"Devoted to Prayer"

Acts 4:23-31 (click to display NIV text)

June 28, 2009 ("The Church: A Devoted People" series, Week 3; see also Week One, Week Four, Week Five)

Pastor Dwight A. Nelson

"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. When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God."

            The incident begins in chapter 3, when a lame man asks Peter and John for money. That gets my attention, because lot of people come to the church and ask me for money for a variety of needs, and I don't usually know how to respond. What I see here is that Peter and John move the request for money to a deeper need. That is always the best approach, but not easy to do. This man does not need money; he needs to be able to walk. In the name of Jesus, he finds the ability to walk and leap and praise God.

            That draws a crowd. So Peter speaks, he explains what has happened. Now he moves to an even deeper need. It is not just about a lame man now able to walk, but about the power that comes from the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. He calls them to repentance and life in Jesus' name. Many respond to Peter's words and believe. But this response of belief also draws the Sadducees, a powerful group who did not believe in resurrection. The Sadducees put Peter and John in jail, and then let them go, but with strict orders that they are not to speak of Jesus anymore. So now just as the church is beginning to act on the Great Commission, they discover that it is illegal to go and make disciples of Jesus.

            Peter and John go back to the believers. They have made it clear that they will continue to bear witness to Jesus. But how will the church respond? Will this opposition cause them to be silent, to shrink back, to resign from the Great Commission?

            The believers do not answer that question right away. Instead they pray together. The church is a body of people who are devoted to prayer. In a time of crisis, their first action is to pray. The believers were guided to pray in this way: to pray the scripture, to pray with faith, to pray clearly in their request to God.

            So they began by addressing God as "Sovereign Lord." That was not a typical way to address God. But in a crisis, when they were being told to be silent by powerful people, the believers began to pray by confessing that God is sovereign, that God is the ruler. God relates to strong opposition as the one who rules over heaven and earth.

            The sovereignty of God leads the believers to pray the scriptures. They begin in Genesis – God is the Creator of heaven and earth and the sea and everything in them. That is a good starting point for prayer. Then they move to Psalm 2, which is quoted here. The nations rage, the people plot, the kings of the earth rise up and band together against the Lord and against his anointed one. So their crisis is not a surprise; they find it written in the Psalms.

            The kings who most recently rose up against the Lord's anointed are Herod and Pilate. These rulers crucified Jesus, yet their authority was limited, because it was by the cross and resurrection of Jesus that the purposes of God were accomplished. In praying this way, the believers begin with the truth of the sovereignty of God, and then they allow the scripture to lead them to the heart of their faith, to the cross and resurrection of Jesus. What the scripture guides them to confess is that God works in ways beyond our sight or understanding to accomplish his purpose. That took them from their fear of this ruling that tried to silence them, and gave them courage to be obedient to the Great Commission to make disciples. Their devotion to prayer settled the crisis of faith.

            So how does this passage speak to our praying, and to our obedience? I found some help here in a commentary written by Ajith Fernando, who is from Sri Lanka, and is both a Bible teacher and a national leader in Youth for Christ. He brought out three points concerning this response of prayer in a time of crisis.

            First, that prayer arises out of a united fellowship. These people were devoted to the fellowship. Because they broke bread together and worshiped together, and shared their possessions with each other, when the crisis came, they were able to pray together. They did not face the crisis alone.

            We too are called to pray out of a united fellowship. The consumerism and individualism of our culture can cause us to pray in a very private way, feeling powerless and alone. But the church is people who are devoted to the fellowship. We are to share our lives. We are to break bread together in our homes. We are to be willing to be known, so others know what we need and how we feel. But mostly, so we can pray together.

            When I broke my ankle, I found myself in the hospital on the morning when my regular pastors' prayer group meets. I wondered if I should tell them why I was not at prayer that day. I could have kept it to myself, showed up a few weeks later with a cast. But I decided I wanted them to know. I wanted to share my life with them. As a result, they were able to pray for me. But then, several of them also came and visited me, said kind things about me, read the scripture, prayed for me. It was very encouraging. But what happened was that after a while, the fellow in the bed next to me, peeked around the curtain, and said "I need to meet you." He had been listening and wondered who this might be. Good things happen when we share our lives, so we can pray together.

            What can we do? What would help you to grow in being a united fellowship, so that you can pray together? Would it be helpful to you to come to our Wednesday evening family events, having dinner together and learning to pray?

            We have recently had two opportunities where small groups of people gathered around someone in our church for healing and blessing. These have been good experiences. Can we pray for you? Would you join us the next time we pray for someone?

During the summer, would you consider finding another person be a prayer accountability partner? You could call each other or meet regularly and just talk about how your life with Christ is going, and pray together.

            The second point Fernando makes is that these believers focused on the sovereignty of God in praying. We need to understand the limited power of that which we fear. Focusing on God's sovereignty moves us out of fear and into obedience with hope and courage.

            What might help you to move from fear to obedience? Our deacons have been evaluating our Lenten emphasis on prayer and Bible reading. We took a survey to find out how the various programs helped you. We had 72 surveys returned. Of those, 44 of you said that your devotional lives had improved during that time. Your comments indicated that there was a benefit in receiving what one person called a "spiritual nudge" that is, some reminder to pray, some accountability to read God's word. This is very encouraging to us.

            What can we do next? We are wondering if a day-long prayer retreat would be helpful for some of you. Take a Saturday and go somewhere to be guided in prayer for a day together. The Covenant Church has resource people to lead such events.

We are wondering if a regular prayer group might be helpful, and are exploring how that might be done online. What if you could do a small group on your computer, where you could see and hear each other, and even write prayer requests? You could be anywhere and still be in a group. Would that help you?

            The last point was that these believers in Acts used Scripture in their praying. They somehow found the right scriptures in a time of crisis. They had a built up reserve of Bible knowledge. So God's Word formed their response.

            What would be helpful to you in learning God's Word? One person suggested a Bible reading challenge for adults, like our children did. Others have asked for a Bible class for those new to scripture or not as well versed. Again, that could even be online.

            The believers in Acts were devoted to prayer. That got them through a crisis. Can we also be devoted to prayer? When our deacons discussed our progress in this area, we came to the conclusion that although we are busy, it turns out we are not too busy to grow in our devotional lives. Forty-four busy people said they grew in Christ during Lent. Jesus still says "Follow me" and people still respond. But we realize that for us to grow in Christ we must be intentional and what the church offers must be helpful. We want to experience growth in our relationship with the Lord. We are ready to take the next step. Come join us.

            Amen.