WEBVTT 00:00:01.800 --> 00:00:05.059 What a wonderful hymn based on Isaiah 53. How 00:00:05.059 --> 00:00:07.160 many of you sang it for the first time this morning? 00:00:08.220 --> 00:00:11.439 Quite a few of you. One of the great ones. We 00:00:11.439 --> 00:00:14.619 enjoy singing it. I especially like the last 00:00:14.619 --> 00:00:18.300 verse. It talks about all the victories of his 00:00:18.300 --> 00:00:20.859 cross. The cross of our Lord Jesus Christ was 00:00:20.859 --> 00:00:26.120 not defeat, but it was victory. Today, billions 00:00:26.120 --> 00:00:28.719 once dead now live again through faith in him, 00:00:29.460 --> 00:00:32.869 and myriads follow in his train. We are today 00:00:32.869 --> 00:00:35.750 looking at some of those who were the earliest 00:00:35.750 --> 00:00:39.469 to follow in his train in the book of Acts, the 00:00:39.469 --> 00:00:48.149 fourth chapter. The early church faced a critical 00:00:48.149 --> 00:00:52.850 situation as we come to our text. Two leaders 00:00:52.850 --> 00:00:59.149 had been jailed, tried, and threatened to be 00:00:59.149 --> 00:01:03.219 silent. They were then released, and according 00:01:03.219 --> 00:01:07.000 to verse 21 of Acts 4, they went back to their 00:01:07.000 --> 00:01:11.859 own, after they had been threatened, in verse 00:01:11.859 --> 00:01:15.439 23 rather, they went back to their own and reported 00:01:15.439 --> 00:01:21.439 all that had been said to them. This is a little 00:01:21.439 --> 00:01:23.659 bit encouraging to me because it tells me that 00:01:23.659 --> 00:01:27.319 even two mature men like Peter and John looked 00:01:27.319 --> 00:01:30.700 for the support and encouragement of those of 00:01:30.700 --> 00:01:33.799 kindred spirit. I don't know about you but I 00:01:33.799 --> 00:01:38.040 need that. I feel sorry for those people who 00:01:38.040 --> 00:01:40.060 professing Christians who think that they can 00:01:40.060 --> 00:01:44.500 get along on their own. We weren't created that 00:01:44.500 --> 00:01:47.540 way. God has saved us to be a part of a body 00:01:47.540 --> 00:01:50.780 of people. We see Peter and John as soon as they 00:01:50.780 --> 00:01:55.480 were released from prison heading to the assembly 00:01:55.480 --> 00:01:59.920 where they knew the other saints would be. After 00:01:59.920 --> 00:02:03.680 they had related what had taken place, how would 00:02:03.680 --> 00:02:08.259 these people respond? Would these believers quietly 00:02:08.259 --> 00:02:12.479 acquiesce? Would they submit to intimidation 00:02:12.479 --> 00:02:16.759 of the religious rulers? Or would they go underground? 00:02:17.599 --> 00:02:20.219 Would they move to a different city and start 00:02:20.219 --> 00:02:23.900 all over again? Perhaps they would start a revolution 00:02:23.900 --> 00:02:27.319 and overthrow the leaders? No, none of these 00:02:27.319 --> 00:02:30.560 things. When they heard what Peter and John had 00:02:30.560 --> 00:02:34.819 to say, they called a prayer meeting. Let's read 00:02:34.819 --> 00:02:58.870 about it. Why did the Gentiles rage and the peoples 00:02:58.870 --> 00:03:02.629 devise futile things? The kings of the earth 00:03:02.629 --> 00:03:05.310 took their stand, and the rulers were gathered 00:03:05.310 --> 00:03:09.110 together against the Lord and against his Christ. 00:03:10.409 --> 00:03:13.050 For truly in this city there were gathered together 00:03:13.050 --> 00:03:17.150 against thy holy servant Jesus, whom thou didst 00:03:17.150 --> 00:03:21.310 anoint, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along 00:03:21.310 --> 00:03:24.550 with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel. 00:03:24.860 --> 00:03:29.240 to do whatever thy hand and thy purpose predestined 00:03:29.240 --> 00:03:33.740 to occur. And now, Lord, take note of their threats, 00:03:34.620 --> 00:03:37.539 and grant that thy bond -servants may speak thy 00:03:37.539 --> 00:03:41.139 word with all confidence, while thou dost extend 00:03:41.139 --> 00:03:44.580 thy hand to heal, and signs and wonders take 00:03:44.580 --> 00:03:48.800 place through the name of thy holy servant Jesus." 00:03:48.800 --> 00:03:52.240 When they had prayed, the place where they had 00:03:52.240 --> 00:03:56.270 been gathered, together was shaken and they were 00:03:56.270 --> 00:03:59.289 all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to 00:03:59.289 --> 00:04:04.009 speak the word of God with boldness. The church 00:04:04.009 --> 00:04:08.710 was born in prayer. In Acts chapter 1 verse 14 00:04:08.710 --> 00:04:10.870 we learn that during those days as they waited 00:04:10.870 --> 00:04:15.590 for the Holy Spirit to come they were with one 00:04:15.590 --> 00:04:19.509 spirit, one mind gathered together for prayer 00:04:19.509 --> 00:04:23.699 in the upper room. It is then appropriate and 00:04:23.699 --> 00:04:27.360 only natural that these believers, on this occasion 00:04:27.360 --> 00:04:31.060 of the first opposition to their faith, should 00:04:31.060 --> 00:04:36.399 meet for prayer. Prayer is the most potent, far 00:04:36.399 --> 00:04:41.420 -reaching power in the universe. And that is 00:04:41.420 --> 00:04:45.040 because it interacts with the very power of God. 00:04:46.079 --> 00:04:51.759 Prayer changes things and people. and sometimes 00:04:51.759 --> 00:04:57.560 the prayer himself. A praying church is a powerful 00:04:57.560 --> 00:05:01.480 church. That is the main point I want to get 00:05:01.480 --> 00:05:04.680 across to you this morning. A praying church 00:05:04.680 --> 00:05:10.079 is a powerful church. The early church was a 00:05:10.079 --> 00:05:12.180 praying church. There are three observations 00:05:12.180 --> 00:05:14.839 that I want to make regarding their prayer meeting. 00:05:14.939 --> 00:05:16.899 And as we study these, we'll learn something 00:05:16.899 --> 00:05:21.399 about what it means to be a praying church. First, 00:05:21.600 --> 00:05:25.120 observe with me the nature of their praying in 00:05:25.120 --> 00:05:29.920 verse 24. It was in the first place audible praying. 00:05:31.319 --> 00:05:34.319 That is, they lifted their voices and prayed 00:05:34.319 --> 00:05:38.379 together. The manner in which they did this is 00:05:38.379 --> 00:05:42.939 not described to us, but it does say that together 00:05:42.939 --> 00:05:45.740 they lifted their voices with one accord to God. 00:05:46.399 --> 00:05:50.629 Perhaps it was in a conversational way. style 00:05:50.629 --> 00:05:54.769 of prayer. Perhaps they were all praying at the 00:05:54.769 --> 00:05:58.310 same time. We are not told, but the fact is that 00:05:58.310 --> 00:06:01.170 all together they lifted their voices more than 00:06:01.170 --> 00:06:06.829 one to God in prayer. I wonder if this prayer 00:06:06.829 --> 00:06:12.129 recorded for us might not be a composite of the 00:06:12.129 --> 00:06:15.870 prayers of a number of people who expressed a 00:06:15.870 --> 00:06:19.949 petition to God on that occasion. Perhaps that's 00:06:19.949 --> 00:06:23.850 the case. Nonetheless, notice that the prayer 00:06:23.850 --> 00:06:28.069 was spoken. Prayer can be silent. We do not have 00:06:28.069 --> 00:06:31.269 to verbalize it with our mouths, but normally 00:06:31.269 --> 00:06:35.730 in a group we verbalize prayer so that it's audible 00:06:35.730 --> 00:06:40.269 and all can share in it. Granted, that is a little 00:06:40.269 --> 00:06:43.810 bit frightening for those who are newer Christians. 00:06:44.750 --> 00:06:47.709 We wonder if we're going to say the right things. 00:06:47.980 --> 00:06:51.620 Use the right words. What happens if we cough 00:06:51.620 --> 00:06:54.199 in the middle of the prayer? And all kinds of 00:06:54.199 --> 00:06:57.220 these thoughts come through our minds that make 00:06:57.220 --> 00:07:00.519 us hesitate to pray out loud. But I want to tell 00:07:00.519 --> 00:07:04.759 you something. It is a real step of victory in 00:07:04.759 --> 00:07:07.399 your life when you are able to pray with other 00:07:07.399 --> 00:07:12.339 people. And if today you are scared and fearful 00:07:12.339 --> 00:07:17.410 of praying with someone or someones else, May 00:07:17.410 --> 00:07:21.310 I encourage you to get over that fear? There's 00:07:21.310 --> 00:07:24.069 only one way that I know to do it, and that's 00:07:24.069 --> 00:07:28.050 simply to start some time praying. Actually, 00:07:28.069 --> 00:07:30.490 the more that you become conversant with the 00:07:30.490 --> 00:07:34.470 Lord in prayer privately, the easier it becomes 00:07:34.470 --> 00:07:39.730 to do so publicly. As you pray with others, try 00:07:39.730 --> 00:07:42.069 to focus your mind on the one that you're speaking 00:07:42.069 --> 00:07:46.490 to and forget those who are around you. So, what 00:07:46.490 --> 00:07:49.310 if you stumble? So, what if you say something 00:07:49.310 --> 00:07:52.810 that might not be technically correct? God knows 00:07:52.810 --> 00:07:55.990 your heart. That's the important thing. And frankly, 00:07:56.149 --> 00:07:58.389 those people around you, if they're mature believers 00:07:58.389 --> 00:08:00.610 at all, will simply rejoice in the fact that 00:08:00.610 --> 00:08:04.529 you are talking to the Lord with them. A few 00:08:04.529 --> 00:08:07.209 weeks ago, we had a new believer in our Wednesday 00:08:07.209 --> 00:08:09.829 night prayer meeting. In our little group of 00:08:09.829 --> 00:08:13.029 four or five, he prayed for the first time out 00:08:13.029 --> 00:08:17.250 loud. He stumbled a little bit. His voice was 00:08:17.250 --> 00:08:20.470 a little bit squeaky and shaky because he was 00:08:20.470 --> 00:08:22.670 scared. But I want to tell you that did something 00:08:22.670 --> 00:08:27.149 to my heart to hear him pray. None of us who 00:08:27.149 --> 00:08:29.149 were there in that prayer group condemned him 00:08:29.149 --> 00:08:31.629 or thought less of him. In fact, we thought more 00:08:31.629 --> 00:08:35.029 of him because he was praying out loud with us. 00:08:35.289 --> 00:08:38.950 We tried to encourage him afterward. The nature 00:08:38.950 --> 00:08:40.889 of their prayer was in the first place audible. 00:08:41.520 --> 00:08:43.960 Secondly, it was unified. They lifted their voices 00:08:43.960 --> 00:08:47.440 with one accord to God. Literally it means the 00:08:47.440 --> 00:08:51.039 same mind. Luke uses this phrase in the book 00:08:51.039 --> 00:08:53.820 of Acts ten times. We've seen it twice already. 00:08:53.840 --> 00:08:57.279 This is the third time. He emphasizes throughout 00:08:57.279 --> 00:08:59.460 the book the oneness of the people in the way 00:08:59.460 --> 00:09:03.019 that they thought. Do you know that it is essential 00:09:03.019 --> 00:09:07.580 for meaningful, effective prayer for there to 00:09:07.580 --> 00:09:12.399 be unity in the fellowship? That unity reflects 00:09:12.399 --> 00:09:17.539 the unity of the Godhead and His unity with His 00:09:17.539 --> 00:09:23.539 people. This unity does not reflect that. In 00:09:23.539 --> 00:09:29.500 fact, it denies God's unity. And this unity prohibits 00:09:29.500 --> 00:09:34.039 effective praying. It is when we gather together 00:09:34.039 --> 00:09:38.419 with nothing dividing us that we have effective 00:09:38.419 --> 00:09:42.059 prayer. I don't know what your circle may have 00:09:42.059 --> 00:09:44.100 been like, but I know when we gathered for prayer 00:09:44.100 --> 00:09:47.299 a week and a half ago as families here in this 00:09:47.299 --> 00:09:49.919 auditorium, that was one of the most moving prayer 00:09:49.919 --> 00:09:51.940 meetings I've ever been in in my whole life. 00:09:53.440 --> 00:09:56.440 And in our circle of 12, there were people who 00:09:56.440 --> 00:10:01.240 were 50, 60 years of age on down to small children. 00:10:02.019 --> 00:10:04.980 And all of us shared together in prayer. Went 00:10:04.980 --> 00:10:06.840 on for an hour and a half and moved quickly. 00:10:07.059 --> 00:10:09.889 We did different things. But there was such a 00:10:09.889 --> 00:10:13.210 wonderful oneness that developed in our group. 00:10:14.049 --> 00:10:17.210 I want to tell you that is essential for effective 00:10:17.210 --> 00:10:20.129 praying. Let me show you an example of that on 00:10:20.129 --> 00:10:22.210 a personal level. Turn back to Matthew chapter 00:10:22.210 --> 00:10:26.370 5 for a moment. Unity is essential for praying. 00:10:26.850 --> 00:10:30.710 There cannot be division, for division hinders 00:10:30.710 --> 00:10:35.460 effective praying. Matthew 5 verse 23. Jesus 00:10:35.460 --> 00:10:37.799 says, if therefore you are presenting your offering 00:10:37.799 --> 00:10:40.600 at the altar. By the way, that's the way they 00:10:40.600 --> 00:10:44.019 used to do it in those days. When they would 00:10:44.019 --> 00:10:46.000 bring their offering to the temple, a plate was 00:10:46.000 --> 00:10:48.580 not passed as we do it, but they brought the 00:10:48.580 --> 00:10:51.419 offering to the altar in public so everyone saw 00:10:51.419 --> 00:10:54.539 what the other person was bringing. I wonder 00:10:54.539 --> 00:10:57.600 how that would change our offerings and our patterns 00:10:57.600 --> 00:11:01.120 of giving if we did that today. He says, when 00:11:01.120 --> 00:11:05.039 you bring your offering to the altar, He goes 00:11:05.039 --> 00:11:07.700 on to say, and you remember that your brother 00:11:07.700 --> 00:11:11.059 has something against you. In other words, there's 00:11:11.059 --> 00:11:13.879 not unity between you and your brother. He says, 00:11:14.000 --> 00:11:17.419 leave your offering there before the altar and 00:11:17.419 --> 00:11:20.120 go your way. First be reconciled to your brother 00:11:20.120 --> 00:11:23.720 and then come and present your offering. So he 00:11:23.720 --> 00:11:26.899 says, don't offer your offering yet. Put it beside 00:11:26.899 --> 00:11:29.620 the altar. Don't take it with you. Leave it there. 00:11:30.190 --> 00:11:32.750 as a testimony to the fact that you have something 00:11:32.750 --> 00:11:36.269 you have to do before you can offer it. What 00:11:36.269 --> 00:11:39.950 a tremendous testimony that must have been. To 00:11:39.950 --> 00:11:42.409 the other people who were watching, that here 00:11:42.409 --> 00:11:44.590 was a man going out to make something right with 00:11:44.590 --> 00:11:47.070 his brother, and having made it right, he would 00:11:47.070 --> 00:11:49.210 come back, pick up his offering, and put it on 00:11:49.210 --> 00:11:52.649 the altar and give it to God. What is the significance 00:11:52.649 --> 00:11:55.470 of that? It is that when we bring our offerings 00:11:55.470 --> 00:11:57.570 to the Lord, when we bring our prayers to the 00:11:57.570 --> 00:12:00.360 Lord, There must not be anything that divides 00:12:00.360 --> 00:12:05.019 us from another brother. If there is a division, 00:12:05.039 --> 00:12:07.379 if there is a problem, that problem needs to 00:12:07.379 --> 00:12:11.480 be cared for. Unity is essential if our prayers 00:12:11.480 --> 00:12:14.259 are going to mean anything. That's on a personal 00:12:14.259 --> 00:12:17.740 basis. But let's look at a marital basis back 00:12:17.740 --> 00:12:25.379 in 1 Peter chapter 3. This should sober up every 00:12:25.379 --> 00:12:34.860 married couple. 7. You husbands likewise live 00:12:34.860 --> 00:12:39.220 with your wives in an understanding way, as with 00:12:39.220 --> 00:12:43.600 a weaker vessel, since she is a woman, and grant 00:12:43.600 --> 00:12:48.220 her honor as a fellow heir of the grace of life, 00:12:48.440 --> 00:12:53.539 so that your prayers may not be hindered. Men, 00:12:54.139 --> 00:12:56.539 treat your wives the way they ought to be treated. 00:12:58.280 --> 00:13:01.600 Because if you don't, it will create problems 00:13:01.600 --> 00:13:04.460 in your marriage and your prayers will be hindered. 00:13:05.620 --> 00:13:08.299 So once again we see that unity is essential 00:13:08.299 --> 00:13:11.759 for effective praying. I think we see it again 00:13:11.759 --> 00:13:15.259 on a church -wide basis in Romans chapter 15. 00:13:16.480 --> 00:13:24.980 Look there what he says. Romans chapter 15 and 00:13:24.980 --> 00:13:29.580 verse 5. Now may the God who gives perseverance 00:13:29.580 --> 00:13:33.440 and encouragement Grant you to be of the same 00:13:33.440 --> 00:13:37.360 mind with one another according to Christ Jesus 00:13:37.360 --> 00:13:42.159 That with one accord you may with one voice glorify 00:13:42.159 --> 00:13:46.879 the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ He 00:13:46.879 --> 00:13:49.820 says to the Romans look be of the same mind with 00:13:49.820 --> 00:13:54.059 one another so that with one accord So that thinking 00:13:54.059 --> 00:13:57.419 the same thing, you can then with one voice glorify 00:13:57.419 --> 00:14:02.899 God. How sad it is when churches are divided 00:14:02.899 --> 00:14:06.500 over one thing or another. It is sad not only 00:14:06.500 --> 00:14:08.460 because of what that does to the testimony of 00:14:08.460 --> 00:14:12.159 the church, but because it absolutely cripples 00:14:12.159 --> 00:14:18.120 the prayer life of that church. The Jerusalem 00:14:18.120 --> 00:14:21.120 church was a praying church and therefore a powerful 00:14:21.120 --> 00:14:25.409 church. As we look at the nature of its praying, 00:14:25.590 --> 00:14:27.769 we notice that it was audible. They spoke together. 00:14:27.830 --> 00:14:30.529 They shared together in the praying. But then 00:14:30.529 --> 00:14:34.049 that prayer was as well unified. They thought 00:14:34.049 --> 00:14:37.669 the same thing. They had the same purpose, the 00:14:37.669 --> 00:14:40.529 same vision. They were all moving in the same 00:14:40.529 --> 00:14:43.029 direction. The idea, athletically speaking, might 00:14:43.029 --> 00:14:45.909 be pictured. They were all in the same team. 00:14:47.149 --> 00:14:50.470 They may have had different concerns and responsibilities. 00:14:50.879 --> 00:14:54.639 But they were all going the same way. And it 00:14:54.639 --> 00:14:57.620 is that kind of unity that we're jealous for 00:14:57.620 --> 00:15:00.820 in our church. The Spirit of God produces it. 00:15:01.019 --> 00:15:04.139 We are responsible for keeping it. We'll talk 00:15:04.139 --> 00:15:06.679 more about that next week. But let's go ahead 00:15:06.679 --> 00:15:08.860 now and look at the second observation regarding 00:15:08.860 --> 00:15:12.200 prayer. That is the element of their prayer, 00:15:13.100 --> 00:15:16.659 the elements of their prayer. There are four 00:15:16.659 --> 00:15:20.110 of them as I look at. It's what is recorded here 00:15:20.110 --> 00:15:23.149 from that prayer meeting. The first element is 00:15:23.149 --> 00:15:27.309 worship. They worship God because of who He is 00:15:27.309 --> 00:15:30.009 and what He's done for His nature and His works. 00:15:30.610 --> 00:15:33.250 Notice how they address Him. They say, oh Lord. 00:15:34.870 --> 00:15:36.450 You say, well, that's not too different than 00:15:36.450 --> 00:15:39.490 they normally do, is it? Well, as a matter of 00:15:39.490 --> 00:15:42.029 fact, it is because they use a word for Lord 00:15:42.029 --> 00:15:45.429 here that is rare in the New Testament. This 00:15:45.429 --> 00:15:48.110 is not the usual word for Lord. It's the word. 00:15:48.159 --> 00:15:53.120 which comes into the English as despot. Now that 00:15:53.120 --> 00:15:56.000 has a negative connotation to us, doesn't it? 00:15:56.360 --> 00:15:59.340 We usually think of a tyrannical ruler whose 00:15:59.340 --> 00:16:03.960 evil as a despot. But the word did not have that 00:16:03.960 --> 00:16:06.220 connotation in that day. What it referred to 00:16:06.220 --> 00:16:10.580 was one who was absolutely sovereign, a master 00:16:10.580 --> 00:16:15.299 who had servants under his control. And notice 00:16:15.299 --> 00:16:18.080 how that theme follows through here in our text. 00:16:18.240 --> 00:16:22.519 In verse 24, he speaks about David being the 00:16:22.519 --> 00:16:27.259 Lord's servant. And then in verse 27, he speaks 00:16:27.259 --> 00:16:31.700 about Jesus being the holy servant of the Lord. 00:16:32.519 --> 00:16:36.139 And in verse 29, they call themselves the Lord's 00:16:36.139 --> 00:16:39.059 bond servants. So you can see what they had in 00:16:39.059 --> 00:16:41.950 mind. They called him the master. the one who 00:16:41.950 --> 00:16:45.929 had absolute sovereignty, the absolute ruler 00:16:45.929 --> 00:16:50.230 of all things. In saying this to him, calling 00:16:50.230 --> 00:16:55.009 him despot, they were recognizing God's final 00:16:55.009 --> 00:16:59.570 and total control over all their circumstances. 00:17:01.289 --> 00:17:04.109 They illustrate this by quoting from the Old 00:17:04.109 --> 00:17:07.569 Testament, referring to God's creative power. 00:17:08.769 --> 00:17:13.680 They say, You made the heavens and the earth 00:17:13.680 --> 00:17:19.099 and the sea and all that is in them. God's power 00:17:19.099 --> 00:17:24.980 is revealed in His creation in nature. The church 00:17:24.980 --> 00:17:27.079 has always professed this. Now some today are 00:17:27.079 --> 00:17:29.559 changing their minds a little bit, being influenced 00:17:29.559 --> 00:17:32.299 unfortunately by the evolutionary hypothesis. 00:17:33.240 --> 00:17:35.000 They're not so sure anymore that God did make 00:17:35.000 --> 00:17:38.240 all things, but the Bible's not questioning that. 00:17:39.460 --> 00:17:42.720 God made all things in heaven, earth, and in 00:17:42.720 --> 00:17:46.299 the sea. And these people, as they pray, worship 00:17:46.299 --> 00:17:50.180 God because of His great power. They ascribe 00:17:50.180 --> 00:17:54.000 to Him glory that is due to Him as the Creator. 00:17:55.839 --> 00:17:58.740 And so the first element of their prayer is worship. 00:17:58.839 --> 00:18:02.779 The second one is the word. Do you notice how 00:18:02.779 --> 00:18:08.579 they quoted in verse 24? from Psalm 146, verse 00:18:08.579 --> 00:18:13.619 6. And then in verses 25 and 26, they quote again 00:18:13.619 --> 00:18:18.160 from the Psalms, this time Psalm 2, verses 1 00:18:18.160 --> 00:18:22.500 and 2. They incorporated the Word of God with 00:18:22.500 --> 00:18:27.000 their praying. That is an important observation 00:18:27.000 --> 00:18:32.019 for you and for me. Effective praying is based 00:18:32.019 --> 00:18:37.190 upon the Word of God. You say, well, why is the 00:18:37.190 --> 00:18:40.009 Word so important? Well, in the first place, 00:18:40.109 --> 00:18:44.849 because in the Word, God speaks to us. And so 00:18:44.849 --> 00:18:47.289 it's only appropriate that as we see Him speaking 00:18:47.289 --> 00:18:50.410 to us, we say something back to Him. It completes 00:18:50.410 --> 00:18:54.170 the conversation, you see. But secondly, I think 00:18:54.170 --> 00:18:56.809 it's important to include the Word in our praying 00:18:56.809 --> 00:19:01.890 because it provides a basis for proper phrasing 00:19:01.890 --> 00:19:06.410 of our words. As we read the Word, it aligns 00:19:06.410 --> 00:19:11.230 our thoughts with God's. We know how to formulate 00:19:11.230 --> 00:19:14.549 our prayers because we get God's perspective 00:19:14.549 --> 00:19:19.210 on situations as we read the Word. I just kind 00:19:19.210 --> 00:19:22.390 of wonder if this wasn't a scripture song. That 00:19:22.390 --> 00:19:24.289 as they were praying there together, someone 00:19:24.289 --> 00:19:28.589 broke out and began to sing from Psalm 146 and 00:19:28.589 --> 00:19:32.380 someone else began to sing from Psalm 2. And 00:19:32.380 --> 00:19:35.460 so Luke records for us those scriptures. I kind 00:19:35.460 --> 00:19:38.400 of like that idea of incorporating the singing 00:19:38.400 --> 00:19:42.740 of the scriptures along with their praying. Let 00:19:42.740 --> 00:19:45.380 me show you a verse in John chapter 15 that struck 00:19:45.380 --> 00:19:51.259 home afresh to me this week regarding the word 00:19:51.259 --> 00:20:01.799 and prayer. John chapter 15 verse 7. He says, 00:20:01.960 --> 00:20:08.380 if you abide in me and my words abide in you, 00:20:09.440 --> 00:20:11.759 ask whatever you wish and it shall be done for 00:20:11.759 --> 00:20:16.359 you. I was impressed anew this week with how 00:20:16.359 --> 00:20:19.039 important it is that in our praying, as we ask 00:20:19.039 --> 00:20:22.599 what we wish of the Father, that first we be 00:20:22.599 --> 00:20:26.920 in the Word so that Jesus' words abide in us. 00:20:27.839 --> 00:20:32.619 For as His words abide in us, They begin to formulate 00:20:32.619 --> 00:20:36.059 our prayers so that then as we open our mouths 00:20:36.059 --> 00:20:38.740 and speak to God, we begin to say the things 00:20:38.740 --> 00:20:42.400 that we should in praying. We can more nearly 00:20:42.400 --> 00:20:45.819 pray according to the will of God when Jesus' 00:20:46.160 --> 00:20:49.299 words, when the Word of God abides in us. And 00:20:49.299 --> 00:20:52.839 it goes right on to say in verse 8, by this is 00:20:52.839 --> 00:20:56.779 my Father glorified that you bear much fruit 00:20:56.779 --> 00:21:00.430 and so proved to be my disciples. I have preached 00:21:00.430 --> 00:21:02.470 a good number of sermons on what the fruit is 00:21:02.470 --> 00:21:06.150 in John chapter 15. The one thing I somehow have 00:21:06.150 --> 00:21:09.170 overlooked is the fact that in the context here, 00:21:09.569 --> 00:21:12.490 verse 8 seems to refer to the fruit of our praying, 00:21:13.750 --> 00:21:17.630 results from our prayer life. He says, abide 00:21:17.630 --> 00:21:20.269 in me, let my words abide in you. Ask what you 00:21:20.269 --> 00:21:21.829 will of the Father, it will be done for you. 00:21:21.890 --> 00:21:23.730 The Father is glorified in this that you bear 00:21:23.730 --> 00:21:28.700 much fruit. And what is the fruit? The result 00:21:28.700 --> 00:21:31.799 of our praying because we know how to pray because 00:21:31.799 --> 00:21:36.160 the Word of God is abiding in us. And so the 00:21:36.160 --> 00:21:38.259 second element of their prayer meeting was this, 00:21:38.339 --> 00:21:41.440 it incorporated the Word of God and so must ours 00:21:41.440 --> 00:21:44.680 if we're gonna have a prayer meeting like they 00:21:44.680 --> 00:21:48.480 had. There's a third element we need to see going 00:21:48.480 --> 00:21:52.019 back to our text now in Acts chapter four. That 00:21:52.019 --> 00:21:58.240 is the element of faith. The God that we worship 00:21:58.240 --> 00:22:04.119 is actually in control of things, and He ordains 00:22:04.119 --> 00:22:07.500 our circumstances. Do you believe that? Well, 00:22:07.500 --> 00:22:10.779 you say, yeah, I think I do. The early church 00:22:10.779 --> 00:22:15.299 did. There was no equivocation with them. They 00:22:15.299 --> 00:22:18.480 saw that God's purposes are actually marked out 00:22:18.480 --> 00:22:23.980 beforehand, and that what God purposes, what 00:22:23.980 --> 00:22:28.589 God predestines to occur will occur. That is 00:22:28.589 --> 00:22:30.809 something they believed with all of their heart. 00:22:32.130 --> 00:22:34.609 Now we see this in part because they quote from 00:22:34.609 --> 00:22:40.490 Psalm 2 where the Gentiles and the peoples and 00:22:40.490 --> 00:22:43.789 the kings and the rulers are pictured as together 00:22:43.789 --> 00:22:48.490 in rebellion against God. Now the picture here 00:22:48.490 --> 00:22:53.950 is quite graphic. He pictures them as wild horses. 00:22:55.230 --> 00:23:00.269 kicking and stomping their feet. Notice that 00:23:00.269 --> 00:23:06.029 he includes four groups. Gentiles, peoples, kings, 00:23:06.190 --> 00:23:09.309 and rulers. And again, this week, for the first 00:23:09.309 --> 00:23:12.329 time, I saw that in verse 27, he identifies those 00:23:12.329 --> 00:23:15.670 four groups. What about the Gentiles? Well, he 00:23:15.670 --> 00:23:18.950 mentions the Gentiles in verse 27. What about 00:23:18.950 --> 00:23:21.089 the peoples? Well, again, in verse 27, he talks 00:23:21.089 --> 00:23:25.049 about the peoples of Israel. What about kings? 00:23:25.369 --> 00:23:28.269 He mentions Herod in verse 27. What about rulers? 00:23:28.769 --> 00:23:32.170 Pontius Pilate in verse 27. What is he saying 00:23:32.170 --> 00:23:34.430 here? He's saying that that prophecy from Psalm 00:23:34.430 --> 00:23:38.710 2 was exactly fulfilled in what happened to Jesus 00:23:38.710 --> 00:23:41.769 Christ. The Gentiles, the peoples of Israel, 00:23:41.890 --> 00:23:44.349 the kings, and the rulers were all gathered together 00:23:44.349 --> 00:23:49.009 against him because that was God's ordained plan. 00:23:50.410 --> 00:23:53.369 Now their faith seemed to go beyond that to be 00:23:53.369 --> 00:23:56.970 implying this That the opposition they were now 00:23:56.970 --> 00:24:00.410 facing The suffering that they were about to 00:24:00.410 --> 00:24:06.069 endure was also from God's hand It was no accident 00:24:06.069 --> 00:24:09.369 That in some way this too was the outworking 00:24:09.369 --> 00:24:17.829 of God's purpose. That was their faith Can you 00:24:17.829 --> 00:24:21.400 by faith See that in your own circumstances. 00:24:26.799 --> 00:24:28.700 I don't know what you may be facing today, but 00:24:28.700 --> 00:24:33.220 can you in those circumstances believe that God 00:24:33.220 --> 00:24:41.480 is in control? Can you believe that the same 00:24:41.480 --> 00:24:44.640 God who prophesied so exactly the sufferings 00:24:44.640 --> 00:24:48.599 of the Lord Jesus Christ and brought them to 00:24:48.599 --> 00:24:53.619 pass. Could also, even before you were born into 00:24:53.619 --> 00:24:57.299 the world, charter out your life so that what 00:24:57.299 --> 00:25:02.359 is happening to you is not an accident. The circumstances, 00:25:02.559 --> 00:25:05.259 the situation in which you find yourself today 00:25:05.259 --> 00:25:09.880 is not something that was by chance, but that 00:25:09.880 --> 00:25:16.920 the hand of God is active in your life. As these 00:25:16.920 --> 00:25:19.460 people went to prayer, they believed that with 00:25:19.460 --> 00:25:23.680 all their hearts. I'm sure they weren't too excited 00:25:23.680 --> 00:25:26.559 about the fact that suffering was on the horizon. 00:25:28.220 --> 00:25:32.279 But they knew that God was in control and that 00:25:32.279 --> 00:25:35.000 faith carried them through and it allowed them 00:25:35.000 --> 00:25:37.859 to pray with the freedom that we see here. And 00:25:37.859 --> 00:25:40.500 that brings us to the fourth element of their 00:25:40.500 --> 00:25:44.700 prayer and that is the petitions involved. Notice 00:25:44.700 --> 00:25:47.500 that they see themselves in verse 29 as bond 00:25:47.500 --> 00:25:51.819 servants. That word means those who have no rights. 00:25:53.259 --> 00:25:56.299 They saw themselves as servants who had nothing 00:25:56.299 --> 00:26:00.559 to claim for themselves. All they had to be concerned 00:26:00.559 --> 00:26:04.440 about was the Lord, their master, their kurios. 00:26:04.700 --> 00:26:06.880 That is the name, by the way, for Lord in verse 00:26:06.880 --> 00:26:10.779 29. It's the more common name for Lord. There 00:26:10.779 --> 00:26:13.400 are three petitions. Notice that they ask of 00:26:13.400 --> 00:26:19.970 Him. They first ask, take note of their threats, 00:26:20.470 --> 00:26:26.490 verse 29. Behold their threats, they say. Discern 00:26:26.490 --> 00:26:30.269 what they're threatening to do. If we were to 00:26:30.269 --> 00:26:32.289 put it into vernacular today, I think we'd say 00:26:32.289 --> 00:26:34.450 it something like this, Lord keep your eyes on 00:26:34.450 --> 00:26:42.950 them. Then they say, grant your servants that 00:26:42.950 --> 00:26:45.960 they may speak thy word. with all confidence. 00:26:47.259 --> 00:26:49.480 Notice that they did not request permission to 00:26:49.480 --> 00:26:55.279 be silent. They did not ask for relief from the 00:26:55.279 --> 00:26:58.339 persecution that was threatened. They did not 00:26:58.339 --> 00:27:01.079 say, Lord, would you please send some other missionaries 00:27:01.079 --> 00:27:06.440 to this city? They said, Lord, give us boldness, 00:27:06.740 --> 00:27:10.599 confidence that we may speak your word. That 00:27:10.599 --> 00:27:14.009 word boldness or confidence is rooted in a word 00:27:14.009 --> 00:27:17.589 that means freedom or unreservedness of speech. 00:27:18.789 --> 00:27:22.950 It means to be able to speak freely. It came 00:27:22.950 --> 00:27:26.029 to mean a cheerful kind of courage. That's what 00:27:26.029 --> 00:27:28.890 they were asking for. They said, Lord, let us 00:27:28.890 --> 00:27:32.630 have a freedom of speech, a cheerful courage 00:27:32.630 --> 00:27:38.190 as we minister your word to these people. And 00:27:38.190 --> 00:27:41.730 their third petition, was that God, by supernatural 00:27:41.730 --> 00:27:45.690 acts, would authenticate their speaking. Of course, 00:27:45.789 --> 00:27:47.829 that was in keeping with what was taking place 00:27:47.829 --> 00:27:50.670 there in those early days as the foundation of 00:27:50.670 --> 00:27:53.809 the church was being laid. They said, Lord, as 00:27:53.809 --> 00:27:56.170 we preach your word, give us boldness, and then 00:27:56.170 --> 00:27:58.230 would you stretch out your hand and heal people 00:27:58.230 --> 00:28:01.930 and do other signs and wonders through the name 00:28:01.930 --> 00:28:06.029 of your holy servant, Jesus. And so the final 00:28:06.029 --> 00:28:10.849 element of their prayer was petition. These people 00:28:10.849 --> 00:28:13.670 knew how to pray. It's interesting to me that 00:28:13.670 --> 00:28:16.569 they did not have confession of sin here. Not 00:28:16.569 --> 00:28:18.309 that that's wrong. There's an appropriate place 00:28:18.309 --> 00:28:21.210 for that. But we don't always have to confess 00:28:21.210 --> 00:28:23.190 our sins, especially if we've not been living 00:28:23.190 --> 00:28:27.390 in sin for that past little while. What they 00:28:27.390 --> 00:28:30.450 did here was to begin by praising God, worshiping 00:28:30.450 --> 00:28:33.769 Him, tying that together with the Word, believing 00:28:33.769 --> 00:28:36.130 God is in control, and then saying, Lord, here's 00:28:36.130 --> 00:28:40.799 what we ask. They asked from God's perspective. 00:28:41.519 --> 00:28:44.740 What they asked for was boldness. That the Lord 00:28:44.740 --> 00:28:47.500 then would take care of their threats and would 00:28:47.500 --> 00:28:49.740 do miracles to authenticate their preaching. 00:28:51.279 --> 00:28:54.279 Then the results of their prayer. Frankly, I've 00:28:54.279 --> 00:28:57.940 never seen results like this. It says that when 00:28:57.940 --> 00:29:01.019 they had prayed, the place where they had gathered 00:29:01.019 --> 00:29:03.839 together was shaken. Maybe that was the upper 00:29:03.839 --> 00:29:07.839 room. We don't really know. But the place, wherever 00:29:07.839 --> 00:29:12.599 it was, was literally shaken. This is not figurative. 00:29:13.500 --> 00:29:16.519 This is a literal thing that took place. The 00:29:16.519 --> 00:29:21.000 building shook with the power of God. I like 00:29:21.000 --> 00:29:23.160 to say that after their petitions, God simply 00:29:23.160 --> 00:29:25.039 nodded his head yes, and the whole place shook. 00:29:27.460 --> 00:29:29.200 It may be similar to the earthquake that took 00:29:29.200 --> 00:29:31.799 place in Acts chapter 16. You remember Philip, 00:29:32.000 --> 00:29:35.779 excuse me, Paul and Silas? were in the jail in 00:29:35.779 --> 00:29:40.099 Philippi, and they were praying and singing praises 00:29:40.099 --> 00:29:43.279 to God. And God shook the whole place with an 00:29:43.279 --> 00:29:46.279 earthquake. Now, this may have been an earthquake 00:29:46.279 --> 00:29:48.480 that took care of the whole city. It may have 00:29:48.480 --> 00:29:51.140 been a localized miracle that took care of the 00:29:51.140 --> 00:29:55.099 house. But one way or another, God indicated 00:29:55.099 --> 00:29:59.720 His powerful presence by the place shaking. And 00:29:59.720 --> 00:30:02.400 then their request was granted, for it says they 00:30:02.400 --> 00:30:06.839 were filled. with the Holy Spirit, empowered 00:30:06.839 --> 00:30:10.660 with the Holy Spirit, and that enabled them to 00:30:10.660 --> 00:30:15.220 speak boldly the Word of God. I think we need 00:30:15.220 --> 00:30:18.079 to clarify something here for the sake of some. 00:30:18.920 --> 00:30:21.299 What does it mean to speak boldly the Word of 00:30:21.299 --> 00:30:28.019 God? That does not mean to be crude or crass 00:30:28.019 --> 00:30:33.859 or brassy. It doesn't mean to be Guilty of finger 00:30:33.859 --> 00:30:38.180 pointing at other people. That is not boldness. 00:30:40.599 --> 00:30:43.559 When he talks about boldness, he is saying that 00:30:43.559 --> 00:30:46.940 they were able to give, with freedom of speech, 00:30:47.859 --> 00:30:52.579 a clear, compassionate presentation of the Word 00:30:52.579 --> 00:30:59.400 of God. That's what boldness is. A clear, compassionate 00:30:59.400 --> 00:31:02.930 explanation of the Word of God. with a freedom 00:31:02.930 --> 00:31:07.849 of speech, a cheerful courage. The filling of 00:31:07.849 --> 00:31:10.549 the Holy Spirit gave them a new awareness of 00:31:10.549 --> 00:31:13.710 the Spirit's presence in their lives and His 00:31:13.710 --> 00:31:17.710 power. I tell you, a praying church is a powerful 00:31:17.710 --> 00:31:21.789 church. This is the high water mark for the Jerusalem 00:31:21.789 --> 00:31:27.230 church. They began to slip from this point, but 00:31:27.230 --> 00:31:30.349 here we see the church functioning as it ought 00:31:30.349 --> 00:31:35.480 to function. Powerful, filled with the Spirit 00:31:35.480 --> 00:31:41.980 of God because it was a praying church. As we 00:31:41.980 --> 00:31:43.799 bring the message to a close, I'd like you to 00:31:43.799 --> 00:31:46.759 notice with me four convictions which strengthened 00:31:46.759 --> 00:31:50.500 this church in this time of crisis. The first 00:31:50.500 --> 00:31:54.920 conviction was regarding the power of God. Now 00:31:54.920 --> 00:31:56.839 when we talk about a conviction, we are talking 00:31:56.839 --> 00:31:58.720 about something that's more than an opinion, 00:31:59.440 --> 00:32:03.619 okay? An opinion is something that I believe, 00:32:03.680 --> 00:32:07.400 and I'll argue for it. But a conviction is something 00:32:07.400 --> 00:32:12.599 that I give my life to. And frankly, a man is 00:32:12.599 --> 00:32:16.400 not worth living if he does not have something 00:32:16.400 --> 00:32:20.079 he's convicted about, if there's not something 00:32:20.079 --> 00:32:24.500 that he's willing to give his life for. Are these 00:32:24.500 --> 00:32:26.440 people willing to give their lives, it seems 00:32:26.440 --> 00:32:30.319 to me, for four things? First of all, the reality 00:32:30.319 --> 00:32:33.140 of the power of God. They were convicted about 00:32:33.140 --> 00:32:37.440 that. All of nature is under his command and 00:32:37.440 --> 00:32:43.400 care. Martin Luther believed this. He saw God 00:32:43.400 --> 00:32:48.960 in all of his power. On one occasion, a papal 00:32:48.960 --> 00:32:52.759 envoy threatened Martin Luther with what would 00:32:52.759 --> 00:32:57.460 follow if he persisted in his course. and warned 00:32:57.460 --> 00:32:59.759 him that in the end he would be deserted by all 00:32:59.759 --> 00:33:04.640 of his supporters. Where will you be then, demanded 00:33:04.640 --> 00:33:10.519 the envoy of the pope? Luther answered, then 00:33:10.519 --> 00:33:16.059 as now, in the hands of God. You see, it does 00:33:16.059 --> 00:33:19.640 not take you and a thousand other people to bring 00:33:19.640 --> 00:33:23.859 a victory. As someone has said, you and God are 00:33:23.859 --> 00:33:27.720 a majority. Not because you are so great or I'm 00:33:27.720 --> 00:33:31.880 so great, but because God is all -powerful. These 00:33:31.880 --> 00:33:34.660 people knew the power of God and they were convicted 00:33:34.660 --> 00:33:38.680 of it. Are you convicted of that? Are you convicted 00:33:38.680 --> 00:33:40.839 as was the prophet in the Old Testament, they 00:33:40.839 --> 00:33:44.339 that are for us are more than they who are against 00:33:44.339 --> 00:33:48.700 us? They knew something of the power of God and 00:33:48.700 --> 00:33:51.640 they knew that that power could be experienced 00:33:51.640 --> 00:33:55.359 in their lives as they yielded to the Holy Spirit. 00:33:55.420 --> 00:33:59.279 and allowed him to live through them. There's 00:33:59.279 --> 00:34:01.700 a second conviction they had, and that is the 00:34:01.700 --> 00:34:06.599 futility of man's rebellion. They quoted from 00:34:06.599 --> 00:34:11.559 Psalm 2. I say again that man is pictured in 00:34:11.559 --> 00:34:16.000 Psalm 2 like a herd of wild horses, tossing their 00:34:16.000 --> 00:34:19.880 heads, stamping their feet, neighing, biting, 00:34:20.179 --> 00:34:25.010 kicking, bucking. And today, mankind is still 00:34:25.010 --> 00:34:31.690 the same way—snorting, trampling. But ultimately, 00:34:32.170 --> 00:34:37.670 mankind will be broken like a wild horse. Man's 00:34:37.670 --> 00:34:42.590 rebellion is futile. It cannot accomplish its 00:34:42.590 --> 00:34:46.730 ends. Man, as pictured in Psalm 2, is lifting 00:34:46.730 --> 00:34:50.710 his fist in the face of God and crying out in 00:34:50.710 --> 00:34:54.920 rebellion against Him. And God's response in 00:34:54.920 --> 00:34:57.760 Psalm 2, my friend, is not one of concern or 00:34:57.760 --> 00:35:00.559 worry. Let me tell you, He sits in the heavens 00:35:00.559 --> 00:35:04.699 and He laughs. And God must be getting a lot 00:35:04.699 --> 00:35:09.420 of laughs these days. Whether communism or Islam 00:35:09.420 --> 00:35:13.360 or secularism or humanism or atheism or materialism 00:35:13.360 --> 00:35:17.420 or any other ism, asm, or spasm, whatever form 00:35:17.420 --> 00:35:22.059 rebellion takes, Man's rebellion against God 00:35:22.059 --> 00:35:25.559 is doomed to fail. You say, okay, but what if 00:35:25.559 --> 00:35:29.960 the church is destroyed in the meantime? That 00:35:29.960 --> 00:35:33.960 can never happen because Jesus Christ has guaranteed 00:35:33.960 --> 00:35:37.280 the church to be victorious. And He said not 00:35:37.280 --> 00:35:39.659 even the gates of hell will be able to prevail 00:35:39.659 --> 00:35:43.579 against the church. The church will ultimately 00:35:43.579 --> 00:35:47.280 succeed and be victorious, whereas man and his 00:35:47.280 --> 00:35:52.769 rebellion will fail. A third conviction regarding 00:35:52.769 --> 00:35:56.690 the suffering of Jesus. They saw him suffering 00:35:56.690 --> 00:36:03.230 as God's holy servant. So often we think that 00:36:03.230 --> 00:36:06.909 suffering is the result of some sin. We are like 00:36:06.909 --> 00:36:09.309 the three miserable comforters that came to Job 00:36:09.309 --> 00:36:11.309 and said, Job, you must be a terrible sinner 00:36:11.309 --> 00:36:13.349 for all the sufferings that you're enduring. 00:36:14.829 --> 00:36:17.130 They were convicted in that early church that 00:36:17.150 --> 00:36:21.030 Jesus Christ was God's holy servant, sinless, 00:36:21.750 --> 00:36:24.650 and yet they observed that He underwent tremendous 00:36:24.650 --> 00:36:29.849 suffering, indeed suffering for them. And so 00:36:29.849 --> 00:36:33.409 their conviction was that if Jesus as God's holy 00:36:33.409 --> 00:36:37.449 servant suffered, then is it not appropriate 00:36:37.449 --> 00:36:41.369 that I who am His servant and still struggle 00:36:41.369 --> 00:36:45.360 with sin should suffer? Am I better than He? 00:36:45.400 --> 00:36:50.099 Do I expect less severe treatment or more acceptance 00:36:50.099 --> 00:36:53.980 in the world than He gained? Of course not. God 00:36:53.980 --> 00:36:58.019 was glorified in Jesus' suffering, and He was 00:36:58.019 --> 00:37:01.059 glorified in the suffering of that early church. 00:37:02.320 --> 00:37:05.480 He is glorified today in the sufferings of His 00:37:05.480 --> 00:37:10.340 people as we suffer as Christians. There is a 00:37:10.340 --> 00:37:12.360 final conviction, and that is the reality of 00:37:12.360 --> 00:37:16.280 prayer. These people did not see prayer as a 00:37:16.280 --> 00:37:21.619 hard duty, as some legalistic repetition of phrases, 00:37:22.880 --> 00:37:25.599 but rather we see that prayer to them was an 00:37:25.599 --> 00:37:30.820 emotion -filled, natural expression directed 00:37:30.820 --> 00:37:37.780 toward a person who is alive, hearing, knowledgeable, 00:37:37.940 --> 00:37:43.769 and able to act on their behalf. They did not 00:37:43.769 --> 00:37:48.250 follow some required format. They did not close 00:37:48.250 --> 00:37:53.409 their prayer in Jesus' name. But their prayer 00:37:53.409 --> 00:37:58.730 was rather spontaneous. It was the joyful exercise 00:37:58.730 --> 00:38:05.409 of their access into the presence of God. I think 00:38:05.409 --> 00:38:09.190 one of the ways the devil defeats us in our praying 00:38:09.190 --> 00:38:13.610 is that he puts us into bondage. to prayer lists 00:38:13.610 --> 00:38:17.230 and certain methods. Now, I want to be understood 00:38:17.230 --> 00:38:20.949 on that. I'm not against prayer lists. I'm not 00:38:20.949 --> 00:38:23.429 against using methods or following outlines. 00:38:24.090 --> 00:38:27.230 There's a place for all of those things. But 00:38:27.230 --> 00:38:30.570 so often when we get locked into them, our prayer 00:38:30.570 --> 00:38:35.170 life loses its spontaneity and its joy, and it 00:38:35.170 --> 00:38:41.599 becomes drudgery. We're often told that we should 00:38:41.599 --> 00:38:43.860 begin our prayer time by confessing our sins, 00:38:43.860 --> 00:38:47.599 and I don't disagree with that, but I also know 00:38:47.599 --> 00:38:50.320 this, that when I begin by focusing on my sins, 00:38:50.360 --> 00:38:52.820 I can so often get carried away focusing on my 00:38:52.820 --> 00:38:55.480 problems and my sins that I never really get 00:38:55.480 --> 00:38:57.800 around to lifting my heart in praise to God. 00:38:59.800 --> 00:39:02.639 There's a time to confess our sins. We are commanded 00:39:02.639 --> 00:39:06.840 indeed to do that, to acknowledge and agree with 00:39:06.840 --> 00:39:10.400 God regarding what we have done. But folks, remember 00:39:10.400 --> 00:39:13.420 this. Remember this. Satan loves to take all 00:39:13.420 --> 00:39:15.639 of your past acts and whip you with them and 00:39:15.639 --> 00:39:18.940 depress you. Remember this, that through the 00:39:18.940 --> 00:39:22.500 blood of Jesus, you are forgiven of all of your 00:39:22.500 --> 00:39:27.159 sins, past, present, and future. And at any time, 00:39:27.820 --> 00:39:30.480 you are welcome into the presence of your Heavenly 00:39:30.480 --> 00:39:34.320 Father. You can come running into his presence 00:39:34.320 --> 00:39:36.800 like a little child waiting to see his father 00:39:36.800 --> 00:39:41.579 and leap into his arms and know the hot tears 00:39:41.579 --> 00:39:45.079 of his joy as you pray and express your love 00:39:45.079 --> 00:39:49.360 to him. Realize that God wants you to come to 00:39:49.360 --> 00:39:52.900 him. He desires your presence, your communion, 00:39:53.260 --> 00:39:57.059 your fellowship. Don't allow other things to 00:39:57.059 --> 00:40:00.579 get in the way. Keep your prayer life fresh. 00:40:01.019 --> 00:40:06.599 Use that access that God has given to us so graciously 00:40:06.599 --> 00:40:12.599 in His Son. That access is provided through the 00:40:12.599 --> 00:40:15.679 wonderful working of the Lord Jesus Christ at 00:40:15.679 --> 00:40:18.679 the cross and what He did as He offered up Himself 00:40:18.679 --> 00:40:21.440 on our behalf and opened the way into the very 00:40:21.440 --> 00:40:24.739 presence of God so that now we may come boldly 00:40:24.739 --> 00:40:27.380 to the throne of grace, obtain mercy, and find 00:40:27.380 --> 00:40:32.159 grace to help in the time of need. I think I 00:40:32.159 --> 00:40:39.880 left back here an illustration of prayer. I don't 00:40:39.880 --> 00:40:42.840 see it there either. Did someone get in my Bible 00:40:42.840 --> 00:40:47.340 and take that out this morning? I guess I'll 00:40:47.340 --> 00:40:49.179 have to depend upon my memory, which is a little 00:40:49.179 --> 00:40:53.860 scary. A couple of friends of mine in Ghana, 00:40:54.179 --> 00:40:58.280 West Africa, wrote a prayer letter a few weeks 00:40:58.280 --> 00:41:01.969 ago. in which they related what they had to go 00:41:01.969 --> 00:41:06.090 through to get a telephone call from Accra, the 00:41:06.090 --> 00:41:11.050 capital of Ghana, to Michigan, Noreen's home. 00:41:13.070 --> 00:41:15.829 There's only the telephone in Accra for them 00:41:15.829 --> 00:41:18.809 to use, and to get there they had to drive 250 00:41:18.809 --> 00:41:24.949 miles. Days in advance, they had to make an appointment 00:41:24.949 --> 00:41:29.849 to use the telephone. And they had to put down 00:41:29.849 --> 00:41:32.829 a deposit for the number of minutes that they 00:41:32.829 --> 00:41:35.949 expected to talk. They had to put down a $50 00:41:35.949 --> 00:41:40.409 deposit on the telephone. And so they got down 00:41:40.409 --> 00:41:43.190 to the city of Accra, went in for their appointed 00:41:43.190 --> 00:41:47.889 time. They tried to get an operator, long -distance 00:41:47.889 --> 00:41:50.690 operator, to get them to the United States, and 00:41:50.690 --> 00:41:53.610 one was not available at that moment. So they 00:41:53.610 --> 00:41:56.570 lost their place in line. They had to wait a 00:41:56.570 --> 00:41:59.539 couple of hours. They got back in line. They 00:41:59.539 --> 00:42:01.800 were able to get the operator and they finally 00:42:01.800 --> 00:42:03.960 heard the telephone ring all the way over in 00:42:03.960 --> 00:42:08.579 Michigan from West Africa And nobody was home 00:42:08.579 --> 00:42:13.719 They lost their place after waiting for a number 00:42:13.719 --> 00:42:16.920 of hours in line They lost their place got their 00:42:16.920 --> 00:42:22.860 deposit back and drove 250 miles back home And 00:42:22.860 --> 00:42:25.179 he said in his letter you complained about that 00:42:25.179 --> 00:42:27.300 contraption called a telephone don't ever do 00:42:27.300 --> 00:42:32.860 it Do you realize that you and I, in an instant 00:42:32.860 --> 00:42:36.199 of time, can as it were pick up the telephone 00:42:36.199 --> 00:42:39.980 and talk directly to the God of the universe? 00:42:41.659 --> 00:42:46.099 No waiting in line. No static on the line. Do 00:42:46.099 --> 00:42:49.019 I have to put a deposit down? All we have to 00:42:49.019 --> 00:42:52.880 do is speak to Him and we have His attention. 00:42:53.280 --> 00:42:58.780 What a marvelous thing that is. That early church 00:42:58.780 --> 00:43:04.059 was convicted about the reality of prayer. That 00:43:04.059 --> 00:43:07.659 conviction made a difference. We've been talking 00:43:07.659 --> 00:43:11.139 this morning about the fact that a praying church 00:43:11.139 --> 00:43:16.340 is a powerful church. When we know something 00:43:16.340 --> 00:43:19.739 of the convictions that that early church knew, 00:43:20.480 --> 00:43:23.019 then we will know something of the power of God 00:43:23.019 --> 00:43:26.659 in our church as they knew it in those early 00:43:26.659 --> 00:43:31.460 days. If our church is going to be a praying 00:43:31.460 --> 00:43:37.280 church, it depends not just upon me and three 00:43:37.280 --> 00:43:42.139 or four other people, but upon all of us. For 00:43:42.139 --> 00:43:44.800 to the extent that you are a praying Christian, 00:43:45.340 --> 00:43:48.139 and I'm a praying Christian, and he's a praying 00:43:48.139 --> 00:43:51.219 Christian, and she's a praying Christian, to 00:43:51.219 --> 00:43:54.719 the extent that we are praying individual Christians, 00:43:55.199 --> 00:44:00.679 to that extent, we are a praying church. Let's 00:44:00.679 --> 00:44:12.900 pray together. Heavenly Father, I thank you for 00:44:12.900 --> 00:44:17.059 the example which the early church gave to us 00:44:17.059 --> 00:44:23.460 in this prayer meeting. My prayer is that you 00:44:23.460 --> 00:44:28.139 would teach us to pray and that you would call 00:44:28.139 --> 00:44:34.320 us. intimately and personally to a deeper prayer 00:44:34.320 --> 00:44:40.199 life. Father, you know which ones of us spend 00:44:40.199 --> 00:44:45.820 minutes in prayer each week and which ones of 00:44:45.820 --> 00:44:54.699 us spend hours each week in prayer. I pray that 00:44:54.699 --> 00:44:58.860 wherever we are in our prayer commitment, They 00:44:58.860 --> 00:45:02.219 would challenge us today to do something more. 00:45:05.239 --> 00:45:07.139 In Jesus' name, amen.