Believers Pray

Acts 4:23-31

8/28/22

Acts 4: 23 On their release, Peter and John went back to their own people and reported all that the chief priests and the elders had said to them. 24 When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God. “Sovereign Lord,” they said, “you made the heavens and the earth and the sea, and everything in them. 25 You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David:“ ‘Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? 26 The kings of the earth rise up and the rulers band together against the Lord and against his anointed one.’ 27 Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed. 28 They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen. 29 Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. 30 Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”31 After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.

Hook: Prayer power- filled w/HS, spoke WOG boldly,

Believe in power of prayer. How do we know God is alive and real?

Context: LLWS- grand slam, out of the park, unstoppable (Football /quarterback team Huddle w/sandhedrin, losing team, Caiaphas- coach, can’t punish cuz spectators/crowd 5000+, defense, underdogs- Peter & J, unschooled, ordinary men, filled w/HS, J cornerstone. high 5, victory, celebrating, What’s next step?

Act 2: 40 With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” 41 Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day. 42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles

How did they feel? Common thread throughout.

Opposition- put in slammer, high 5, Victory, how celebrate

Psalm 2:1–2 “Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth rise up and the rulers band together against the Lord and against his anointed, saying,”

APP: : Filled w/HS and spoke WOG boldly, how deal w/daily struggles, problems, fears, family & financial challenges? —> BOC, battle not individual- team,

worship- recognition of Lord creator

Honesty in prayer? Questioning? Why opposition ?

Will of God- Faith strengthened vs. weakened.

Focus- themselves? pity party? Focus on needs of others—>what they saw Jesus doing, ministry (dispensationalist)

Acts 4:31 Their prayer was answered by the shaking of the house. Perhaps a shaking from thunder or a quaking of the earth, it gave them a tangible sense of God’s presence and his response to their prayer. And their prayer was fulfilled at once. Immediately they were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word with boldness, just as they had petitioned. They had already received the Spirit. The Spirit had helped Peter and John in a mighty way before the Sanhedrin. It was a fresh filling, a renewed awareness of the Spirit’s power and presence in their life and witness

Philippians 1:14 “And because of my chains, most of the brothers and sisters have become confident in the Lord and dare all the more to proclaim the gospel without fear.”

Sovereign Lord- how do we substitute, with similar meeting.

2. Why is prayer so vital in the life and service of a Christian?

3. How should believers pray when their government opposes Christian principles and the gospel message?

APP: Easy to pray personally? As a church? Persecution by government- pastors not speak politically. abortion. government tax exempt status.

v. 25 What did the raging nations and the people represent? The raging nations represented the Gentile rulers and their cohorts, the soldiers who executed Jesus. The people were the people of Israel who plotted against God and his Messiah

v.26 Who were together against the Lord and his Messiah in the prophecy? Together with the raging nations and the people of Israel, kings of the earth and rulers were against the Lord and his Messiah

v.28 Who were those who were against Jesus? Herod and Pontius Pilate (kings of the earth and the rulers in the prophecy), along with the Gentiles and the people of Israel (the raging nations and people in the prophecy) were against Jesus

Who did Herod, Pilate, and Jesus represent? Herod represented the ‘kings of the earth’ and Pilate, represented ‘the rulers’. Jesus was God’s Messiah as related to the prophecy. The prophecy which was predestined by God had been fulfilled on Jesus Christ

Had the opponents of Jesus upset God’s plans? The opponents of Jesus were doing just what Scripture predicted. The apostles saw both God’s power and will in the events. The opponents were simply carrying out God’s appointed counsel and foreknowledge . The opponents were in fact tools in the hand of God who used them to carry out his own purposes [Bar]. The human rejection Jesus experienced fell within God’s plan and the activity of God’s hand, that is, God’s will and power. All that was plotted and done against Jesus was no more than God had foreordained to happen. That gave the apostles conviction that God was able to carry out his purpose even through rebellious human beings who did not accept his revealed will. In the paradox of human freedom and divine sovereignty, despite all the raging of humanity, God’s purposes prevail.

v.30 What were the apostles asking God? Based on the apostles’ understanding about God’s sovereignty in nature and human affairs, they did not ask God for further deliverance, relief from opposition, nor for crushing the opponents. They asked God to take note of the threats and act on their behalf, and they also asked God to grant them boldness in speaking God’s word. They asked for further healing acts, signs and miracles performed by them, but through the name of Jesus Christ. They did not ask this for their own power over the enemies but for God’s word to go forth and in Christ’s name to be glorified

Huddle:

Team J- huddled P & J, killed coach & star player Jesus, crowds following, healed lame man, salvation no one else, HS filled, 3K, 5K, penalty flag- jailed, ordinary, unschooled, sassy- can’t help speaking what seen & heard, new strategy- prayer, teaching resurrection, healing/salvation. God’s strategy-plans, knew the playbook of the enemy, no new surprises

Team S- Sanhedrin, referees bribed referees/guards, Anna, Caiaphas, John, Alex, etc. division, punishment undecided, threatened stop,