As we consider how we might pray, particularly when we find ourselves in threatening or hostile situations Acts 4:23-31 offers some valuable insights.
You will know the story well.
Jesus had resurrected, ascended and the filled his disciples with the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. As they preached about Jesus thousands were being added to their numbers. A lame beggar had been healed in the name of Jesus.
And that is when the religious authorities got interested. Simply put, they were not happy. And so Peter and John were arrested, questioned and then released with the warnings and threats: "Do not speak in the name of Jesus."
After their release they went straight to their own people, their relatives and friends in Christ, and reported everything the Council had said to them (23), and then immediately turned together in prayer to God (24a).
What was the apostles’ reaction to the Council’s ban and threats?
We have seen the apostles in the Council; now we see them in the church. Their prayers reflected the boldness they had shown as they spoke about Jesus.
Their first words were “Sovereign Lord”, this was a term used of a slave owner and of a ruler of unchallengeable power.
The Sanhedrin might threaten them and try to keep them quiet, but they were more interested in what God had said than the threats they had received.
It is important to note that before the people came to any petition, they reminded themselves who were praying to.
What can we learn?Firstly, he is the God of creation, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and everything in them (24).
Secondly, he is the God of revelation who spoke by the Holy Spirit through their mouths and amongst others through the mouth of David, and in Psalm 2 had foretold the world’s opposition to his Christ, with nations raging, peoples plotting, kings standing and rulers assembling against the Lord’s Anointed (25–26).
Thirdly, he is the God of history, who had been working silently behind the scenes to do what he had decided beforehand should happen (28).
Only now, having humbled themselves and remembered who it was that they were praying to that their intercession begins.
They had three main requests.
The first was that God would consider their threats (29a).
It was not a prayer that they would be vindicated or that God would smite those opposed to their mission, nor even that their threats would remain unfulfilled, so that the church would be kept in peace and safety, but only that God would consider them, that he would bear them in his mind.
The second petition was that God would enable them his servants to speak his Word with great boldness (29b, undeterred by the Council’s prohibition and unafraid of their threats.
The third prayer was that God would stretch out his hand to heal and to perform miraculous signs and wonders in and through the name of … Jesus (30).Not miracles that involved vengeance directed towards their oppressors, but rather miracles of mercy that would reflect the love of God.
They asked that the word and the signs might go together. That the signs would be a powerful testimony to the risen Lord Jesus.
God answered their prayers with a manifestation of his power: the place where they were was shaken (32) and they were all again filled with the Holy Spirit. In his kindness he also answered their specific request (29). We read that they spoke the word of God boldly (31).
How Can We Pray in A Hostile World?
What can we learn for this prayer that might help us as we face the challenges of living for and serving Jesus in a world that is increasingly hostile?
Firstly, we need to begin with God. Remember who he is. The one we pray to is the creator of the universe. He is all powerful. He wants to reveal himself. He is sovereign over history. As we do that, as we begin with God we find our faith starts to rise. He is almighty. He is also our father.
Secondly, we need to be specific. If we need to, break our request down. What is it we are asking God for? It is so interesting that the focus was not they. It was not for vengeance or for their protection; it was God and the coming of his kingdom on earth. It was that Jesus would be glorified.
That is our desire. That his kingdom would come and his will be done.
And thirdly that we would speak his word with boldness, and step out offering prayers for healing the world would “taste and see that the Lord is good (Psalm 34:8)”.
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