WHAT HAPPENS WEHEN THE
CHURCH PRAYS
Acts 12
Prayer
carries a wonderful privilege with it. God has opened the door to His throne
and invited us to come to Him by way of petitioning
Hebrews 4:16 Let us then approach God's throne of grace with confidence, so that we
may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
A wife invited some people to dinner. At the table, she turned
to their six-year-old daughter and said, "Would you like to say the
blessing?" "I wouldn’t know what to say," the girl replied. "Just
say what you hear Mommy say," the wife answered. The daughter bowed her
head and said, "Lord, why on earth did I invite all these people to
dinner?"
·
God hears us
when we call to Him and answers us when we pray in accordance with His will.
Jeramiah 33:3 'Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable
things you do not know.'
1 John 5:14-15 This is the confidence we
have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he
hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we
have what we asked of him.
·
There are
many privileges and promises associated with prayer.
·
Every one of
us has experienced the power of personal prayer. We have experienced times
where we have called out to God in the secret place of prayer and He has heard
and answered us in power, not for our glory but for His.
Charlene Ellison?
·
There is something
special when you enter God’s presence for yourself and you talk to Him in
secret. It’s something we should all do and do often.
·
There is
power when the Church prays together as a corporate body. There is a special
dynamic that comes into play when the Church comes together united in faith and
purpose to seek God’s face in prayer.
Let’s look at
this passage as I share some truths on the subject great things happen when the
Church prays.
I.
The Church’s Problems
Act 12:1-5 It was about this time that
King Herod arrested some who belonged to the church, intending to persecute
them. 2 He had James, the brother
of John, put to death with the sword. 3
When he saw that this met with approval among the Jews, he proceeded to seize
Peter also. This happened during the Festival of Unleavened Bread. 4 After arresting him, he put him in prison,
handing him over to be guarded by four squads of four soldiers each. Herod
intended to bring him out for public trial after the Passover. 5 So Peter was kept in prison, but the
church was earnestly praying to God for him.
a.
There were
attacks as James had been beheaded by Herod and Peter was on death row awaiting
his own execution.
b.
The Jews
hated the gospel and so they pressed these attacks against the Church.
c.
Herod
persecuted the Church as it gave him political advantage
d.
There was
apprehension as the Church didn’t know what the future held and as a result of
this fear and concern came upon them regarding the future of the Church.
A mouse looked out through a crack in a farmhouse wall and was
distraught to discover a mousetrap. When he went to tell his buddies, the
chicken said, "Sorry, pal, not my problem." The pig said, "I'll
pray for you." The cow was busy and said, "Come back later."
Dejected, the mouse was left alone to handle his problem. That night, a
poisonous snake got caught in the mousetrap and when the farmer's wife went to
investigate she got bitten. She developed a raging fever, and everyone knows
you treat a fever with chicken soup. So the farmer took his axe to the barn for
the main ingredient! As his wife's condition deteriorated and neighbors
gathered, he had to butcher the pig to feed them. Finally, she died. So many
people came to the funeral that he ended up slaughtering the cow to make dinner
for them all. In the end, everybody lost!
e.
There was and
still is an adversary.
f.
Herod killed
James and arrested Peter and this brought pleasure to the Jews.
g.
Both Herod
and the Jews were responsible for the persecution as instruments in the hands
of Satan.
h.
They hated
the church, the gospel and the Lord that they served.
i.
We still have
the same problems today. If there was a time where the Church should be united
in prayer, it is now.
II.
The Church’s Response
Acts12:5 So Peter was kept in
prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him.
a.
There is a
word in verse 5 that makes a difference, the word BUT.
b.
The situation
is desperate, but!
c.
Peter might
be put to death, but!
d.
When faced
with overwhelming problems the Church called out to God and prayed.
Watch and
Pray By A. Gadsby
Alas, what hourly dangers rise!
What snares best my way!
To heave O let me lift my eyes,
And hourly watch and pray.
How oft my mournful thoughts complain,
And melt in flowing tears!
My weak resistance, ah, how vain!
How strong my foes and fears!
O gracious God, in whom I live,
My feeble efforts aid;
Help me to watch, and pray, and strive,
Though trembling and afraid.
Increase my faith, increase my hope,
When foes and fears prevail!
And bear my fainting spirit up,
Or soon my strength will fail.
Whene’er temptations fright my heart,
Or lure my feet aside,
O God, thy powerful aid impart, -
My guardian and my guide.
O keep me in the heavenly way,
And bid the tempter flee;
And let me never, never stray,
From happiness and thee.
III.
The Church’s Prayer
a. It was fervent
prayer.
i.
It is a
picture of the Church pouring out their hearts towards God seeking Him to meet their
needs.
b. It was faithful
prayer.
i.
By this I
mean they prayed and believed God would hear their prayer.
ii.
They prayed
for Peter and their faith makes the difference between answered and unanswered
prayer.
c. It was focused
prayer.
i.
Their focus
for the prayer meeting was Peter.
ii.
When we ask
God for specific needs in prayer and He answers, it brings glory to Him,
assures us of our relationship with Him and our faith is increased.
iii.
When you
pray, be specific.
d. It was family
prayer.
i.
The Church
had gathered to pray for one of their own.
ii.
They sought
God’s help for a brother in need.
iii.
How much time
do we spend praying for other people?
iv.
People that
may be facing a life threatening disease?
v.
Those are the
people that we should be touching heaven for.
vi.
There are
others who are lost. We should be touching heaven for them.
vii.
People that
are struggling with needs, burdens and problems are the people that we should
be touching heaven for.
viii.
Your brothers
and sisters in Christ need you to touch heaven on their behalf.
IV.
The Church’s Power
Acts 12:12-17 When this had dawned on him, he went to the
house of Mary the mother of John, also called Mark, where many people had
gathered and were praying. 13
Peter knocked at the outer entrance, and a servant named Rhoda came to answer
the door. 14 When she recognized
Peter's voice, she was so overjoyed she ran back without opening it and
exclaimed, "Peter is at the door!" 15
"You're out of your mind," they told her. When she kept insisting
that it was so, they said, "It must be his angel." 16 But Peter kept on knocking, and when they
opened the door and saw him, they were astonished. 17 Peter motioned with his hand for them to be quiet and
described how the Lord had brought him out of prison. "Tell James and the
other brothers and sisters about this," he said, and then he left for
another place.
a.
It was a time
of powerful salvation.
b.
God
intervened and saved Peter’s life because of the Church praying and asking Him
to
c.
There were
powerful surprises when Peter arrived at the house where prayers were being
offered.
d.
God proved
sovereign over Herod.
e.
We need to be
people that grab a hold of God as individuals and as a Church.
f.
The only way
things will change is if we as a Church come together in unity and seek God in
prayer because great things happen when the Church prays.
g.
Let’s see
what happens when we pray.
WELLINGTON, New Zealand--Grant Stubbs and Owen Wilson were
flying up the sloping valley of Pelorus Sound in New Zealand, admiring the
beautiful panoramic view. Then there was a cough. "Bless you, Owen."…"For what,
Grant?"…"Your cough."…"I didn’t cough."…"Oh."…Then there was a wheeze and a
sputter, then silence as their micro light plane engine died. Both men turned
out to be Christians. They told the Associated Press that they both immediately
prayed to God for help. He said he prayed during the ill-fated flight Sunday
that the tiny craft would get over the top of a ridge and that they would find
a landing site that was not too steep--or in the nearby sea. Wilson said that
the pair would have been in deep trouble if the fuel had run out five minutes
earlier. "If it had to run out, that was the place to be," he said. "There was an
instantaneous answer to prayer as we crossed the ridge and there was an
airfield--I didn’t know it existed ’til then." After Wilson glided the powerless craft to a
landing on the grassy strip, the pair noticed they were beside a 20-foot-tall
sign that read, "Jesus is Lord." "When we saw that, we started laughing,"
Stubbs said.
No comments:
Post a Comment