The Praying Church
• Last week we saw that God gave the apostles the power to perform miracles.
• And one of the examples that Peter and John performed
• Was the healing of a crippled beggar.
• And because of this healing / This miracle
• It drew the attention of the crowd.
• And once Peter had the crowds attention
• He took the opportunity to preach Jesus and forgiveness of sin in Jesus’ Name.
• The result was that At least 5000 men were saved (4:4).
• Now the priests and religious leaders weren’t happy about this
• They weren’t happy that Peter was preaching Jesus and His resurrection.
• So They locked them up for one night.
• The next morning, these priests and leaders got together in the Sanhedrin court
• And they threatened Peter and John
• And told them not to speak in the name of Jesus any more.
• When they were released,
• They went back to the church and told everyone what had happened.
• And the result was almost instantaneous.
• Ac 4:24 Then all the believers were united as they lifted their voices in prayer
This is what we need to learn to do,
• That Every time that we gather to worship and pray
• We need to raise our voices together in prayer.
• I don’t think anyone will argue the fact that There’s power in prayer.
• But There is even more power when we pray together.
We see hear that they all prayed to God
• And we see in Ac 4:28 that In fact, everything they did occurred according to your eternal will and plan.
• This is amazing.
• They trusted Completely That God knew what was best!
• This crisis didn’t dampen their spirit.
• They believe that the God
• The One who “made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and everything in them is still running the show.
• This wasn’t a tense moment.
• There wasn’t any anxiety or fear
• Instead, we see that it was a time of worship and prayer.
They went on to pray for Boldness to preach
Ac 4:29 And now, OLord, hear their threats, and give your servants great boldness in their preaching. Ac 4:30 Send your healing power; may miraculous signs and wonders be done through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” Help us “speak Your Word with great boldness.”
• Now I can expect them to pray for a change in the environment,
• Or maybe to remove the problem.
• Like Make it easier for us to preach, Lord.’
• But instead, they pray for boldness to preach on in the difficult circumstance.
This show the heart of a true servant of God
• And what we can learn from this is that
• If we are servants, then we’re here to serve
• And we’re not here to do what we want (Elab)
• We’re here to submit to His purpose and fulfill His will.
The way these faithful servants are praying reminds me of a prayer I heard,
A PRAYER OF GOD’S SERVANTS
We are God’s servants.
We put God’s love for all people first.
No race is superior to another.
No government is more loved than another.
No nation is dearer than another.
We do not put our nation’s economy before God’s economy.
He tells us to seek first His Kingdom, He will then meet our needs.
We are driven to action daily, with the knowledge that billions do not know our Saviour. Our passion in life, our unquenchable desire, is to take God’s love to them.
No task is too small for us. All that limits us
is our unwillingness to believe God can enable us to do it.
We are sold-out to Jesus Christ our Savior and Lord, nothing less.
We understand following Him means absolute death to ourselves.
It costs everything to be His disciples.
Don’t give us blessings. Give us grace to be unquestionably obedient to Your every last command & desire.
Don’t give us status. Give us a place to serve.
Don’t give us things for our use. Use us.
Don’t give us a mansion to live in. Give us a springboard to take Christ love to the whole world.
Don’t give us good jobs. Put us to work.
Don’t give us comfort. Command us.
Don’t give us pleasure. Give us perspective.
Don’t give us satisfaction. Teach us sacrifice.
Don’t give us entertainment. Enable us.
Don’t give us good salary. Give us strength to do Your will.
Our great joy in life is in pleasing our God, and there is no other joy comparable.
We’re tired of playing religion, tired of seminaries and bible schools that pump out thinkers who have no action.
Tired of a church life that consist of a few regular function and sermons that sound good,
as if they were being rated as speeches, but have no consequential value except complacency.
Life is not some seventy years stretch we endure until Christ returns to take us home. Nor is it a time to seek personal fulfillment.
We don’t seek self-actualization... rather we pursue the actualization of God’s love in all hearts.
We don’t seek our personal rights... we seek to see all people set free.
We make no plans... we take orders.
We have no complaints... except our thankless hearts.
We have not excuses... they limit God.
We don’t ask for reasons... we ask for responsibility.
We don’t give 10% of our income to God... we give it all.
We don’t work for Him from 8 to 5... We are His 24 hours of each day.
No, we are not stolid... we hurt and cry when loved one leave us. But we hurt all the more for people who pass into eternity without making Jesus Christ their Lord.
We are not drop-outs because we don’t hold respectable, secured jobs... we are sold-outs.
We are not cynics although there are unanswered questions... we know Christ has all the answers.
We are not bitter although we have been hurt... Christ is our healer.
We are not disillusioned although we sin... Christ forgave us and make us strong in our weakness.
We don’t spend endless hours squabbling over sideline issues such as pre-, mid-, post-tribulation or charismatic gifts.
We don’t take pride in acquiring things. No, hoarding shames us.
We say it is senseless to talk about availability or willingness.
We would rather obey and do the job, not talk about it.
We are God’s servants!
These servants of God in Acts 4
• Didn’t ask God to remove the problem and change their environment –
• they did not complain to God,
• They didn’t grumble about the persecution they were facing,
• They didn’t even go as far as to ask for protection so that they wouldn’t be imprisoned again.
Beside the boldness to preach, they prayed for God to
• To Send His healing power; so that many miraculous signs and wonders can be done through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”
• Pray for God to heal. Pray for God to perform more miracles, in the Name of Jesus.
• That’s what we want to learn today.
• If we know God is Almighty and can do wonders,
• Then we must pray with faith for God’s will be done.
• We don’t have to second-guess what God will do.
• We just pray to be led by the Holy Spirit.
You see, these Christians believe in the Sovereignty of God
• And at the same time, praying for signs and wonders.
• The two go together.
• We won’t offend God if we pray for healing, for miracles and wonders.
• And at the same time we’re not upset if he doesn’t do exactly what we ask for
• Because we know that He is Way smarter than we could ever hope to be
• He knows whats best
• But we have to learn to exercise more faith,
When we pray for the sick and for those in need.
And what we see is that God did heard their prayer.
• He showed them beyond a shadow of a doubt that He heard them.
• Ac 4:31 After this prayer, the building where they were meeting shook, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. And they preached God’s message with boldness.
• You see, when we look at what was going on it was a step by step process
• First they were filled with PRAISE, and then PRAYER, and then the HOLY SPIRIT.
• It’s through prayer and praise that we experience the presence of the Holy Spirit.
• The Spirit came upon them in a big way in Acts 2
• and now again in Acts 4 He comes upon this group as well.
• God will visit His people when we worship and pray.
The Spirit comes in response to prayer.
We want to treasure every moment we have in coming together.
• When we pray, we are experiencing His presence.
• It’s not just another day at church,
What we’re doing – today – right now Is that we are inviting Him into our presence
• We are inviting His presence each time we worship and pray.
As Christians we need to gather more and to pray more.
We need to invite Him into our lives more.
God does incredible things when we pray.
• So it only makes sense that we keep on praying
• We need to pray ---Lord, use us! ----Give us boldness to do Your will!
• If God can use fishermen like Peter and John to do wonders
• Like what we have seen and to preach with such passion,
• Then we know it really has nothing to do with our ability
• It’s more about our availability.
So today as we get ready to close we need to remind ourselves that.
• “When we rely on organization, we get what organization can do;
• when we rely on education, we get what education can do;
• when we rely on eloquence, we get what eloquence can do.
But when we rely on prayer, we get what God can do!”
The believers that we have talked about today wanted desperately for God’s purpose to be fulfilled
• And for His will to be done.
• And We should want to share that same kind of heart today.
• We need to Keep praying in such a way,
• That God will continue to show His miracles and wonders through us.
• The Holy Spirit works in miraculous ways when we pray!
• Dwight L. Moody once said, “The world has yet to see what God can do in a man who is fully and wholly consecrated to Him.”
