspect there was something more, they believed that there was something bigger that they could accomplish.

But they just didn’t know what it was.

That brings me to the second thing we know.

2. There was a Message in Tongues, Followed by the Interpretation

Pastor, how do you know that.

Look at verse 2 again.

When they fasted and prayed they were humbling themselves to God.

They were seeking spiritual insight.

They were wanting wisdom concerning what God’s Will was for their church.

So, they were being open to what the Holy Spirit was wanting to do.

At this moment they were sensitive to the communication of the Holy Spirit.

When you fast you are going without food for a limited time in order to give greater attention to spiritual matters.

So I believe that the Holy Spirit probably came through a prophetic gift.

A message in tongues is expressing oneself at the level of one’s spirit under the direct influence of the Holy Spirit in a language that you have not learned and you do not know.

An interpretation of tongues is a special ability to interpret what is spoken in tongues.

When an interpretation is given to a congregation it can inspire deeper worship and prayer or it can serve a purpose similar to the gift of prophecy.

The church body can then participate in and respond to this Spirit-inspired revelation.

Interpreted tongues can be a means of encouraging and building up the whole congregation.

So, I believe that part of the reason we’re not told what Antioch’s leaders prayed is 1. they had no idea what God had in mind and 2. I believe they were praying in the Spirit.

They just knew that there was something else that they weren’t involved with yet.

There was something else that God wanted them to do.

But when these Leaders prayed and fasted, when they opened themselves up to being used by God anyway He desired, I believe that the Glory of the Lord came down and it filled that place with the Holy Spirit and the Spirit began to speak, and they knew that God had something good that was about to happen.

3.

They Laid Hands on Paul and Barnabas and Sent Them Off.

If you read the rest of Acts you could probably say that the rest is history.

It was in that prayer meeting that Paul and Barnabas were called to be missionaries.

It was in that prayer meeting that the world was literally turned upside down.

It was in that prayer meeting that Antioch became the jumping off point for worldwide revival.

It was from that prayer meeting that nearly a dozen new congregations were birthed and established all throughout Asia.

It was from that prayer meeting that Paul began a ministry of writing that resulted in the composition of 1/2 our New Testament.

And it was in that prayer meeting that Antioch was established as one of the central hubs of Christianity in the ancient world.

And it was all because these men humbled themselves before God to seek His will.

You know what?

I believe that God has something in store for us.

There is something stirring.

There are people hearing about our great church in Fort Smith.

There are people starting to wonder what is happening here.

There are people that are starting to wonder what is going on.

Guess what?

I believe that God is getting His people ready here at Cliff Terrace and it is time that we have a prayer meeting.

It is time that we begin to fast and pray for direction.

It is time that we open ourselves up to God’s will for this church.

Carl Bates, the former Southern Baptist President, and Pastor of several large Baptists churches, once wrote: “There came a time in my life when I earnestly prayed: ‘God, I want your power!’

Time wore on and the power did not come.

One day the burden was more than I could bear.

I asked ‘God, why haven’t you answered that prayer?’

God seemed to whisper back this simple reply: ‘With plans no bigger than yours, you don’t need my power.’”

I love what Mark Batterson said in The Circle Maker.

Bold prayers honor God, and God honors bold prayers.

God isn’t offended by your biggest dreams or boldest prayers.

He is offended by anything less.

If your prayers aren’t impossible to you, they are insulting to God.

I don’t know about you, but I want to pray the prayer of Antioch.