PRAYER THAT SHAKES THINGS UP ACTS SERIES, PART 7 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... 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. Acts 4:23-25, 27-31 (NIV) WHAT IS UNIQUE ABOUT PRAYER THAT SHAKES THINGS UP? 1. GOD ANSWERS IT 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. Acts 4:31 (NIV) This is the second specific time of prayer mentioned in Acts after the ascension of Jesus. The first was in Acts 2 on the Day of Pentecost. Both events have some similarities. In both instances The disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit There were physical manifestations of God s intervention There was a definitive demonstration of or call for boldness in proclaiming God s Word. What does this teach us about prayer? It teaches us that Pentecost was never intended to be the only time that God would do one or more of these three things. Prayer is a portal, of sorts, that opens the heavens and brings to bear on earth that which is happening in heaven.
Page 2 Notice that the outpouring at Pentecost in Acts 2 and the outpouring of the Spirit here in Acts 4 did not come upon lost people, or people who were doing their own thing. The outpouring of the Spirit came upon people who were obeying God spectacularly! They prayed and God answered who doesn t want God to answer their prayers? But please note that the answer of God came first inwardly and in a most personal way. The real answer to their prayer was not that the opposition against them ceased. The real answer here was that they were empowered to stand strong and fight well against their opposition. Principle: God often answers prayer inwardly, as opposed to outwardly. Example No. 1: Acts 4 Opposition didn t stop, but boldness and faith to press on was granted. Example No. 2: Matthew 26:36-46 Jesus in Gethsemane The cross was not taken from Him, but he was strengthened to bear it. Example No. 3: 2 Corinthians 12:8-10 Paul s thorn in the flesh. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12:8-10 (NIV) 2. GENUINE BELIEVERS PRAY IT Prayer that shakes things up is prayed by people who are genuine believers. 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 Acts 4:23, 24a (NIV)
Page 3 Acts tells us very specifically that after they were released from their incarceration they left the Temple and went right to their own people. Their own people! Who were their own people? Their friends and family and the other disciples were their own people. This is important to you for two reasons a, b, c! a. GOD DOESN T LISTEN TO EVERYONE S PRAYERS 15 The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous, and his ears are attentive to their cry; 16 but the face of the LORD is against those who do evil, to blot out their name from the earth. Psalm 34:15 (NIV) He simply doesn t listen to or answer everyone s prayers. Notice I didn t say that, He only listens to the prayers of Christian. He listens to the prayers of genuine believers. This includes two groups of people. One is the born again believer who sincerely loves God and is genuinely serving Him. The other group are non-born again believers who are crying out in desperation for salvation. Like the thief on the cross, or Cornelius the Roman Centurion in Acts 10. Why would God listen to them if they are not born again? so that they might become born again. b. PRAYERS ARE MORE POWERFUL WHEN OTHERS JOIN YOU Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. Matthew 18:19 (NIV) Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. James 5:16 (NIV) There is real AMPLIFICATION of POWER in PRAYER when we join our prayer with other people.
Page 4 3. TIMING MAKES A DIFFERENCE Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness Acts 4:29 (NIV) Why does timing make a difference in prayer? For the same reason it makes a difference in every other area of life. The time to pray is as soon as you get into a place where you need God to help you. Not after the trouble has become so big that only a miracle from God can save you. If those two points in time happen to be the same that s OK God s not taken by surprise. But most of us just don t pray until the problem or need is overwhelming. But imagine what might happen if you were ahead of the curve? 4. GOD IS THE OBJECT OF GREAT PRAYER 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... Acts 4:24, 25a (NIV) They start out declaring to God just how great God is. Are they trying to soften God up by appealing to God s ego? No. So why do this then? Two simple reasons: a. BY DECLARING IN PRAYER WHO GOD IS THEY ENCOURAGED THEMSELVES But by declaring the greatness of God they were building their faith up. Faith produces faith. b. IT ESTABLISHES GOD S PREEMINENCE OVER MY LIFE When I pray this way I am reminding myself that HOWEVER God answers my prayer is the right answer to my prayer. I may not fully understand why God answers a certain way but I am fully confident that God s answer will be full of grace and right for me. We may not always understand why, but we can always believe in God.
Page 5 Our highest desire in prayer should never be, What I want, but rather What God wants. That is how Jesus prayed, Not my will, but you will be done. You cannot pray that way unless you truly come to believe that God is really and truly in control of all things.