Wee Jonny was kneeling by his bed one night, saying his prayers. Suddenly, he shouted very loudly, ‘God, I’d really like a new bike for my birthday.’ His mum says to him, ‘Jonny, why did you shout like that? God’s not deaf, you know.’ To which Jonny replied, ‘No, but granny is.’
This morning, I’ve got a question for you: How do you pray? Now, I’m not asking if you shout like wee Jonny or if you whisper or just speaking them inwardly. But how do you pray? What do you ask for? If you were to write down all your prayers over the next week, what words would come up time and time again? Perhaps it would be the word ‘bless.’ When we’re small, we maybe learn to pray something like ‘God bless mummy and daddy and the cat.’ And so we always pray those good but vague kind of prayers. So how do you pray?
Perhaps another measure of our prayers is what we pray for when we’re in trouble. And in those kinds of situations, the dominant word is ‘help!’ Help me with this, or help her with that. Or even, you want to pray a kind of ‘I’m a Christian, get me out of here’ kind of prayer.
This morning, we’re going to listen in to a prayer meeting of the early church. And this was definitely a church in trouble. It had all started back in chapter 3, as Peter and John went up to the temple to pray. They had encountered a man crippled from birth, who asked for money. Peter and John gave him something even better, as they made him walk in the name of Jesus. It happened at the Beautiful Gate, and that beautiful miracle pointed to the beautiful Saviour who promises a beautiful future of restoration.
But not everyone thought it was beautiful. Some people came to faith in Jesus, but the religious leaders arrested Peter and John, and then put them on trial in front of the Sanhedrin, the religious council. Peter explained how it was in the name of Jesus that the man had walked, and how Jesus is the only Saviour, because there is ‘no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.’ (4:12)
The religious leaders were furious! They didn’t want people hearing about Jesus, or about the resurrection he gives. And so they commanded the apostles ‘not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus.’ And they threatened them before sending them out.
That’s where the church finds itself. So how would they pray in that situation? If (and it’s becoming increasingly likely) we find ourselves in situations of greater opposition and even persecution, how will we pray? And, how do we pray for Christians in other places who do find themselves being persecuted, in dangerous circumstances?
So how do you pray? What do you say?
Notice first of all, that prayer was a natural reaction to the news they had heard. Peter and John are released in verse 23, and they go to their own people, to the church, and ‘reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them.’ They’re told the news, and then straight away, their response is to pray. ‘When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God...’ (24)
I think this is fairly challenging, isn’t it? Their first reaction to bad news, to trouble, wasn’t to post about it on Facebook; or to organise a petition; or to start a protest; or to ring and text everybody to tell them just how terrible it was. Their first reaction was to pray. Is that our reaction? Corrie Ten Boom asks a piercing question: ‘Is prayer your steering wheel or your spare tyre?’ Is prayer at the centre of everything we do, or just there for emergencies?
Their first reaction was to pray.
Secondly, they knew who they were praying to. Do you see how they address their prayer? ‘Sovereign Lord.’ They know that the God they are speaking to is the sovereign Lord. He’s in control. He’s in charge. And they know that for a few reasons.
He is the Sovereign Lord because he made everything. ‘Sovereign Lord, you made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and everything in them.’ (24) So everywhere that we go, God made it; and everything that we see, God made it. Now, why do they mention this? They’re reminding themselves that whoever is up against them - God made them. And God is in control of them.
Next, he is the Sovereign Lord because he knows the future. In verse 24, it was ‘you made’ and now in verse 25 it’s ‘you spoke.’ ‘You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David: ‘Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against his Anointed One.’ (25-26) They’re quoting there from Psalm 2, written about a thousand years beforehand.
It shows that God knows the future, that nations rage and peoples plot (albeit in vain), and kings and rulers gang up against the Lord and his Anointed One (that word is Messiah, or Christ). And in verse 26, we see that that’s exactly what happened in Jerusalem:
‘Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed.’
Do you see the cast of characters? Herod, the ruler of the region of Galilee; Pontius Pilate the Roman governor of Judea; Gentiles (the Romans) and Jews. They were all united in their opposition to Jesus. A full blown conspiracy, just as David had said a thousand years before. God is the Sovereign Lord because he know the future.
But God is also the Sovereign Lord because he can make even his enemies do what he wants without violating their free will. Look at verse 28: ‘They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen.’
When I was growing up, I was able to make my brother do what I wanted. It’s the power of big brothers. So I would hold his hands, and he would be slapping himself and I’d say, why are you hitting yourself? It was because I could make him do it - but he didn’t want to do it. He would be trying to fight me off. (I’ve repented of such cruelty!)
But God is the Sovereign Lord so that even his enemies can choose what they want to do; but they end up doing what God had decided would happen. They freely chose to crucify Jesus, but God knew it would happen, and used it to bring about his will - the salvation we have in Jesus’ death on the cross.
So they know who they are praying to - the Sovereign Lord who made everything (including their oppressors); who knows the future; and who is in total control.
Do you realise just who you’re praying to? God isn’t someone who tries really hard to maybe possibly be able to make a difference. He is not impotent or unimportant. He is the Sovereign Lord. He’s in control. And you are praying directly into the throneroom of heaven.
So what do you say to this Sovereign Lord? How do you continue this prayer: ‘Now, Lord, consider their threats and...’
Consider their threats and keep us safe?
Consider their threats and stop them?
Consider their threats and help us all to get along?
Here’s how they pray: ‘Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.’ (29-30)
They pray for boldness to keep on speaking God’s word! They don’t want a quiet life; they pray that God will give them boldness to live a faithful and obedient life. The danger is real; the trouble is threatening; but they want to keep speaking out God’s word, and so they need boldness, courage to do that. And they ask God to continue with the healings, signs and wonders that got them into this trouble in the first place.
Is this how we would pray in a similar circumstance? Is this how we’re praying when we’re threatened and told to stop talking about Jesus? They knew who they were praying to, the God is in control, the Sovereign Lord, and so they prayed for boldness.
And God answered their prayer. Do you see the aftermath of that prayer meeting? ‘After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.’ (31) The Sovereign Lord answered their prayer so that ‘they were all filled with the Holy Spirit’ and ‘all’ spoke the word of God boldly.
Over this next week, keep asking yourself this question - how do I pray? Is prayer my first response or my last resort? Do I know who I’m talking to - the Sovereign Lord who made, and spoke, and controls everything. And are my prayers safe, or too small, or are they bold prayers for boldness?
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. (Eph 3:20-21)
This sermon was preached in St Matthew's Church, Richhill on Sunday morning 21st July 2019.
No comments:
Post a Comment