Acts 4
Bible Passage: Acts 4
After the initial membership of 3000 in Acts 2, Peter and John performed the miracle at the Beautiful gate and preached Christ to the Jews in Acts 3. That sparked off the anger and jealousy of the Jewish leaders. Despite that threat, the membership grew to 5000 (Acts 4:4).
That was some strange mathematics! More than strange maths, there was a strange boldness in the apostles as well.
Boldness – For the Things of God
The more the Jews threatened, the more the apostles stood firm. How different from the time of Christ’s arrest! Here we see the definite workings of the Holy Spirit – the apostles were bold for Him, through His Spirit.
We gain a key lesson from their wise reactions: When persecution comes, we have a lifeline. This comes in a two-fold manner – Prayer & Right Focus.
- Prayer – “And when they heard that, they raised their voice to God with one accord” (Acts 4:24)
When we start to speak for Him, the accuser will start to work against us too. While it is our duty to speak freely of Christ, let’s not forget that Satan despises liberal godly speech.
He will fight back.
But we stand on firm ground, we stand on the Rock. And it is the Rock that we can rely on, seeking help and strength through prayers.
I recall how many believers found unanticipated courage to speak for God in times that they least expected. One brother shared that there was an occasion where he was challenged by the taxi driver whom he was trying to preach to. The taxi driver was questioning and dismissing the brother’s experiences, so much so that he began feeling defeated and at a loss. Yet because of a silent prayer, he suddenly found the courage to defend his faith. It was wholly unexpected and he realized that he was being helped by the Holy Spirit who taught him what he ought to say (cf. Luke 12:12).
- Right Focus – “And when they had prayed…they were filled with the Holy Spirit…they spoke the word of God with boldness” (Acts 4:31)
With prayer being a key help, we note also that the apostles prayed for a single thing. They supplicated for the relevant thing – boldness to speak for God (Acts 4:29). In their prayer, they had the right focus, knowing that what they asked was for God’s purposes. When this was granted to them, they went on to fulfill what they asked for, courageously declaring the word of God.
While we go through our Christian lives, we will make many promises to God. In our prayers, we might promise God that we would return His favor in certain ways. Sometimes, our prayers go unheeded. Where is the problem?
If we learn from the single-mindedness of the apostles’ prayer, we will pray with the right mindset and know what our focus ought to be. In this way, the courage that we ask of God will be used for His matters and not for fulfilling our own wants.
The wisdom that we pray for will be directed towards His pleasure and not for our own gains.
The longsuffering that we pray for…
The kindness that we pray…
The patience that we…
The love that…
When we put God first, everything else falls nicely in place and He will surely heed our cry.
While we might not address the Jewish council today, we will get our chance to be Jesus’ spokesperson in other scenarios. On that day, may we pray for boldness and do His bidding!
8 Comments
biblereadingcompanion
Reading Acts is painful. As Acts shows us the model of what the Church should be like, it also exposes many areas that the Church and myself are lacking.
“And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.” ~ Acts 4:31
Despite talking about the need to pray more in some of my previous comments or postings, I must admit I am pretty much failing in this respect.
But the verse I just quoted shows once again the necessity of prayer!
As followers of Jesus, we are asked to carry out the mission that He has entrusted upon us. But if we do not understand what is it that makes the mission effective, we are bound for frustration.
Every step of the way in Acts, after Jesus told His disciples that they would be His witnesses, we find people praying. Behind all the amazing works of the Holy Spirit are the prayers of believers filled with the Holy Spirit.
Prayers and works are inseparable.
And yet… how often do we forget that?
We pray a little and work a lot, then wonder why God has not blessed our efforts. We need to remember that the works of God cannot be done in the strength of our flesh alone. Only God can accomplish the work that needs to be done.
He merely ‘allows’ us to be part of His mission. He does not need our talents or intelligence. We just do what He wants us to do – to plant and to water – He will see to the growth! How effective the mission is up to Him!
I need to remember this and drive me to my knees. Nothing can be accomplished if it is not backed by the Spirit of God. And the only way we can make sure we are backed by the Holy Spirit of God is to pray often.
One way we can encourage one another is to join in the church organized prayers. And pray together for one another.
If we want our work for God to work (: then pray. Pray often, pray deeply in the Spirit, pray depending totally on God. Everything we do depends on the work of the Holy Spirit.
There is this quote by John Bunyan who wrote Pilgrim’s Progress. He said…
“Prayer is a shield to the soul, a sacrifice to God, and a scourge to Satan.”
Guess I had better start praying!
PS
Biblereadingcompanion quotes a very interesting verse.
Acts 4:31 And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.
The chinese bible seems to record the sequence of the events more clearly:
祷告完了，聚会的地方震动，他们就都被圣灵充满，放胆讲论神的道。
After they prayed,
Then the place where they were assembled together were shaken,
Consequentially they were filled with the Holy Spirit, and
Speak the word of God boldly.
– The place shook after the prayer. This was clearly the work of God.
– They were filled with the Holy Spirit after their prayer ended. They were filled with the Holy Spirit even when they are not praying.
– The Holy Spirit gives them the wisdom and boldness to speak the word of God like Peter in Acts 4:8 and the promise of Lord Jesus in Mark 13:11.
Now the same Holy Spirit dwells in us.
Do we feel that we are filled by the Holy Spirit when we are not praying?
Have we received boldness and wisdom from Lord Jesus to bear witness for Him? To walk His word (Col 2:5-6)?
Or is the Holy Spirit evident only when we utter tongue in prayer?
Acts 4:33 And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all.
The great grace is more than the healing, the sign and wonders done (Acts 4:30). The great grace is the grace of salvation.
And hallelujah, God allows us to be part of His mission.
depress one
Praying is soo hard for me when i am alone. Mostly because of procrastination. But i feel much encouraged to pray when there are few pple praying before service.
InHisTime
When feeling down or sian.. we must force ourselves to pray…all the more we have to pray. God will heed our cries and help us and fill our hearts with His peace.
appleofHiseye
A hymn to remember in times like these, hymn 82…
I have a Savior, He’s pleading in glory,
A dear, loving Savior though earth friends be few;
And now He is watching in tenderness o’er me;
And oh, that my Savior were your Savior, too.
For you I am praying,
For you I am praying,
For you I am praying,
I’m praying for you.
…It’s a good reminder that intercessory prayer is much needed and we are not alone on this journey of faith. I hope you can find the strength and motivation to pray fellow one (:
PS
Hi depress one, 😀 i enjoy praying with brethren during the before service prayer session too.
The church is a house of prayer (Mark 11:17). God knows very well that there is strength in unity and numbers. Thus He gives us a house which we can go back to for many different reasons, one most important is to pray together.
A house to call Home.
appleofHiseye
I heard a story of the prayers of two people. Both people woke up early in the morning to fast and pray. But person A was tired and complained in prayer, while person B struggled to concentrate and pray hard. From a third party point of view, it seems that both people are praying but who’s prayer will be heard?
So I was thinking how the believers in those times, how powerful their prayers were. And it is evident how God was working with them. A verse that I am reminded is, “…The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working” (James 5:16 ESV). So let’s jiayou in prayers!
thechosen
I have been caught unable to answer when people question me suddenly about my faith when i least expected it; indeed i truly regret those moments. I think that when we pray and ponder about the Word of God often, that is when the Holy Spirit will bring into remembrance the words of the Bible for our defense when we are faced with such challenges/questions. when we don’t contemplate our faith, that is when our defense will be easily crumbled by people’s questions.
“Reading Acts is painful. As Acts shows us the model of what the Church should be like, it also exposes many areas that the Church and myself are lacking.” – indeed…