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.
Where should we go when we’re in trouble? What should we do there? How should we do it?
These three questions are answered by this passage.
In the previous verses of Acts 4, Peter and John were arrested for their preaching in chapter 3. This preaching opportunity came about as a result of the miraculous healing of the lame man at the gate. In the name of Jesus of Nazareth rise up and walk. The man who asked for alms and got feet!
Firstly, where should we go?
Although (this time) they weren’t punished by the authorities, they were threatened and commanded not to preach. So, do they go away and hide? No, they go to “their friends” (v23 – NIV, “their own people”). We are told to pray about our troubles (and that is good and what they then do), but the first thing they do here is to go and share their trouble. We are not meant to be battling alone, we need to share. This is something of the “fellowship” referred to in Acts 2:42. We can share things here, we can share things on Sunday, we can call and email and visit.
What should we do there?
Then, when people share with us, what do we do? Here, they don’t nod wisely and say, “I’ll pray about it”. They pray there and then! How much blessing we miss out on by not stopping and praying, on a Sunday after church, in a meeting during the week. We need to pray.
Prayer is a priority. The situation we are in today is also serious. There is growing opposition to the gospel in the West, in some places to gospel preaching. Why is prayer so lacking? Also, while there is opposition in the West, it is nothing compared to the suffering of believers around the world. Are we praying for them?
It’s important to be aware, also, that praying is hard. Our flesh doesn’t like to pray. The devil doesn’t like us to pray. So we are going to find hindrances to it. We need to labour to remove those hindrances, and to properly plan to pray. And we need to pray for a stirring in our hearts and a desire to pray.
How should we pray?
Let’s look at how the church prayed:
- Started with who God is (v24).
- Stood on His word (v25-26). Let our praying be biblical. We need to immerse ourselves in sacred scripture so that the scripture overflows in our prayers.
- Recognised God’s sovereignty (v27-28). He is in charge of the good and the bad. This is vital to facing trouble and praying with confidence. If he is not in charge, what is the point of praying? How can we be sure that he will work all things together for the good of those who love him?
- Prioritised preaching with power over protection (v29-30). Protection isn’t mentioned once. Just “consider their threats” (v29). They are simply pointing out the trouble to him. They are not asking him to take troubles away but simply to consider them – to take note and respond according to his perfect will. Instead they pray for:
- Boldness. This is something we need from him. It is not a matter of personality but of God’s enabling. You can be loud and bold, extrovert and bold, quiet and bold, shy and bold. This is a God thing that enables us to speak the truth without fear. This is what the whole church is praying for themselves, not just for the leaders. We all need this.
- Power. Signs and wonders. I know there are arguments about the place of signs and wonders today, that because we have the Bible and the church is established, we don’t need them. In a sense we don’t need them, because God can save people without miracles. However, whether he uses miracles or “normal” preaching, the fact is that no-one will be saved without his work through his word. We can be as bold as a lion, but there will be no impact without the Holy Spirit. Our roaring will just be heard as noise. But if the Lord comes in power and shakes dead sinners, then they will hear and be saved. We need him. That is why prayer meetings should be a priority in the life of the church – both those that are planned and those that are called when there is a great need (like this one in Acts 4).
We need to pray like this!
The result of prayer (v31)
- A visitation from God. The Holy Spirit’s manifest presence was so great that the place where they were meeting was shaken. Again, the temptation for conservative evangelicals is to say, “that was just for then.” Although it may not be normal for buildings to shake, we the church (that is, the people) need to be shaken. I need to be shaken. We need to know the manifest presence of God that changes us and fires us to…
- A fresh boldness and power to witness. This is what they asked for in v29. The source of the boldness was the Holy Spirit (they were all filled with the Holy Spirit – no exceptions). The effect of the Holy Spirit’s filling was speaking the word of God boldly (no exceptions either, the all refers to both being filled and being bold).
This is what we need, across the church of Jesus Christ, no matter what our denominational background, our position on gifts of the Holy Spirit, or our preferred worship style. Oh, for prayer meetings like this one in Acts 4!
The best is yet to come 