Acts 4:23-31 - Bold Praying

You are listening to a message from Southwood Presbyterian Church in Huntsville, Alabama.

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It's my privilege this morning to introduce a friend and mentor to you, Stephen Estock.

After serving in the Air Force for a few years, which I know some of you appreciate in particular,

after serving there, he felt a call to vocational ministry and has been a pastor and a leader in our denomination.

He has served Southwood very well. Both of your current pastors interned for him.

I think what he said to me last night was that the three best interns he ever had have come to Southwood.

So, yeah, Jake Patton interned for him and then Chad, and I think that was the way he put it.

He loves Southwood that much.

I hope this is recorded for all of his other interns to hear.

He's also preached here before.

Stephen is currently serving as the director of the PCA's Committee for Discipleship Ministries,

which basically means that he is the absolute best guy in the whole denomination on Christian education and teaching.

So, I'm going to build him up really well for you.

It does mean that he's a gifted teacher and a great leader who shares and connects others to great resources for that.

And so, he has led and served and pastored many people, myself and Chad included.

We're really, really privileged to have him here with us this morning to open God's Word.

He's staying for lunch to teach us at the Telling God's Story lunch.

He and I will be talking with you together.

Please feel free to stay for that across the street at the lodge.

We're delighted to have Stephen Estock.

Thank you.

Thanks, man.

Thank you.

Now, I am disappointed in your introduction, though, Will.

You didn't call me super cute.

And I've got a tie and a suit on and everything.

But I do have a family that's super cute over there.

It is a pleasure to be with you.

A lot of times when I go around part of my position, I travel around the denomination.

I tell people, well, I'm Stephen Estock.

Well, who's he?

I'm with CDM, coordinator for CDM.

And then they say, what's that?

I say, well, maybe you knew us by our old name, Christian Education and Publications.

And still get the blank face.

So what I'd like to do is tell you a little bit about who we are, what we do.

Now, many churches, and I'm sure you're the same, you have a session that governs the church.

And then you have work that's done through different committees, right?

Right?

You can nod.

This is interactive time here.

You have different committees.

You have a missions committee.

You have a worship committee.

Different churches do that.

Well, what we have at the General Assembly level is we have a session, presbytery, General Assembly.

I work for the General Assembly on one of the committees.

Now, a lot of people have heard about Mission to the World, which is a committee of the General Assembly that helps local churches do international missions.

A number of people have heard of Mission to North America.

That's a committee that helps the local church plant churches and do mercy ministry.

And then many people have heard of Reform University Ministries or Reform University Fellowship.

They're a committee that comes alongside the local church to do campus ministry.

Who helps the local church do discipleship within its walls?

That's CDM.

So we help local churches in the area of children's ministry, youth ministry, men's ministry, women's ministry, older adult ministry, and leadership training.

And so that's what we do.

Now, we're not a large office.

We have less than ten people in our office.

But mainly what we try to do is go around to different churches and connect people to people and people to resources.

We were here, I think it was March a year ago, we were here for a children's conference and had a number of people from Providence Presbytery come join us here.

And we just began to share what's going on in children's ministry.

And that's much of what we will do.

In fact, I'll be in Cincinnati, Ohio next week doing something along those lines.

One of the things I also do is I go and meet with session members as we talk about churches that are going through transition.

I'm sure you know a little bit about that.

You're now in the process of finding a new pastor.

And so one of the things I want to look at today, our text is Acts chapter 4.

Acts 4 · chapter mention

If you have your Bible, I invite you to turn in that to Acts chapter 4.

Acts 4 · chapter mention

We'll be looking at 23 through 31.

This idea of what are we called to do as God's people, especially as we go through transition.

A number of years ago, I heard a podcast from a friend who is leading his church through transition.

In fact, this man was a fairly new pastor.

And so he was having a gathering and one of the people got up and they were saying,

Here's our new vision for our church and we want to be men and women of prayer.

And when I heard that, I thought, you know, that's an interesting statement.

In some ways, it's almost like a throwaway statement in contemporary Christianity of,

We want to be men and women of prayer.

Well, what does that say about them before?

Were they not men and women of prayer before?

Well, that's probably not the case.

They probably prayed before.

Or consider the Embers to a Flame ministry, which is in our denomination and helps churches go through a church transition, a church recovery.

One of their strategies is number five.

It's the ministry of prayer.

And the idea is that prayer usually exists in a church, but many times it becomes anemic.

And we need to realize that we can be perfunctory and rote when it comes to prayer.

And we need a vision.

I think that vision comes as we look at Acts chapter 4.

Acts 4 · chapter mention

Remember, we're coming out of Easter.

And we're living in this reality.

What does it mean to be those who are sons and daughters of the resurrection?

Understand, this text in Acts chapter 4 probably occurred less than six months after the resurrection.

Acts 4 · chapter mention

We don't know exactly when, but it was probably pretty soon where the events of crucifixion and the resurrection and Pentecost were still very fresh on the minds of people.

And what we have is Peter and John go to the temple and they heal a lame man and they were arrested, they were tried, they were released.

With this warning, don't talk about this Jesus anymore.

Don't talk about this resurrection.

But the disciples who had been so bold in proclaiming the truth, we now see their boldness continues.

But it's a boldness in prayer.

And their prayer is recorded.

And as we read through this, these words challenge and encourage us.

Follow along with me as I read Acts chapter 4, beginning in 23.

Acts 4 · chapter mention

When they, of course speaking of Peter and John, were released,

they went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and elders had said to them.

And when they heard it, they lifted up 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 peoples plot in vain?

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

For truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus,

whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate,

along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel,

to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place.

Now, 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.

Pray with me.

O Lord, now we pray that you will open our eyes,

that we may see the wonderful things you have for us in your word.

O Lord, let the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight.

For, O Lord, you are our strength and our redeemer.

The grass withers and the flowers fade.

But your word, O Lord, stands forever.

Bless your word to our lives now, we pray in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

When God takes me home to heaven,

I'm looking forward to seeing a man I knew in our church in Montgomery.

His name is Orville Bach.

Orville was a tall man with huge hands and a deep voice.

It was one of those voices where you,

when you're trying to picture the voice of God on Mount Sinai,

it's, you know, you got James Earl Jones and Orville Bach, in my mind.

That's just the man he was.

And one thing about Orville is he was very active in prayer requests.

We would have an evening worship service and we'd always get together and sing some hymns

and then we'd have prayer requests.

And I could usually count on Orville to give some prayer requests.

Well, a number of years ago, Montgomery was going through a long drought

and Mr. Bach, in his deep voice, said,

we need to pray for rain, pastor.

And so that became part of the intercessory prayer for that evening.

And then we went from prayer to the sermon.

It was a sermon on Deuteronomy 12 and I was preaching that night.

And in Deuteronomy 12, God says to Israel,

Israel, obey.

You have seen the great works of the Lord, the sovereign Lord,

the sovereign Lord who's conquered your enemies

and given you a land of great blessing.

And in light of that, we're called to go out,

even in a world that opposes us,

knowing the greatness of the God we serve.

Well, sermon was finished.

We had the closing prayer.

And during the benediction,

you could hear rain falling outside.

Mr. Bach came up to me and said,

that's a pretty good prayer, pastor.

You ought to pray more often.

Well, I'll let you...

That is a red letter date in my prayer life and in my ministry

because here was this request

and the answer came so quickly.

And I remember my motions there.

It was like, I didn't say this out loud,

but I was feeling it.

God does answer prayer.

It's almost like this is the exception rather than the rule.

You ever do that?

I think most Christians do.

But you see, in the history of the church,

especially the early church that we have here in Acts,

we see a different era of bold prayer.

But one of the things we have to watch is

we can fall into this idea that,

oh man, we read these stories in Acts

and wasn't it great?

God was so powerful and so present there.

It was wonderful.

And we can begin to think that that was the God of back then.

He's not the God of right now.

That's not the case.

The God that was present that's recorded here

is the God that's here now.

And God is present with all of His power.

It's not like He had a lot of power then

and only a little power now.

But the idea is,

just as He's powerful there and He used prayer there,

He's powerful here and uses prayer here.

But we fail to see it.

And so what we need as we come to this text

is that God gives us insight into His purpose for prayer

and it challenges us.

It spurs us to pray more boldly

as we face a world that does oppose us,

as we face challenges,

transition in our lives,

in our businesses,

in our churches.

God is near to thwart His opponents,

to spread His Word

and to accomplish His plan.

Now the nearness of God,

understand,

is assumed throughout this text.

Earlier in chapter 4, verse 19,

the message that the apostles had spoken to the leaders,

the Jewish leaders said,

our ministry is in the sight of God.

It's not that God is up there and He doesn't care.

No, He's watching what we're doing.

In verse 29, it even says that

they're praying,

Lord, look upon the threats that are given against us.

The idea is that God is present

and God is concerned.

He really cares about what's happening.

And then, of course, you have verse 31

where the place was shaken.

And, of course, that harkens back to Acts chapter 2

Acts 2 · chapter mention

when the Holy Spirit came down on the day of Pentecost

and the whole building was shaken in the upper room.

And you have to understand that what was happening here in verse 31

is God was giving His people assurance.

Now, don't fall into the error of thinking,

well, because that building was shaken,

that means that God showed up.

No, it's better to understand

that in this case,

God, who was always present,

pulled aside the veil

and made that presence known in a special way.

Now, of course, the question that comes out of that

is, well, why doesn't He do that now?

And understand that God

could shake this building right now

if He so chooses.

But He's also given us Acts chapter 4

Acts 4 · chapter mention

where He assured His people

that He was present,

that He is Emmanuel.

It's the same God.

The same purposes.

The same presence.

Now, how does this help us?

God is near. Why?

Well, He's near to thwart His opponents

and so we pray.

Look at verse 23.

The prayer flows out of this arrest

of Peter and John.

And if you go back earlier in the chapter,

it's very interesting.

It's almost like as if Luke is recording this.

Who's who of all the powerful people

that were existing in that time

and they were all against Peter and John.

And then you go to verse 25 and 26

and the prayer references Psalm 2.

Psalm 2.

The opponents gathering together

and setting themselves up against God.

And then you go to verse 27

where there's a reference to Christ's arrest

and His trial and His crucifixion.

And remember, these were probably events

that were still fresh on the people's minds.

And what the apostles are saying

through their prayer

is all of that,

that people were gathering against them,

people were gathering against Jesus,

it's all a manifestation of Psalm 2.

In verse 29,

they reference these leaders

told them to be quiet about Jesus.

And so, here we have it.

Luke is presenting to us

in the face of unified,

determined, powerful opposition.

What do God's people do?

They pray.

Verse 29 and 30,

they appeal for justice.

God, bring justice.

They appeal for God to continue His work.

And they realize that their prayers

are part of the battle.

Because the opposition is not against them,

the opposition is against God.

But what do we do

as we face a culture that opposes us?

What do we do?

We take it personally.

Oh, it's all against us.

And we cry,

victim, victim.

And we separate God out of the situation.

But we must see that all the opposition

is against God.

Now, sometimes,

because of the obnoxious behavior

of Christians,

sometimes the opposition

is against the obnoxious behavior.

We need to pray.

That's where we need to start.

Not too long after I came into

my current position of coordinator,

because your work for the General Assembly,

you know how sometimes pastors

can get those letters from church members

about how much you're doing wrong.

I get them from the whole denomination.

And there was a man who wrote

from Virginia.

I can't remember the name of the man

or his church.

He was a PCA member.

This letter was 14 pages long.

Full of fear

and condemnation.

I read it

and I could just hear his voice

in my ears.

He was talking about the culture

of the United States

and everything,

everything in the letter

dealt with U.S. politics.

And the message of the letter

was just basically,

wake up!

And so what he was doing,

he said,

I'm going to write to the leader,

one of the leaders of our denomination

and say,

wake up!

Speak out!

You know what was missing

throughout all 14 pages?

Never once

was there a call to prayer.

Never once

was there any hint

of bringing this

before the Lord.

Instead,

what it was

is a call

to militant action.

One of my favorite hymns

says,

it's not with swords

loud clashing,

nor roll of stirring drums,

but it's deeds

of love and mercy.

Finally,

the heavenly kingdom comes.

And that deeds

of love and mercy

begins with prayer.

I ask you,

what is your default position

in the face of opposition?

It's true,

God defeats His enemies

through the prayers

of His people.

This text calls us

to pray.

Humble words

of petition to God

more than harsh words

of rebuke.

to our opponents.

God is present.

But more for just

turning back the bad things,

He also promotes

the good things.

God is near

to spread His Word,

and so we pray.

Remember the cause

of the arrest.

Peter was preaching

about Jesus.

And note the desired goal

of the prayers.

Right there in verse 29,

they were to,

Lord,

do this so we will speak

the Word of God

with boldness.

And so it was the Holy Spirit.

They were asking

for Holy Spirit-inspired courage,

Holy Spirit-inspired clarity,

and the result of the prayers

there in verse 31,

they did continue

to speak with boldness.

And the ministry

that had begun

at Pentecost

was continued.

Brothers and sisters,

understand

that that was a chapter

in redemptive history.

But the redemptive story

continues,

and we are in a new chapter

of redemptive history,

but the story is the same.

Salvation is through

the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

And we are to spread

that Word.

God spreading the message

of salvation

through Jesus Christ

and through the grace of God.

Not by doing good works

or doing good deeds.

It's through the grace of God

who changes our lives

and enables us to live

with redemptive purposes.

Matthew 28,

we are to go

and make disciples.

What happens to us?

We grow weary.

We grow distracted.

Sometimes we pray

from ministries,

but it's just so

the ministry program

will be effective.

God will bring the people

and God will bring the money

rather than

God spread your Word.

Spread the message

about Jesus.

I work in education.

Church education.

And we pray for sermons.

We pray for Sunday school lessons.

But do we expect change?

It's easy to complain

about the malaise

that happens

among Christians today.

Do we eagerly pray,

God, change hearts?

Change lives?

Brothers and sisters,

we must pray

for God to act

and for us to spread the Word.

I was humbled

a year or so ago.

So,

part of my position

is to work with our

women's ministry,

the PCA Women's Ministry.

It's led by a lady

named Karen Hodge.

And we have regional advisors

throughout the denomination

who gather together

on what we call

the women's ministry team.

And we were preparing

for a conference

that we have every year

in Atlanta.

And so,

what was happening,

I was,

because I was one of the speakers,

I was on this email chain

of speakers,

what are you talking about?

And they were going

back and forth

about here,

this prayer request

and this prayer request

and they were praying

for each other.

And all of this,

it's just email

after email

after email.

I'm praying for you,

I'm praying for this,

I'm praying for that,

please pray for this.

And,

you know,

I had this thought.

They pray about everything.

And I really,

I mean,

I seriously thought,

isn't this a little

over the top?

Now,

the theme

of the conference

that year

was leading

with truth.

serving the church

through the ministry

of the word,

building relationships

with one another.

And when I

reacquainted myself

with the theme,

and then I looked

at that email chain,

God used it

to convict me.

I'm a teaching elder

in the Presbyterian Church

in America.

I'm a minister.

I'm a teacher.

Yet,

I am so prone

to trust my skill

at being able

to convey the truth.

And I minimize

prayer for God

to spread the word.

I appreciated so much

even this morning.

Will leaned over

and said,

can I pray for you?

It's so necessary

because it's through prayer

that God

spreads the word.

It's prayer

more than skill

that softens

hard hearts

and reigns in

distracted minds.

I've talked to people,

well,

I can't share the gospel

because I just don't know

all,

I might not answer

all the questions

they have.

No,

you pray

and share the gospel

as best you know how

because it's not

your eloquence,

it's not your skill,

it is the Holy Spirit

that changes hearts.

And so you pray.

Because God

causes His word

to spread

through prayer.

He thwarts opponents,

He spreads the word.

And that's all part

of His third purpose.

You might call it

a greater purpose

or an overarching purpose

in that God is near

to accomplish His plan.

The theme of God's

faithful execution

of His covenant promises,

it's throughout

this whole text.

It's the backdrop

of the prayer,

in fact.

Verse 24,

it starts with covenant language

where they pray

as the sovereign Lord,

creator,

ruler,

all of that is covenant language

that the people of Israel

know about.

And then verses 27 and 28,

they're very open

and honest.

Even Christ's passion

fulfilled God's plan.

verse 29 and 30,

the presupposition

is that God's plan

would continue.

God is working out

this huge story

that salvation

will be made

through Jesus Christ

and the brokenness

of the fall

will be undone.

And God is doing

that work.

And His people pray

to that end.

And here's the great mystery

of the Christian life.

The sovereign Lord

accomplishes that plan

through the prayers

of His people.

I can't explain

how it works.

But God does it.

Your prayers are necessary.

Verse 29 and 30,

that prayer

was important

because that petition

that they lifted

thousands of years ago

was necessary.

for God

to work out

His plan.

And brothers and sisters,

our prayers

have the same effect

because it's not based,

well, I'm not an apostle,

so God doesn't listen.

No, He doesn't listen

to them

because they're apostles.

Why does He listen

to our prayers?

Because we are covered

in the righteousness

of Jesus Christ.

And so our prayers,

Revelation uses

the image

of our prayers

are like bowls

of incense

going up to the Father.

And our prayers

are imperfect.

But what does

Romans 8 say?

It's the Spirit

that takes our prayers.

I love the image

a pastor told me

years ago.

It's like God

takes this feeble prayer

that I lift up,

He wraps it in

the righteousness

of Christ

and says,

here Father,

answer for my sake.

prayer.

And so we pray.

And so we pray.

The problem is

sometimes our practice

of prayer

doesn't reflect

our doctrine

of prayer.

We don't truly

embrace our doctrine

or we would pray.

We lose sight

of this fact

that we're participating

in this story

of redemption.

We are players.

We're not spectators.

Prayers offered

in a fallen world

join the stream

of petitions

offered by other saints,

the saints before us,

and even the prayers

of Christ Himself.

God

has not abandoned

His fallen creation.

He proved that

by giving us Christ.

And now He's near

to accomplish

that plan.

And so we pray.

John Calvin said this,

by means of our prayers,

God does

what He planned

all along to do.

And prayer

reorients

the believer

to what God

is doing.

over a year ago

I had a friend

who preached

in his congregation.

It was towards

the end of the year

and he was preaching

to get ready

for the new year.

And he preached

on revival.

He told the story

of a South Carolina

pastor

named

John Gerardot.

in 1857

this man

was a white pastor

in a black church

in Charleston,

South Carolina.

And they had reached

a point

in the life

of the church

where the congregation

had sort of plateaued

and there was

this lethargy

that was

sort of happening.

And so what they did,

the officers got together

with the pastor

and said,

Pastor,

you just got to preach.

You got to preach

and get us out of this.

Preach.

And Gerardot said this,

I don't want to preach

until God sends revival.

And until that happens,

we will pray.

And so they began

a series of prayer meetings

night after night.

Now one evening,

while he was leading

in prayer,

Gerardot said

he felt a sensation.

It was like a bolt

of electricity

hit his head

and went through his body.

And he was speechless

for a while.

And he was able

to talk again.

He says,

the Holy Spirit

has come.

We will begin

preaching tomorrow.

He sang a hymn,

gave the dismissal,

he walked down,

congregation stayed.

nobody left their seats.

So the people sat down,

pastor got up

and he prayed.

He preached.

He proclaimed the gospel.

And basically,

his message was very,

very simple.

Embrace the gospel.

Accept the gospel.

Accept what it means

to be saved

by Jesus Christ,

by his work alone.

And the reports are

the sanctuary

was filled

with the spirit

of humble repentance

and joy.

Some were confessing

their sins.

Others were just

elated at the forgiveness

they enjoyed

in Jesus Christ.

And the messages,

the meetings

night after night

for eight weeks,

large numbers

of whites and blacks

were converted.

Churches throughout

the city

were blessed.

Christ,

this was in 1857.

Four years later,

Charleston would begin

to experience

the horrors

of the Civil War.

But in that season,

God shook the hearts

of his people.

It all began

with prayer.

Brothers and sisters,

bold prayer

is our calling.

And I wish

I prayed more

than I do.

But let's see

what God does.

Let's pray.

It was true

for the disciples

in Jerusalem.

It's true

for us today.

God is powerfully

present

to thwart opponents,

to spread his word,

to accomplish his plan.

And because

he is working,

we must pray.

Join me now.

Almighty God,

sovereign creator,

ruler,

redeemer,

we praise you.

You are the God

who made us.

You are the God

who redeems us.

You loved us

even in our sin.

And you lift us

up and embrace us

through Jesus Christ,

cleansing us

of our sin.

And not only that,

Lord,

you fill us

with your Spirit

so that when we walk

out of this sanctuary,

we are not alone.

The power of Emmanuel

is with us.

Oh, Lord,

soften our hearts.

Move our hearts

to prayer.

Oh, Lord,

bring your blessing

on this congregation.

Bring your blessing

in our lives,

in our ministries,

in our relationships.

Bring healing.

Bring change.

Lord,

as we go now

to a time

of the sacrament,

it is another token,

a sign and seal

that you indeed

are with us.

You cleanse us.

You've redeemed us.

Oh, Lord,

bless us,

we pray,

in Jesus' name.

Amen.

For more information,

visit us online

at southwood.org.

Thank you.

Thank you.