SCRIPTURES: Acts 4:23-31
BOTTOM LINE: Peter and John have just been released by the Sanhedrin, and they go immediately back to the Church. What do they do? They PRAY.
QUESTION: Are we willing to be devoted to PRAYER? There’s a huge difference between a person/church that PRAYS verses being a person/church that is devoted to PRAYER.
DOWNLOAD: Peter, John, and the people of the church paint for us such a solid model of PRAYER. Check this out:
1. How to RESPOND.
2. Who to RECOGNIZE.
3. How to get READY.
The Holy Spirit can fill us and empower us w/ BOLDNESS and COURAGE, even in the face of Perseverance, to continue to proclaim the Gospel. Notice:
1. They weren’t concerned w/ Retaliating. We will face Persecution … we talked a lot about that last week … we said we just simply need to Plan for that when we’re going to share the Gospel … And most of the time … when we face Persecution, we have a tendency to what to eliminate it ASAP right?
And the Early Church knew that the threat of Persecution from the Sanhedrin was real and legitimate … and so they prayed for Boldness, not for the Persecution to go away and not for something to happen to the Sanhedrin. Our PRAYER needs to be that same PRAYER … BOLDNESS … boldness to live a life sharing the Gospel … BOLDNESS to walk each day dependent In-Christ … Living FROM Him and not so much FOR Him … and as we’re empowered w/ BOLDNESS, remember, the goal is not to attack those who get in the way.
2. It’s not about Me … It’s all about God They had such a passionate desire for God to stretch out His Hand … for Him to bring healing … so that others would experience a glimpse of God and be interested, so they could share the Gospel. It’s all about Him …