SUNDAY - MARCH 23, 2025 "Praising God Through Prayer" Acts 4:23-31

Welcome to DeSoto Hills Baptist Church.

Our Sunday morning services are weekly at 9 and 10 30 am.

You're listening to an audio recast of this past week's service.

We hope you enjoy.

God bless.

If you have your Bibles this morning, we'll be back in the book of Acts.

We're in chapter 4.

Chapter 4, we'll begin reading this morning in verse 23.

Start this morning by telling you a little bit of a sad story.

I know we don't necessarily like to do that, uh, but to start with, but, um, some of you know this, my sophomore year at mississippi college, my father passed away.

Um, it was a unique situation.

He situation.

He had a blood clotting issue and had been dealing with it for 10 plus years, and it was December of my sophomore year.

He developed a blood clot on the backside of his brain right before finals started to end the semester.

And so I remember my brother and I spent most of that weekend before finals started studying for preparing for our exams in the ICU waiting room.

Dad was in ICU at the Tupelo Hospital and he was stable and things stabilized and he was okay.

He was still there, but we went back to school to take our tests.

And then, tuesday morning of that week, we got a call that he had developed another clot on the other side of his brain and so they were going to have to do emergency surgery.

So we headed north and got home.

He went through surgery, had a lot of complications and issues in surgery, through surgery, had a lot of complications and issues in surgery.

Then on Thursday it was really Friday morning, really really early on Friday morning the family got a call that we needed to come back to the hospital, that it didn't look like it was going to be much longer.

And I remember in a waiting room off to the side of the ICU it was just kind of a family waiting room.

We went in there and the lights were out in the room because it was so early and we were just all just in there in shock kind of what was going on and just in the silence of that moment.

I remember my uncle being in there and he asked this question.

He said how does anybody do this without Jesus?

How does anybody go through times like this without Jesus?

You know, and for the past 27 years I have pondered that question how does anybody go through any kind of difficult time and hard time?

And obviously people do, but I don't know how anybody does it without Jesus.

As we come to our passage today in Acts, chapter 4, the church, the early church and the apostles are going through a difficult time as well.

Acts 4 · chapter mention

We saw at the beginning of chapter 4, peter and John.

They had been arrested and they had been told not to preach and not to proclaim and not to speak anymore in the name of Jesus.

And then when they get out of prison, immediately they go back to their friends, they go back to the church and they go back to the church and they go there and tell them what has happened, that they've been told they were released but they've been told not to proclaim the name of Jesus anymore.

And what we're going to find in our passage today?

That the church praised God After Peter and John had been released.

They praised God through prayer For us today.

We can understand too, and we need to learn that we need to respond to the working of God through prayer.

We can respond to how he's working, can respond when, when we get an answer that we love, such as someone gets released from prison, we can respond to God through prayer and we can praise God for the work of his hand through prayer.

And we can also understand that when things don't go so well and we lose a loved one or it doesn't go the way we want it to go, that still our response to God should be praise, and we can praise him through prayer.

We can praise him for the work that he is continuing to do, even when we don't understand it.

Church, our challenge is that we must pray.

Commanded church, our challenge is that we must pray.

We must pray as the work of Christ is continued by the power of the Holy Spirit.

We must praise God and one way that we can do that is through prayer.

Remember, also back in Acts, chapter 2.

Acts 2 · chapter mention

Acts chapter 2 was the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit came upon the early church and Peter, remember he stood up and he preached that day and it tells us that at the end of his sermon that 3,000 souls, about 3,000 souls, were added to the fellowship that day.

Acts 2 · chapter mention

But then we see in verse 42 how the church responds.

Even then.

It says in Acts 2, 42, and they devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.

Today, in our passage again, we are going to see the church devoting themselves through prayer to the apostles teaching, through to scripture, and we're going to see them devoting themselves to prayer as they pray that the work of God continues among them.

So let's read this morning.

If you are able to stand with me this morning, let's stand, and we're going to read Acts, chapter 4, verses 23 through 31.

Acts 4:23–31

And when they were released, they went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them.

And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them, who, through the mouth of our father, david, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit, why did the Gentiles rage and the people's plot in vain?

The kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against his anointed.

And now, o Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant, jesus Christ.

And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken and they were filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.

Let's pray together.

God, I thank you for today.

God, I thank you for the opportunity to gather together and read your word, to study your word, to hear your word.

Proclaimed God, I pray that this morning, our lives will be changed because of your word.

We love you, jesus.

It's in your wonderful name that we pray, amen, amen.

So the question that we are seeking to answer this morning is if the church devoted themselves to the prayers and they devoted themselves after Peter and John were released from prison and they praised God through their prayers then the question that we want to answer then is how did they pray?

What did they do?

How did they pray to praise God through their prayers?

Well, the first thing that I think we see is this they praised God and they prayed by acknowledging who God is.

The first thing they did is they stopped and acknowledged who God is.

See what it says there in verse.

We start in verse 23.

When they were released, peter, and acknowledged who God is See what it says there in verse.

We start in verse 23.

When they were released, peter and John, they went to their friends and this is the church and they reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them.

And when they heard it, they lifted up their voices together to God and said and here's the first words as they prayed sovereign Lord.

Now we talked about God's sovereignty, some even last week, but let's take a moment to review, because I'm convinced that we unpack a little bit of God's sovereignty and all it does is open up more that we don't get and we don't understand.

So let's look at it a little bit further.

What do we mean when we say God's sovereignty?

Well, donald McKim and he has a theological dictionary he published, and here's how he defines God's sovereignty.

He said God's sovereignty is God's ultimate lordship and rule over the universe, so that the divine will is supreme over all else.

Here's what it means that God's Lordship, his divine will, is over everything.

God's sovereignty means that he is over everything and he is in control.

And as the church prays, as they come before, god recognize what's happening.

Peter and John just went to prison.

They are the leaders, they are the ones, they are the outspoken.

They were the ones who went to the temple in the first place to pray.

They were the ones.

They were following God in this.

They were obeying the commands of God to be witnesses for God.

And so they go to the temple and they were arrested and the church goes oh no, what are we going to do.

And now Peter and John are released and they're told hey, we're not supposed to proclaim the name of Jesus anymore.

And so they pray and the first thing they do is say sovereign God, sovereign, sovereign Lord.

It is a reminder to the church of this God is in control.

When Peter and John was arrested, god was in control.

When Peter and John were released, god, god was in control.

Even go back further, though when Jesus was arrested, god was in control.

When Jesus was crucified, god was in control.

They even say that a little bit further in their prayer.

If you go down and he talks about all who were opposed to Jesus, and in verse 28 it says to do whatever.

Listen to this.

Your hand, talking about the hand of God, and your plan, talking about the plan of God, had predestined to take place.

Now, listen, look, I know as good Southern Baptists when we hear that word predestined, sometimes we kind of go.

But listen, when you hear predestined here I need you to hear this.

When you hear predestined in this verse, think sovereignty of God.

Here's what he's saying.

While all those people were at work against God and we're going to get to this in just a little bit but while all those people were at work against God.

It was God's hand and God's will, god's plan, that sent Jesus to the cross.

All that he had predestined.

He was sovereign, sovereign.

We see it.

Paul even says over in Ephesians, chapter 1, verse 11.

Ephesians 1:11

He says this in him, that's Jesus we have obtained an inheritance, having been here's that word again predestined according to the purposes of him, who works all things according to the counsel of his will.

So God's sovereignty.

When you hear predestined again here, think God's sovereignty.

God's sovereignty was going to make everything work to the counsel of his will.

He was at work and he was sovereign and he was in control.

And the church is reminding themselves when Peter and John were arrested, when they were released, when they are told not to proclaim the name of Jesus anymore, all they can do is go to their knees and praise God and proclaim him as sovereign Lord, because even in that situation, god was still in control.

And hear me, hear me.

Today, church, god is still in control.

Today, he is still sovereign and he is still working all things out to the counsel of his good will.

Sometimes we understand it.

Most of the times I don't All of the time we must trust in his sovereign will.

So, but they began their prayer by saying sovereign Lord.

But they go on and they proclaim how God is the creator.

Hear what they said.

They said sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them.

They're recognizing God, that he is the creator and as the creator, there's some things that God made everything according to his will.

There's some things that we should understand about God that comes from his being the creator.

We know that.

We saw that.

We even mentioned this verse last week Genesis, chapter 1, verse 1.

Genesis 1:1

In the beginning, god created the heavens and the earth.

So one thing that we understand, not understand one thing we see about God in this, is that he is eternal.

What we believe, what scripture teaches us, is that God spoke everything into being, that he said let there be light, and boom, there was light.

Let there be vegetation, and boom, grass and trees start popping up.

Let there be animals, and boom, there's animals.

All of these things God spoke by the power of his word.

And listen what we understand about God being eternal if he was going to speak and create, he had to be there to speak.

So before creation was God.

He is eternal.

He always has been, he always will be.

He is eternal.

We also in recognize that god as the creator.

Not only is he eternal, but he is powerful, and not just powerful in strength, physical strength, but hear how he created the world.

Let there be, and there was.

Through his spoken word, god created.

Now you imagine the power that it takes to speak something into being.

We have the Grand Prix coming up and I'm going to get asked by some young ladies they're not in here this service, so I can talk about them.

Dad, can you help me build a car to race?

And I'm just telling you, I wish I had the power to speak and let there be.

Last year, as we were working on the Lego cars this year, last year, as we were working on the they're doing Lego cars this year.

Last year, as we were working on wooden cars, I really wished I had the power to speak and let there be.

I don't, but God does.

We see in the creation and that he is the creator.

We see that he is eternal and we see that he is the creator.

We see that he is eternal and we see that he is powerful.

And we also see in this, and the church recognizes in this that he is omniscient.

Listen to what it says.

Who, talking about god through the mouth of our father, david, your servant, said by the holy spirit, god is omniscient, meaning he knows everything.

That omniscience inspired writings that we have before us today.

We're going to get to in just a moment that the church prayed in accordance with Scripture.

But before we get there, understand this, this that we see that we get to scripture because of who God is, that he, through his omniscience, inspired biblical writers to write, and they wrote about things that they didn't know about.

Listen, when David wrote Psalm chapter 2, he had no idea what the church was going to be going through.

Psalms 2 · chapter mention

When Peter and John were arrested, for that matter, david didn't even have a concept of what the church was going to be going through.

When Peter and John were arrested, for that matter, david didn't even have a concept of what the church was.

But through the Holy Spirit, he wrote words that would inspire.

He wrote words that were breathed out and the very words of God that were last and teach for years to come.

We see the omniscience of God in the inspiration be applicable and relevant to the church in the first century and to the church in 2025.

The church came and they praised God through their prayer, by first acknowledging who God is.

Secondly, we see them praying in accordance to scripture.

They prayed in accordance to scripture.

Listen, what they do in the middle of this prayer is they quote from Psalm chapter 2, verses 1 and 2.

Psalms 2:1

Right there, we have it in verse 25 when it says why did the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?

The kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against his anointed.

If you go back to Psalm chapter 2, what you're going to find in the beginning is this was a Psalm of David, a Psalm that he wrote, but we're not real sure when he wrote it.

Psalms 2 · chapter mention

We do know this that this psalm began to be used as a coronation psalm for kings who became the king.

When they were coronated to become the king, this was a psalm that was read when they took their place on the throne.

David could have written it for his coronation.

He could have written it for Solomon's coronation.

We don't know, but we know that it became a coronation psalm.

So when kings took their place, their rightful place, on the throne, this psalm would be read.

But over the years, after Israel was taken into exile and then also after they had years of terrible, terrible, terrible kings, the people began to use this psalm and see this psalm as a proclamation of the good king who was going to come and make everything right.

It became a messianic psalm, and what we see the church recognizing here is that Jesus is the fulfillment of that psalm.

He is the one who was coming to set things right.

He is and he was and he is the son of God, the heir of David, who will reign forever on the throne of David.

Yet his reign will be perfect.

It will be right.

We see the church pray by acknowledging who God is.

We see the church pray by recognizing who God is.

We see the church pray in accordance with Scripture.

And then we also see the church pray for continuance of the mission.

I find it interesting as we come down to verse 29.

Hear how they prayed.

And now, o Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant, jesus.

And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.

I find it interesting this prayer, because I'm going to tell you, church, if I would have been there and if we're honest with ourselves, if this would have been here, we probably, our first prayer would have probably been God protect us.

But that is not what the early church prayed.

They didn't ask God to take them out of any situation.

They didn't ask God to remove them out of any situation.

They didn't ask God to remove them out of harm's way.

What they asked for is that, when harm comes, that they would have the boldness to continue to proclaim the name of Jesus.

They didn't pray for protection, they prayed for boldness.

They prayed for boldness that, as persecutions came, as future arrests were coming and they knew they were coming because Peter and John had been told not to proclaim the name of Jesus anymore.

And what did they say?

Hey, whether it is right in your eyes to judge whether we should do that, you do it, but for us, we're going to continue to speak what we have seen and what we have heard.

Peter and John had already said, hey, we're going to keep preaching Jesus.

And the church right here is saying, hey, we want to keep preaching Jesus.

So, as arrests come, as persecutions come, as we are told not to do this anymore, help us, god, don't take us out of that, but God, help us in the midst of that to, with boldness, proclaim the name of Jesus.

They even went even further and dug their heels in further by asking God to continue to heal people with signs and wonders that were performed.

John Polehill, one of the commentators that I read.

He says this about the healings.

He said the healing did not deliver the church from danger.

If anything, it provoked it.

This is what the community prayed for More signs to undergird the word, more boldness to proclaim it.

They surely knew what the results would be More persecution.

They know it's coming, they understand it's coming, yet not one time.

Not one time.

Here Are they asking for protection.

They are asking for a boldness to proclaim in the midst of hard times.

And look, we've already talked about, as we go through Acts, how at least here in the United States we're not affected by persecution like this.

We don't have this persecution.

So what does this mean for us?

Another commentary that I read a guy named Tony Morita.

He wrote this in his commentary.

That I thought was pretty amazing.

He said thinking about this in light of the freedoms.

That was pretty amazing, he said Thinking about this in light of the freedoms that we in the United States enjoy.

I wonder how our prayers might differ from those offered by the early church in view of the American dream ideology that permeates our culture.

Could it be that our prayers are more about our comfort being maintained or enhanced than they are about asking that God's greater glory be displayed?

When we pray for a fellow citizen facing opposition, for instance, it's not usually sufficient to pray, father.

Alleviate this Rather, we might add.

But, lord, if you choose not to, may the gospel advance because of this struggle.

Listen, if what we say about God's sovereignty is is true and he is working his will out and we are going through times of hardship, we must understand.

He knew about this and we have the opportunity now, in the midst of hardship, to proclaim the name of Jesus.

But what we need, what I need, is boldness.

What I need is the right view of who God is, so that I can proclaim with boldness the gospel of Jesus Christ.

What happened, what we see happening in the church here, though, is after they prayed.

Find it amazing.

It says in verse 31,.

And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.

As I read this, sometimes I question hey, are we supposed to feel the building shake?

What's wrong with us when we pray and when we gather together?

Am I not?

Am I not?

Is my preaching not up to par?

Is that why we're not feeling the building shake?

Are we not praying hard enough?

Is that not why we're feeling the building shake?

And then this week, as I was studying, it hit me Grant, if I am so worried about the building shaking, I'm missing the point.

The point is they prayed for boldness in the midst of a hard time.

My prayer has become that it won't take the building shaking for me to go out and speak with boldness.

My prayer is that, through the word of God and by his power and his strength, by his work in my life, that I proclaim the name of Jesus every day.

When things are good, I proclaim the name of Jesus.

When things are bad, I proclaim the name of Jesus.

When I have all freedom, I proclaim the name of Jesus.

When I face persecution, I proclaim the name of Jesus Church.

May this be our prayer.

Sovereign Lord, in the midst of whatever we're going through, give us the boldness, give us the strength to proclaim the name of Jesus.

Listen, I don't know where you are today.

I do understand this if you have never trusted Christ.

I go back to that question that my uncle asked as we waited in the ICU right before my father passed away how does anybody do this without Jesus?

Because, see, I understand this, as you are going through hardships that are going to come in life, you face them alone.

Yeah, there are people with you, probably.

Yeah, there are people with you, probably, but you don't have the God of the universe that I have.

And while I don't have the understanding always and why God does the things that he does, I have the trust in knowing that he is a good God who has redeemed me and has a good plan, and I can trust him.

And without Christ, that is not yours, that promise is not yours, if you have never trusted in Christ's saving work today, that he came and he walked on this earth and he died on the cross and he arose so that you can have life and you can have hope.

I pray that today be the day of salvation for you.

But if you've trusted Christ but somehow we've lost our focus on who God is, we're not recognizing him as sovereign Lord and we are not praying for boldness, but we are cowering back and we are trying to, as Marita said, maintain, as we are trying to maintain or enhance our comfort and we are not focused on boldly proclaiming the word of God.

Maybe this morning you need to do some business with God.

These steps will be right here.

You can come and kneel, however.

God is moving you.

I pray that in just a moment, when we sing our hymn of invitation, you allow God to work.

If you're looking for a church home, we would love to have you here at DeSoto Hills as together, together.

It's amazing to me as you read this prayer.

It doesn't say peter prayed.

This doesn't say john prayed this.

There is no singular pronoun in that prayer.

They prayed, we prayed.

If you're looking for a church home, we would love for you to come.

They prayed, we prayed.

If you're looking for a church home, we would love for you to come and unite with us as, together, we strive to pray to our sovereign God For boldness as we live in his great kingdom.

Let me pray for us, god.

I thank you for today.

God, I know this message is different.

God, the challenge is strong today, god, it's not necessarily that sermon where we love to hear and just feel pumped up, but, god, it is a message from your word, so may we hear it.

God, give us today, as we enter this invitation, the boldness that we need to answer your call to follow your plan, to do what you are asking us to do.

God, we love you, we praise you.

Jesus, it's in your name.

We pray Amen.

Thanks for listening to this week's sermon.

If you have any questions for our pastor, feel free to reach out at desotohillscom.