Sermon Idea: God’s people access God’s power through prayer.
Introduction: I had an evangelism and missions professor in seminary named George Robinson. When he taught, he could make you feel the weight of the world’s lostness pressing on your shoulders. He was passionate and not afraid to challenge students about their apathy regarding our Lord’s commands to make disciples through evangelism and missions.
One way that he would do this is by writing a formula on the board about a person’s beliefs and practices. This was certainly not original to him, but it was fruitful teaching because I have thought about it a great deal since then.
The formula is quite simple: professed belief + actual practice = actual belief.
It is not what we say that best reveals what we truly believe, but what we do. Take our beliefs about the Bible. We can say that the Bible is the Word of God. We can confess that it is inspired, inerrant, sufficient, and authoritative. Of course, these confessions are essential, and we should articulate them with absolute clarity. That said, what we truly believe about the Bible will be revealed not in what we claim about it, but in whether we live in submission to it.
In our text this morning, the apostles and their friends prove what they believe about God, Scripture, and prayer through their actions. Their response to their arrest and being commanded not to preach in the name of Jesus reveals their conviction that God’s power is accessed through prayer. They are not a people who say they believe in the power of prayer, but a people who prove their belief in that power by praying.
The scene picks up after Peter and John are released from prison, so let’s review briefly how they got there. In Acts 3, Peter and John heal a man at the Temple gate who was cripple from birth. Peter then boldly preached that the man was healed through faith in the name of Jesus Christ. Central to Peter’s preaching is that Jesus Christ is the one who was rejected and put to death on the cross, but God raised him up from the dead. Now forgiveness of sin & restoration are available to all who repent and believe in Jesus Christ.
Upon hearing of this incident, the Jewish leaders arrested Peter and John, confronting them about the healing of the lame man. After Peter and John bear witness again to the name of Jesus Christ and his resurrection from the dead, the Jewish leaders demand that they no longer preach in the name of Jesus.
18 So they called them and charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. 19 But Peter and John answered them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, 20 for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard. (Ac 4:18–20)
Our text picks up right after this moment. The apostles are released, and they tell their friends what has happened. This morning, we want to learn from how these saints respond to their difficult circumstances and from their proven belief in the power of prayer. God’s people access God’s power through prayer.
As we learn from their example of prayer, we should examine our own lives and the life of our church. Do our actions reflect faithfully a genuine belief that God’s people access God’s power through prayer? Do we demonstrate a genuine belief in the Bible as the authoritative Word of God, not in what we say, but in how we read, hear, and submit to it?
I.) Prayer is the first response of God’s people (Acts 4:23-24)
Peter and John are released and tell their friends what has happened. The immediate response to this difficulty is to lift their voices in prayer together.
23 When they were released, they went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them. 24 And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said (Ac 4:23–24)
How important is it to have friends who not only share but also encourage a life given to following Jesus Christ? How important is it to have friends who aren’t afraid to discuss and do the deep spiritual things with you?
This scene could look different without godly friends who want to faithfully follow Jesus, couldn’t it? I was imagining this week how this might work with three imaginary characters I’ve called grumbling Gary, vindictive Vikie, and apathetic Adam.
Imagine the disciples returning, telling what happened, but instead of praying to God, they begin talking among themselves.
Grumbling Gary complains, “How can Jesus be worth following like this? After all we did with him, and we’re now left with hardship and persecution. This is for the birds; we deserve better. Jesus can’t be worth our safety or our lives.”
Vindictive Vickie is filled with rage and says, “We can’t let this go. They must pay for what they’ve done. If we don’t do it, no one will. Let’s plan together and attack when they least expect it. Let’s give them exactly what they deserve.”
Apathetic Adam listens and takes the coward’s approach, “If they say don’t preach in the name of Jesus, do not preach in his name. What’s the big deal? Don’t make more of this than you need to. Let’s mind our business and keep to ourselves.”
The company you keep can enrich or erode your spiritual life. These friends together make prayer their first response. Together they lift their voices, “Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth, and the sea and everything in them…” (Acts 4:24)
No doubt, there was the temptation to be anxious about their lives and ministries. What would happen if they preached Jesus again? Would the persecution get worse? Will I lose friends over following Jesus?
These saints don’t let temptation lead to sin; instead, they immediately pray about their situation. Long before Paul wrote the letter to the Philippians, the apostles here in Acts 3 demonstrate exactly what he had in mind.
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Php 4:4–7)
Prayer should be the first response of the people of God. It should be the default setting. Not to pray is to expose our belief in our own strength and self-sufficiency. Not to pray is to reveal a diminished view of God’s sovereignty, goodness, and power.
II.) Prayer is informed by God’s Word (Acts 4:25-26)
As they lift their voices in prayer, everything they say is informed by Scripture and doctrine.
The first words of the prayer are words of adoration for God as creator,
“Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth, and the sea and everything in them…” (Acts 4:24)
If God created the universe by the word of his power, then God can meet the needs of those who seek him. To begin this way is not only to confess, but also to adore that God is God, the one who made the heavens and the earth. Everything and everyone is beneath him, and no one or nothing can frustrate his sovereign will. This point is reinforced by quoting Psalm 2:1-2.
25 who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit, “ ‘Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples plot in vain? 26 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathered together, against the Lord and against his Anointed’— (Acts 4:25-26)
Psalm 2 is about how futile it is for the nations to stand against God’s anointed King becasue to do so is to stand against God Himself. David is a type of Christ, and as the rest of the New Testament shows, Psalm 2 is a Messianic Psalm (Heb. 1:5; 5:5; Rev. 2:26-27; 19:15). By rejecting and crucifying Jesus, the Gentiles and Jewish leaders have set themselves against God himself. And since the church is the body of Christ, the persecution of God’s people is also setting itself against God himself.
The message of Psalm 2 is that all of this plotting and planning is in vain.
He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision. Then he will speak to them in his wrath, and terrify them in his fury, say, “As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill. (Ps 2:4–6)
Here is what I want you to reflect on. The Bible has shaped them so much that they understand their current circumstances in light of it and pray informed by it.
Several months ago, I was on a hospital visit with Kevin McNichols. Jack Glass was very sick, and his family was at his side, including Matt, who flew back from Indonesia. We were there talking about the difficulty of the situation and all that Matt’s family had been through, and it had been a lot in a short amount of time. As he is talking about all this, he says casually and naturally, “It is through many tribulations that we must enter the kingdom of God.” That comes directly from Acts 14:22.
“…strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.” (Ac 14:22)
That is a more personal, individual example, but it illustrates what these disciples are doing. The Scriptures provide the lens through which to understand life, so it is the Scriptures that inform their understanding of what is happening and how to pray.
Your prayer life will only ever be as deep as your knowledge and submission to Scripture.
Beloved, be different. Do not be a person who merely says they believe the Bible is the Word of God. Be a person who is shaped and formed by it, who lives in reverent submission to it, and who learns how to pray by thinking God’s thoughts after him.
Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; 2 but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. 3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. (Ps 1:1–3)
16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. (2 Ti 3:16–17)
There are people who give nod to Scripture at God’s Word, but who are not governed and controlled by it. Prayerfully become the kind of person who loves the Bible and thinks about life and the church in reference to it.
It is not only the Bible that informs their prayer, but also doctrine. In this case, it is the doctrine of divine sovereignty that fuels their prayer.
III.) Prayer is belief in God’s sovereignty (Acts 4:27-30)
27 for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, 28 to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place. 29 And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, (Ac 4:27–29)
Inspired by Psalm 2 and the rest of the Old Testament, the disciples believe and confess that God accomplished all of it through his sovereign providence. He worked through the wicked intentions and actions of evil men to use them for a greater good, the salvation of sinners through Christ’s sacrificial work.
Sound doctrine is not the end of the Christian life, but it is a crucial means of remaining faithful. Not only that, doctrine can serve as an anchor for the souls, as the winds of this fallen world blow.
One of the comments I have heard from time to time is that we have gotten too deep here. It is certainly not my wish that any person not be able to benefit from the preaching of the Word, and I make great strides to limit any unnecessary hindrances toward that end.
We should note, though, how quickly the disciples plunge into the deep end of theological waters during a time of great hostility.
Doctrine is not an extracurricular subject for a special few; it is the necessary truths that help us live in a fallen world in a way that honors God. At a tense and difficult time, they do not reach for cliches or cute truths appropriate for Facebook memes. No, they reach for the deep things of God—His sovereign providence over all things.
With Scripture and doctrine informing their prayer, they ask God for the boldness to keep preaching the gospel.
IV.) Prayer is the means to God’s response (Acts 4:31)
The response from God will come through our prayers.
31 And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness. (Ac 4:31)
Nathaniel R. Martin 