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Background passage: Acts 3:1-4:22
Focal passage: Acts 4:23-31
The book of Acts is filled with drama and excitement, but sandwiched in between the signs and wonders, the riots and imprisonment, the shipwrecks and significant decisions, readers will discover a church at prayer. In our passage today we will see how the early Christians prayed in a time of crisis.
Peter and John have been changed by the gift of the Holy Spirit. No longer hiding behind closed doors they are bold in their proclamation of the Gospel. The two men go to the temple to pray as is their custom and they encounter a man who has been lame from birth. William H. Willimon writes in his teaching commentary on the book of Acts, that the lame man does what helpless people often do, “he asks for a handout.” To his amazement, the lame man receives much more than money, he receives healing. This healing power is “unleashed in the name of Jesus” (Acts 3:6). Throughout the book of Acts, the name of Jesus is the name by which people are healed and individuals receive new life.
The crowds gather and Peter proclaims a message of salvation in Jesus Christ, who God raised from the dead. The resurrection of Jesus makes it possible for those who trust in him to have confidence that they too will live again. The people are stirred by the preaching of the apostles and the religious authorities take notice. The same people who handed Jesus over to the Romans to be crucified now arrest Peter and John. The rulers confer and determine that they fear the reaction of the crowd. For the time being, they release the disciples and simply threaten them, “speak no more to anyone in his name” (Acts 4:17). Everything that happened to Jesus is now happening to his followers.
Focal passage: Acts 4:23-31
After being released from prison, the two disciples run to find their people. At least some of the church gathered to pray and wait on news from their friends. Peter and John tell the church about the threats. In the midst of the crisis, the church responds.
There would be no action until there was prayer. Though only one prayer is given, Luke tells us that the people raised their voices together. Perhaps one person prayed and the rest of the group gave assent to the prayer. No matter how the words were spoken the prayer was intense. Fear has a way of creating focus. They had just been commanded by the authorities to stop doing the very thing Jesus had told them to do. They had seen what had happened to Jesus at the hands of those who were threatening them. They had every reason to be afraid. This was a crisis and it threatened to stop the spread of the Gospel.
What is our first reaction to crisis? Do we have differing reactions to natural disasters than we do to a cultural or moral crisis?
Every part of this prayer is significant and will teach us three things about how to pray in the midst of our own times of crisis.
Verses 24-28
1. These individuals are unified in their mission and now they are unified in their prayers. There is power because they are lifting their voices together. Their hearts are as one.
What is required for our community of faith to pray with one heart and voice?
2. Notice that this prayer addresses God as Sovereign Lord, the One who created the world. The Christians are acknowledging that God has absolute power as a master would have over a slave. As Creator, the Lord has complete power over all that he has made. In their address to God, these Christians are reminding themselves that God is supreme over all the forces of the world, including the leaders who are threatening the Christians. God is Sovereign and will continue to work out his redemptive purposes even in the midst of the evil of men. This is not to attempt to put a happy face on pain and suffering. Those disciples who were released will eventually lose their lives for the Gospel. When they addressed God as Sovereign Lord and Creator of the universe, they were reminded that he is in charge. They proclaim that God’s purposes will not be thwarted.
How might it change your praying if you took the time to remember the power of the One you address?
3. Their prayer is saturated in Scripture. Verses 25 and 26 contain a quote from Psalm 2, which says that God has placed his people in the midst of the warring and violent nations of the earth as a sign of his coming kingdom. God’s anointed Messiah will bring his kingdom rule and his peace and justice into the world. Through God’s Son, God will give the promised land not only to Israel but to all the nations of the world. The threatened followers of Christ are rooting themselves in the promises of Scripture as they cry out to God. As they pray, they remember all that has just happened in the death of Jesus. They connect both Herod and Pontius Pilate to the plan of God. The crucifixion of God’s perfect Son is the greatest evil that had ever been done in the world. God takes the most devastating evil event and uses it for his redemptive purposes. He will use the cross to bring the greatest good to all mankind.
What is required of you if you intend to incorporate the promises of God into your prayers? How might a focus on God’s promises to his people change your praying?
Verses 29-30
In unity of heart and purpose, focused on the sovereign power of God, speaking the promises of Scripture, remembering that God is working out his redemptive purposes in the world, the church is able to pray with confidence. Now they voice their simple request:
1. Make us bold witnesses!
2. Keep working in our midst!
Facing persecution, this is the prayer of their hearts. These men and women will take their place in God’s great story of redemption. They will be a part of all that God is doing in their world.
Verse 31
Luke tells us that the place was shaken and they were filled. Shaken is the Old Testament reference to having an encounter with God. As they cried out to God, these Christians recognized that God was there with them. They could sense his power. The Spirit has driven out their fear. The Spirit will give them the power to give bold witness. Their lives will be the evidence that God has answered their prayers. The gospel will move forward because these Christians have connected their prayers to their witness.
How do we connect our lives to the story of these early Christians? What is our reaction to adversity? What kinds of prayers do we offer when we feel pressured by a world who does not believe in Jesus? How might we link the work of ministry to the practice of prayer?
