Fall In 03
September 27, 2020

Prayer

Acts 4:23-37

Fall In 03 | Mick Veach | lead pastor | first aired on 09.27.20

Read Scripture

As soon as they were freed, Peter and John returned to the other believers and told them what the leading priests and elders had said.

When they heard the report, all the believers lifted their voices together in prayer to God: “O Sovereign Lord, Creator of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them—

You spoke long ago by the Holy Spirit through our ancestor David, your servant, saying,

‘Why were the nations so angry?

Why did they waste their time with futile plans?

The kings of the earth prepared for battle;
the rulers gathered together against the Lord and against his Messiah.’

“In fact, this has happened here in this very city! For Herod Antipas, Pontius Pilate the governor, the Gentiles, and the people of Israel were all united against Jesus, your holy servant, whom you anointed.

But everything they did was determined beforehand according to your will.

And now, O Lord, hear their threats, and give us, your servants, great boldness in preaching your word.

Stretch out your hand with healing power; may miraculous signs and wonders be done through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”

After this prayer, the meeting place shook, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. Then they preached the word of God with boldness.

All the believers were united in heart and mind. And they felt that what they owned was not their own, so they shared everything they had.

The apostles testified powerfully to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and God’s great blessing was upon them all.

There were no needy people among them, because those who owned land or houses would sell them and bring the money to the apostles to give to those in need.

For instance, there was Joseph, the one the apostles nicknamed Barnabas (which means “Son of Encouragement”). He was from the tribe of Levi and came from the island of Cyprus.

He sold a field he owned and brought the money to the apostles. —Acts 4:23-37

  1. Review

    a. All In People have a passion to Know and Love Jesus
    b. All In People have a passion to Make Him Known
    c. If we are going to accomplish our mission, we have to have
    Community Groups—caring for one another

    1. Discipleship—growing together
    2. Evangelism—being the hands and feet of Jesus
    3. Prayer—praying together

  2. Our Vision is to see healthy, multiethnic church expressions raised up around the world

    a. This will only occur if we are engaged in the above
    b. Relationships are essential and proximity changes things
    c. Cohorts are meeting now to learn and grow

  3. Prayer is one of the spiritual disciplines that causes more guilt and confusion than any other discipline

  4. Prayer is not:

    a. Fancy words that impress others and God
    b. Going through your checklist and now God is obligated
    c. A complicated theological exercise
    d. For the super-spiritual or professional

  5. Prayer is:

    a. Expressing your heart to God
    b. Aligning with God’s purpose—Matthew 6:9-13
    c. Calling down heaven on earth—Matthew 6:10
    d. Being directed by the Holy Spirit—Romans 8:26-27

  6. We pray because we are changed when we are in His presence.

  7. A note to acknowledge: Satan will stand against you in this area more than any other discipline

    a. Pray Ephesians 6:10-20

  8. Let’s look at the early church and how they practiced prayer and how this prayer not only changed them it changed the world

    a. Cowards turned into courageous defenders of the Gospel
    b. They became bold and courageous and this is a supernatural thing

All In People Understand Aspects of Courageous Prayer

I. Courageous

Reveal Answer
comes from Jesus

A. Before the Sanhedrin the disciples declare there is only one way, and His name is Jesus—Acts 4:12
We are moving closer in our country to similar opposition

B. They recognized their courage and declared this must come from being with Jesus—Acts 4:13

  1. What does it mean that they had been with Jesus?

    a. Jesus has already ascended to heaven
    b. Three options here:

    i. They had been with Jesus prior
    ii. They met Him in a supernatural way
    iii. The Holy Spirit has met with them

  2. The conclusion is that they spent time in the presence of God and as a result had incredible courage

  3. This is what we call prayer

C. They declare that they must obey God over men which is a supernatural thing when death is the result of their action—Acts 19-20

D. Biblical Examples:

  1. Moses victory in battle—Exodus 17
  2. Peter escapes from prison as the church prayed—Acts 12:12
  3. Paul & Silas pray and they escape prison—Act 16:25-26

E. All In people understand that their foundation is prayer and the more you spend time with Jesus, the more you desire it
It is contagious for all who are engaged

Key Point—every incredible feat for God is bathed in prayer … it is the preparation period

II. Courageous

Reveal Answer
is
Reveal Answer

A. Peter and John are released and as a result all the people lifted up Jesus’ name in praise—Acts 4:24-26

  1. Acknowledging who was in charge
  2. Giving proper credit where it is due—Gideon and the Midianites—Judges 7
  3. Understanding where the power comes from
  4. Declaring His goodness and power

B. This lifted the early churches’ faith and enabled them to experience greater feats in the days ahead

C. Courageous prayer does the following for us:

  1. It keeps us focused
  2. It gives us perspective
  3. It gives us hope
  4. It gives us excitement to serve

D. Praise in our prayer allows us to keep things aligned

E. Biblical examples of praise:

  1. Joshua the walls of Jericho—Joshua 6
  2. Read the Psalms and use them

F. All In folks gather for praise and prayer and we are committed to doing this, without it our mission is impossible

  1. Friday Night Prayer
  2. Prayer Teams during Sunday service
  3. Prayer Week
  4. Prayer Walks
  5. Men’s Prayer Groups
  6. Women’s Prayer Groups

Key point—praise should be on our lips continuously throughout our day

III. Courageous

Reveal Answer
Is
Reveal Answer

A. The church understood their difficult situation and as a result came boldly to Jesus—Acts 4:29-31
B. The result of their bold petition:

  1. Boldness and Courage
  2. Healing
  3. Miraculous sings and wonders in Jesus’ name
  4. Place was shaken
  5. They were filled with the Holy Spirit
  6. Spoke the Word of God

C. All In folks storm heaven’s gate with perseverance and consistency in their prayers

D. The result of this type of prayer is revival

  1. O.T. & N.T. show that people constantly forget their great salvation and are warned against it—Deuteronomy 4:9, 2 Peter 1:9
    Both time periods have examples of cycles of decline—Judges and Ephesus

  2. When revival comes as a result of our prayers the evidence will be obvious

    a. Believers are filled with power in order to testify to the resurrection—Acts 2
    b. Power to know the love of Christ deeper—Ephesians 3:14-21
    c. Power to say no to sin—I Corinthians 10:13
    d. Nominal believers come alive—Revelation 2:1-7
    e. Non-believers come to Christ

E. Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart—Psalm 37:4

  1. We come boldly to the throne on behalf of things that we know are His will
  2. Unreached peoples—Matthew 24:14
  3. Injustice—Matthew 25
  4. Orphans and Widows—James 5

  5. Laborers—Matthew 9:37-38
    God is calling some of you to next steps for His Kingdom

    a. Marketplace—Fresh Expressions
    b. Local Church Ministries
    c. Missions

  6. Preaching—Paul continually asks for prayer—Ephesians 6:20

F. The early church changed the world because they were crazy enough to believe God would do it

G. All In people have to move to this point of faith

Key Point—All In people are urgent about the mission and ask God for His Kingdom to come

IV. Courageous

Reveal Answer
Has
Reveal Answer
Reveal Answer

A. The early church saw the result of this type of prayer. It was amazing—Acts 4:32-37

  1. They were of one mind and heart—John 17 realized
  2. Generosity was the norm
  3. Cared for each other’s needs

B. The challenge for many sitting here is that we have not seen the result of courageous prayer

C. Some have seen and forgotten

D. This morning we are going to call out as one voice that He will give us more of Him and His purpose

Key point—God is desiring to give us more than we could ask or imagine—Jeremiah 33:3

Call to Action:

  1. Set up a time to meet daily for 15 minutes in prayer with Jesus
  2. Create a prayer journal or list
  3. Say, “Yes” to however He is calling you


Want a record of your sermon notes for today? Click the EMAIL button to send a copy!