The Power Of Prayer | Acts 11 & 12:1-17 | Pastor Keith

Please take a seat up your Bibles to the book of Acts

Acts 11 · chapter mention

Chapter 11. We're going to do 11 and 12

through to verse 17 tonight and it's pretty easy because Chapter

11 is pretty much a carbon copy of chapter 10.

After the Holy Spirit fell on the House of Cornelius, Acts

Acts 10 · chapter mention

chapter 10, Peter has a vision. Remember the animals, unclean

things that aren't kosher are low down as Peter's on Simon the

Tanner's house. Meanwhile, 48 kilometres to the

north on the beach Caesarea Romans under a centurion called

Cornelius, Cornelius is visited by an Angel and tells him send

someone. God tells him, send some people

to get Peter, bring Peter up and Peter will have words to tell

you as Peter comes down because he said, no, I'm not going to do

that, Lord, as he views these animals.

So I've never eaten any of those creeping things and crawling

things, none of those things. They're not kosher.

And God says, hey, what I tell you to eat, what I tell you is

clean and it's no longer common. It's clean three times he's told

that as Peter comes down knock on the door.

Cornelius has sent a soldier that serves under him two

servants. You Peter.

Yes, come with us. No, we'll stay overnight.

So Gentiles and Hebrews because the church is basically in

Jerusalem being all Hebrew to this point.

Peter knows I got to go with him because God said you got to go

with him goes the 48 kilometres. They finally get there.

The next day they take off. Peter's starts preaching.

He said, why are you? Why are you here?

Well, he's Cornelius because an Angel appeared to me.

He said you're going to be on the House and I had to come some

down. And then they connect the two.

What's going on? And so he says, well, what do

you want me to say? Cornelius said, well, God said,

tell us what's what? You'd have the words.

So Peter begins to talk and gives them the gospel of Jesus

Christ. He's part way through.

When the Holy Spirit falls upon the Gentiles, they start

speaking in tongues, which means they are praising the Lord.

So it's like a Gentile Pentecost.

All they hear is praising the Lord.

Peter says, oh man, this is what this is about.

I truly understand what's going on.

You aren't common at all because they've been great racial

prejudice breaking Jew and Gentile.

And So what happened is Peter says there's no reason I can't,

you shouldn't be baptised. So they were baptised.

Now Peter heads back. The news gets to Jerusalem as he

heads back. Troubles waiting.

As always. When God moves, Satan will seek

to torpedo such, and usually it's from a place we normally

don't expect. The problem from within the

church. Peter arrives back in Jerusalem

and waiting for him was a great and angry opposition.

Christians, Jews and it says in Acts 11 verse 2, when Peter came

Acts 11:2

up to Jerusalem, those of the circumcision contended with him.

I looked it up contended in the Greek means disputed.

Now when a Jew disputes man, you go to Israel even when they're

just talking about what what shop they're going to go and do

how much coffee is they they go off, you know, and opposed

Peter. That's what that word contended.

So Peter explains in great detail.

He goes through exactly when it while I was on the roof, some of

the Tanners and meanwhile this happened verse 17, he says Peter

lances the argument of going how can you even be in the house

with these Gentiles, Romans as well Italians.

Peter explains that God did a work there and he saw the Holy

Spirit. He says in Acts 1117.

If therefore God gave them the same gift as He gave us, what

was the gift, The gift of the Holy Spirit?

When we believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I

could withstand God? This is God.

Peter says Acts verse 181118 when they heard these things.

This is how you argue. You can argue opinions and you

can argue you know what you think and what I you know

perception, but the word finishes the argument.

When they heard these things, they became silent and they

glorified God saying then God has also granted to the Gentiles

repentance to life. So that was a massive race shift

and thinking to the Hebrew church now that God has Gentiles

in the church as well. And it says the verse 24 that

the gospel spread yet again, broke out more souls being saved

and added to the church. And for the first time in verse

25, it says they're there in the book of Acts 11, that the

disciples of Christ were called Christians for the very first

time. But you know, Satan never rests.

And I don't know about you, but he doesn't rest, does he?

You know you can't break. Take a break.

He's just there all the time. You can't have a spell, can you?

One of the things I'm looking forward to going to heaven is

resting from the battle. Even though I know we fight from

victory, we're still in the battle.

He never rests because he's got he wants.

He wants your soul. He wants your marriage.

He wants to destroy your children.

And He's waiting for you every day to confront you.

But so too, thankfully, is our Lord, the Good Shepherd, and He

continues to watch over us, Jesus Christ, and protect us so

that Satan cannot snatch us out of our Father's hand, no matter

how much he tries. John 1028 And I give them

eternal life, and they shall never perish.

Note that that's you. You and I will never perish,

neither shall anyone snatch them out of my hand.

We're always in His hand. My father who has given them to

me is greater than all and no one is able to snatch them out

of my father's hand. So Satan attacks the church head

on. Now this is big time and and

this is what's going to be kind of like a snapshot of the last

days, very last days. And also during the tribulation

period as Herod in Acts chapter 12 when we pick up the story

Acts 12 · chapter mention

verse one. Now about that time Herod the

king stretched out his hand to harass some from the church and

he killed James the brother of John with the sword took off his

head because he saw that it pleased the Jews.

He proceeded further to seize Peter, also arrested Peter.

Now it was during the Days of Unleavened Bread, so when he had

arrested him, Herod put him in prison, delivered him to 4

squads of soldiers to keep him, intending to bring him before

the people after Passover. Why?

To kill him. And Peter's been in gaol before,

but this time, notice there's four squads of soldiers.

This time the battle, the attack from Satan is really horrific.

Have you ever found yourself in a situation where there seems,

and I have no practical logical way out, Like where you're

you're in this, you know, it's a spiritual attack and there's

just no practical way out. A place in which you know and

takes the true meaning of what it really is to be actually

helpless? Well, the Bible is full of such

situations. In the gospel of Mark and in

Luke's gospel, remember a fellow called Jairus, his daughter, 12

years old, she's dying. She's ill in a bed on a bed.

He's rushed down Jairus. He's trying to get to Jesus.

Jesus in there's in the middle of the pack of crowd people.

He can't, you know, and there's no, you know, there's, he can't

just burst through. Everyone's wanting to get to

Jesus as well. Then he finally gets the fright

face Jesus, and then he's told by a servant he's come down and

they don't bother with the master because your daughter's

dead. Like devastated, Jesus hears

that. He tells Joris, hey, have faith,

have faith. It's in that same passage that

in that crowd where Joris was trying to get through was a

woman who had been haemorrhaging for 12 years.

You mean losing blood for 12 years?

How weak she would have been, how anaemic she would have been.

She'd spent all her earnings, all that she had on doctors and

cures and none of them are working.

And she is at her last moment and she's trying to get to touch

Jesus. She's just a frail, frail woman.

She's got no chance to get through the crowd tonight.

God wants you and I to learn and know and then experience the

absolute wonder and power on what happens when there is

constant, heartfelt prayer. God wants us this evening to

know that at those most helpless of times, that's when you pray

the best. When storms of dismay have

blackened out the sky, seemingly blocking heaven from us, when

the waves of hurt relentlessly pound, you're in agony.

Wash over. In our lives, our situations,

our loved ones can be turned by prayer.

Prayers that without ceasing can turn a storm quiet a storm and

can reach the very throne of God to get us an answer.

Because it's the powerful, constant prayer that turns a

hopeless situation to one of hope. 2 Corinthians 10 verse 4.

2 Corinthians 10:4

You all know it. The weapons of our warfare are

not carnal. Stop fighting.

Stop fighting your wars yourself.

You lose. Stop.

But they are mighty in God for pulling down strongholds,

impossibles, Jericho's giants. James 516.

The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much

Herod. He's one of the several of

Herod's found in the Bible, a wicked dynasty in Palestine.

This one is a grip of the first, his grandfather being Herod the

Great. And so Herod has James, the

brother of John, beheaded by sword.

It's an enormous attack on the church, a massive blow to the

apostles. Why, yes, Stephen has been

killed, but this is one of the apostles.

This is one of the 12, This is one of the 12 that Jesus said.

You guys are going to go into the world.

You're going to turn the world right way around and one's been

killed. Remember back in Mark chapter 10

Mark 10:35

verse 35, James and John, the sons of Zebedee came to Jesus

said, teacher, we want to you to do for us whatever we ask.

Can you do that? And he said to them, well, what

do you want me to do for you? They said to him, grant us that

we can sit one on right and one on the left when you come into

your Kingdom. Jesus said to them, you don't,

you don't know what you're asking.

Are you able to drink the cup that I drink and be baptised

with the baptism that I'm baptised with?

It was going to cost them. Why did God allow James to be

taken and not Peter? You've been in a hospital ward

in someone's past and they why did God allow this?

Who is to say what a person's length of life is to be?

Therefore we ought to live every day as it indeed may be our very

last, because one day it will be.

Psalm 90 verse 10 says 70 years are given to us, some even live

Psalms 90:10

to 80. But even the best years are

filled with pain and trouble. Soon they disappear and we fly

away. Teach us to realise the brevity,

the frailness of life, so that we may grow in wisdom.

What does that mean? It means don't waste your time

on stuff that is not important. You know what's important?

People, relationships, people, relationships.

We all live to the time God has appointed.

I will die and you will die when God says it's time.

Not until then. For James, it was time to come

home for Stephen. One message, 1 sermon.

Stephen home. Remember, Jesus stood up.

He didn't. He didn't stop the stones.

He welcomed Stephen home. Stephen, you've done everything

I want you to do. Come home because he's going to

impact a fellow called Saul and Saul's going to impact the

world. James was dead.

Stephen was dead. Peter is in prison.

He was next for the executioner. Peter's on death row.

Things are truly crashing around.

The church is really in a, in a, in a in a bind.

And it appears on the church they go, what are we going to

do? James is dead.

Peter's next. You know, the heads have fallen

down. We're we're going to be

rattleless now. Herod knew Peter escaped from

prison before back in Acts chapter 5.

Acts 5 · chapter mention

Remember, the guards were still on guard.

They didn't know. They didn't know they weren't in

there. So this time Peter is guarded by

4 squads of four soldiers each. He's not going to escape this

time. Two were chained to him.

Two were standing guard outside. They were each on guard for six

hour shifts. What could the church do?

What would the modern church do? Well, maybe we could boycott all

the goods from Rome. I'm not going to buy anything

from Rome. Maybe they're going to have a

sit down protest in the main market area.

We're just going to sit down there and stop all the traffic.

Maybe they can get up a petition.

Yes, everyone sign a petition, go online.

I started up a petition. Sign it.

Sign it to their local Roman member.

It says in verse 5. But while Peter was in prison,

the church prayed. Notice this.

It says very earnestly for him. That's a new living translation

in the new King James that said Peter was therefore kept in

prison, but constant prayer was offered to God for him by the

church, not just a few. The word fervent means without

ceasing. He was ongoing the church's

secret weapon. What is it?

What was it? The door to the throne of God

was open through prayer. Sadly, often we're in such

situations of hopelessness ourselves.

We only do this these days when we have exhausted every other

option. Have you heard someone?

Well, I guess we just have to pray.

I guess we just have to trust the prayer.

You kind of go, oh, God bless it, really.

It's kind of like the kid coming into you.

You go and they tell you this great problem.

Well, I guess you know, just we'll help you out.

I guess it's just, we'll see what mum and dad, if they can

help. It's kind of like, oh really,

really good. How does God feel when we go?

No, I guess we just have to pray, you know, try everything

else. It's the last resort.

In our text, it was the first thing the church did.

Again, listen carefully and I'm going to say this, the devil

does not want you to pray. Simple, the devil does not want

you to pray because you become God's powerful weapon.

When you take the position of prayer, people often say, what's

your position on this? What's your position on that?

Our position is on our knees. The prayer that has power is the

one that's offered to God. Well, but Keith, I'm confused.

All prayers offered to God. No, I do not believe it because

I can rattle off a set of words without a thought of God.

It says James, an effectual fervent prayer.

Jesus gave us a model prayer, didn't he?

A pattern, not so much the prayer, but we still pray.

And our Father who is in heaven, hallowed be thy name.

But more so how we should learn to pray.

Jesus said pray in this manner. That's what he said.

How did this pat and this model come to be?

The disciples saw Jesus knew Jesus, how much Jesus spent time

and prayer constant, how much he prayed.

He prayed all the time. If Jesus wasn't with him, where

was he? He was praying.

So they asked Jesus teach us how to pray like you pray and This

is why Jesus said after this manner, therefore pray you.

Matthew 69. Notice the structure of the

prayer. But today we've changed the

Lord's Prayer. We've adapted it.

We get straight to our needs. Oh Lord, here I am.

We need this. I need you to do this, Don't we?

Before we say a word to God, think about him as your father.

Father, your name is holy. Come in with respect and or

worship. Father, your name is to be

honoured, how great you are. Father, your name is to be

revealed. How wonderful you are.

Haven't asked for anything yet. Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be

done before we get to our needs. That's what the prayer model

teaches us. Before we get to our needs.

Just what is God's will for this situation, the situation we find

ourselves in, you ask? You know that there are times,

some things that you do not have to pray about.

I'm baffled when people come for prayer sometimes and they say

pray about this and I'm going, we don't need to pray about that

example. Well, I'm thinking of robbing a

bank. Don't worry, if it's a big hit

and it goes well, I'll tithe to the church.

Would you pray for me concerning that this little operation goes

well? I'm thinking about marrying

someone who does not know Christ.

That happens a fair bit today, and I ask that you would pray

for me. What should I do when we know

what the Bible says? But let me qualify that.

I want you to, before you think, consider marriage.

I want you to witness to that person that you're with, lead

them to Christ. Be upfront about your faith, how

your relationship with God is the most important thing in your

life and God is the one that that guides you and directs you

with your decisions. Pray that the person you

minister to will truly love you and the very God you serve as

well. That's that's that's the way and

desire to be part of your devotion to God as well.

Ladies are being taught Tuesdays by Helen on the book of Ruth,

because that's what Ruth did with Naomi.

Ruth 116 But Ruth said, entreat me not to leave you or to turn

back from following after you. For wherever you go, I'll go.

Wherever you lodge, I'll lodge. Your people shall be my people.

Your God shall be my God. If that person loves you, I'll

go. I want Jesus Christ.

If you love Jesus Christ, I want what you love.

If not, stop. Simple as that.

We've been praying about living together before marriage.

You don't pray about that. You don't do it.

You don't have to pray. Well, I'm praying.

No, you don't pray about that. Would you pray for us on this

decision? No, I won't.

Just do what the Bible says. Don't need me to pray about

that. You don't need to pray about it.

You need to obey what? What the Bible says on the

matter. But there are many things we can

and need to pray about and fall. We can pray for wisdom, and I

need that, especially as I'm getting older.

I just want to know why I came into this room for I'm here for

something. Maybe if we go back out of this

room and come back in again, God will tell me why I went in there

in the first place. James on five, if any of you

lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally

and without reproach, and will be given to him.

Don't make a decision on your own.

I learnt that. You know how to learn it by

making lots and lots of bad decisions.

We can pray for our needs, and we're going to be doing that.

The war in the Middle East, everyone's going up coast.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. The bananas now are for $15 a

pound. It's just all of a sudden

changed overnight because of what Iran's doing.

Bananas, tomatoes, Philippians 419 My God shall supply all your

needs according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

We can pray for the protection. Psalm 91.1.

He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall

abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

The key to prayer is getting our will in line with God's will.

You know that's why you pray. If you are a Bible reader and a

prayer, then what happens is your will ended up being

dissipated when? John 514 Now this is the

confidence that we have in him, that if we ask anything

according to His will, guess what, He hears us.

So I read the Bible, I see this is what God's will is for his

people. I go, God, your word says this,

Hey, come on, please. God only answers the requests He

inspires. How do you know God's will then

when you ask by reading His word, by reading His word.

Because if you were just to go through your Bible and underline

everywhere, it says God's will, God's will, God for you, God's

will, you got enough to do. You don't have to worry about

anything else. Pray that a prayer that is

powerful is offered without ceasing.

Paul says pray without what ceasing?

Verse 5. Peter was therefore kept in

prison, but constant prayer was offered to God for him by the

church. It means regularly praying.

It means praying earnestly. It means praying with agony.

It means to be reaching out, stretching to the Lord.

Oh, God mean really praying. It means really applying

yourself to your prayers with all your heart.

Would you answer this prayer, God?

Deuteronomy 429 But if from hence thence you shall ask the

Lord your God, you shall find him, or seek the Lord your God.

You shall find him if you seek him with all your heart and with

all your soul. It is this praying for that

loved one. God says keep on praying because

the Bible says He's willing. Who should perish?

None. That all should come to

repentance. So we say, God, your word says

this, I'm praying this. The timing of God's answer is in

the Lord's hands, but the praying is in your hands.

The timing is in God's hands to answer it, but the praying is in

your hands to pray. Thirdly, prayer that is powerful

is united prayer. They prayed together for Peter's

life. Two or more gathered agree and

gather together. What happens?

Jesus says you're there, you are on the midst of them, and He'll,

He'll answer that. Look at the foundation of the

powerful early church. Jesus ascends into heaven.

What do we read of the church doing together?

Well, they went and had a fight at a jumble sale.

Then they went on a this, they did that and they had a harmony

time together and they went bowling together and play golf

together and surfing together. No Acts 112 And they returned to

Jerusalem from the Mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem,

a Sabbath day journey. When they had ended they went up

into the upper room where they were staying.

Peter, James, John, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Bartholium,

Matthew, James and all those these all continued with 1

accord in snooker, prayer and supplication with the women and

Mary the mother of Jesus and his brothers.

When Peter and John were threatened with death back in

Acts chapter 4, the church when they heard that they raised

Acts 4 · chapter mention

their voice to God with 1 accord and said Lord your God who made

heaven and earth, the sea and all is in them, they prayed.

But listen also it did not require as you read through the

book of Acts a critical incident.

Neither should it just require. I only pray when things go

wrong. A critical incident in my life

of for this church over the early church to gather together

to pray for what do we find the church doing?

Acts 424 So when they heard that they raised their voice to God

with 1 accord and said, Lord, you are God who made heaven and

earth and the sea and all that is in them.

And it says in Acts chapter 2 verse 42.

Acts 2:42

And they continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine, Word

of God and fellowship, the breaking of bread.

Oh, and in prayers. It's what made a church finally.

Prayer is one that is prayer that doesn't doubt.

Now the early church were no super Saints.

We had this idea that these people were, you know, they'll

add gowns and walk around. They're just ordinary people

like you and I just ordinary. That's where we we miss it

because got to answer prayer because you know what happened?

An Angel came. Peter's asleep, kicks him on the

side. Peter wake up, wake up.

Chains come off. Peter goes out.

Guards are all they're in La La land.

Peter goes down to Mark's house, knocks on the door.

The prayer meeting is going. Lady comes to the door wants to

know who it is. It's me.

It's Peter, goes back, knocks on the door again and goes back,

tells them that Peter's at the door.

Peter said, yeah, you're quiet. Just.

Yeah, Lord, just release Peter. Calm man.

Peter's going. What's going on?

What does it tell you? They're ordinary people like us.

You see the early church had doubts that they still prayed

and got answered. They are in shock.

It's really you. Isn't that what happens?

You know, you pray and you're really got to answer that for

wow, God should go slap, slap, slap, slap.

What do you expect? You prayed, I answered, that's

what you should expect. When the woman was healed of the

bleeding, it was her faith. When Roman centurion Luke 7 came

to Jesus, as he said, oh man, just you don't have to come to

my house, just say the words and my slave will be healed.

And Jesus said, oh, man, I haven't seen so great a faith in

all Israel as this was a Roman centurion.

But when you go back to the story of Lazarus being raised

from the dead, did Martha have faith she was devastated?

Did Lazarus have faith he's dead?

It was the faith of Christ at that moment but if we are, if

we're all the stone back, he's going to smell.

Roll the stone back. You see, faith is utilised but

it can be in any one of these areas.

How much faith did this prayer group have?

Ones that were praying in Mark's house.

Imagine the night when he realised this.

He goes to the home of of of John Mark and he's knocked at

the door. Rhoda comes, opens.

She recognises Peter's voice slams, slams, slams doesn't open

the door runs back and say everybody, Peter's here and they

go verse 15 and you're living. You're out of your mind.

Quiet. We we we're trying to pray here.

It must be his Angel. So they come up with other

reasons. Meanwhile, Peter continued

knocking. When they finally opened the

door and saw him, they were amazed.

You see, as I read this, you know why it's there.

There's hope for me too, because they were people just like you

and I. When they open the door, they

were astonished. Maybe you tonight find yourself

in a hopeless situation. When Jesus came to Mary and

Martha at the tomb of Lazarus, do you remember the words that

he shared to a distraught, grief stricken Martha?

This situation was utterly hopeless.

Lazarus has been dead 4 days. Beyond that, the brother Jesus

loved him. Why haven't he come?

Jesus said to her what I am the resurrection and the life anyone

who believes in me will live even after dying.

Everyone who lives in me who believes in me will never die.

Do you believe this Martha Jairus situation was hopeless?

Jesus said don't be afraid when the servant said your daughter's

dead, don't bother the master. Jesus said don't be afraid

Jairus, just have faith she'll be healed.

An Angel fetched Peter, but it was prayer that fetched the

Angel. It was prayer when Daniel was

praying 21 days. It was a great battle.

When was the Angel sent? It was Daniel's prayer that

heard God. I've heard to pray Daniel, I'm

sending an Angel 21 days. But Daniel prayed.

Your prayers have an effect. They go directly to God and he

sends these angels to do the work.

So he calls you tonight to pray what's here as we gather, like

tonight, when the power of God is released and the miraculous

occurs, we have to pray for one another.

Remember, the devil doesn't want you to pray because why?

It's the key to the release of our loved ones like Peter who

were chained, chained to sin, chained by the devil, and God

wants them free. Jesus said I've come to set them

free. Luke 418, open the prison doors.

Don't stop. That's why you're here.

Let's pray. Father, guide us now as we pray.

Lead us by the power of your Holy Spirit.

Let us know as we utter your prayers and your will that you

immediately hear. You immediately sit in action to

answer our prayers. Answer our prayers tonight.

Lord, we pray and ask in Jesus holy name, Amen.

Amen.