[Praying is not like a hundred-meter dash but a relay. It often requires more than one person. In this sermon from Acts 4, we focus in on the benefits of praying together. I will post the video for this sermon when it becomes available.]

PRAYING TOGETHER (Acts 4)

Imagine you live in a world where Christians are looked down on. Persecution is usually not overt, but even that happens from time to time. Lately it’s been happening more frequently. It’s not that there is a law on the books that forbids belief in Jesus, but people who do believe find it safer and easier to keep their mouths shut.

Can you imagine that world? It’s not hard, is it? We live in that world. There are places where there are laws on the books that forbid a person from believing in Jesus, but there are many more places where it’s just safer and easier to keep your mouth shut. Some would argue that the United States is becoming one of those places.

The Bible offers wise counsel about living as Jesus’s people in a hostile setting. This counsel comes directly out of the biblical authors’ experience. They knew, as millions of people today are learning, what it is to be mistreated for the name and cause of Jesus. After the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2), things went along smoothly for a while. But that eventually changed and, when it did, things got very tense very fast.

Sts. Peter and John found themselves in the crosshairs of the enemies of Jesus. The people who orchestrated Jesus’s execution were coming after them. They were arrested and ordered to stop speaking in Jesus’s name. They responded to that order with a point-blank refusal. They were then threatened – we don’t know what those threats entailed, but they may have included beatings and incarcerations – and then released.

Jesus had told them to go and tell, but the authorities were telling them to stay and be quiet. There was no question about who Peter and John would obey, but what about the thousands of brand-new Jesus-followers who had recently come into the church? They were just getting started and that was hard enough even apart from the threat of government reprisals.

What should Peter and John do? Should they keep quiet about what happened to avoid causing panic among the new Christians? No. They went right back to the church and reported everything to them. Let’s read about that, starting in in Acts 4:23.

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 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. And 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.

Verse 23 tells us that Peter and John went back to their friends (or, more literally, “their own”). That is significant. These were their people; they belonged to each other. They were in this together. Church was not something they did on Sunday; it was who they were. Had you asked them to identify themselves, they would not have said, “We are Galileans” (or Judeans, or artisans, or farmers, or merchants, or country folk or city dwellers). They would have said, “We are Jesus’s people.” That kind of connectedness has a lot to do with the power of their corporate prayers. That power dissipates when the connectedness is broken.

What about us? Is our default identity Christian, or is our primary identity about nation, race, or party? The way we pray, and the effectiveness of our prayers, will depend on how we answer those questions.

Notice what the church didn’t do when they heard the threats made against them. They didn’t organize, or protest, or write letters to the Sanhedrin. They didn’t contact a lawyer. I’m not saying that would have been wrong; I’m merely pointing out that is not what they did. As soon as they heard the report, “they lifted their voices together in prayer to God” (Acts 4:24). Too often we go to prayer as a last resort. They went to prayer as their first, best option.

“They lifted their voices together in prayer.” But the original language reads, “They lifted their voice (singular) to God…” Their unity in life made their unity in prayer possible. This is a theme we have seen again and again: As you live, so shall you pray. Your prayer will not rise above your life.

Look at how they prayed. They did not begin with a laundry list of requests as I might have done, had I been threatened. There are only two requests in their prayer, and they come near its end. They begin instead by acknowledging their God and remembering who – and how great – he is. As you worship, so shall you pray. Your prayer will not rise above your worship.

And notice what they pray. They begin by addressing God as “Sovereign Lord,” which in Greek is δεσπότης, from which comes the word “despot.” The idea here is that the One to whom they pray is the Master, the one with all the authority. The Sanhedrin may act like it has mastery, but that’s all it is: an act. The emperor may believe that he holds ultimate power, but Tiberius serves at the pleasure of their God, and only for as long as he chooses. These Christians believe in a big God.

Do do we. The president of the United States, Democrat or Republican makes no difference, serves at the pleasure of our God, and only for as long as he chooses. There is a higher court than the so-called Supreme Court, a Judge who judges them, and he is our God. There is a Law-Giver whose laws cannot be overturned like those of our Congress, and he is our God.

As they pray, their vision of God grows, and the threats made against them take on realistic proportions. The formula goes like this: Big God, small problems; small God, big problems. In their prayer, they recognize that their God is BIG. That’s a good way to pray. Before we raise our petitions, we would do well to lift our praises.

Verse 24 yet again: “They lifted their voices [voice] together in prayer to God.” “Together” may not be the best way to translate the word St. Luke uses here. It appears eleven times in the New Testament, ten of which occur in the book of Acts.

In the gospels, the disciples were at times divided, they argued and got mad at each other. But after the giving of the Spirit, they were together. They were, as the King James translates this word, “in one accord,” They were of one mind, which is how other translations render it. But there is more to this word than like-mindedness. It denotes a shared passion, a common emotion and desire. That doesn’t happen often in a group, and it never happens because people negotiate or debate or make compromises or pass motions. It happens because God’s Spirit takes people with different gifts and desires and personalities and makes them one body of Christ.

The kind of help that is available to individuals when they pray is also available to groups. The Spirit leads, informs, and intercedes. The requests are shaped, pared, and redirected until they are on target with the will of God. The key (whether it is an individual or a group that is praying) is that they are for Jesus, about Jesus, and representing Jesus. There is no technique or procedure that can replace that. When loving Jesus and standing for him is genuine, the Spirit will always be present and answers to prayer will be numerous.

When a group is so led by the Spirit, a remarkable thing occurs. Though various individuals speak, it is just one prayer that comes through them. These people don’t lift their voices; they lift their voice; and it is the voice of the Body of Christ, which is inexpressibly sweet to God’s ears. This is what Jesus was talking about when he said, “I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven” (Matthew 18:19).

It will help us if we remember the context in which these people raised that single voice. We have already seen that this prayer came in response to threats that had been made against the apostles. But to understand it, we need to pan out and see why they were threatened in the first place.

The animosity of the authorities, and the threats they issued, were a response to the Christian’s public behavior. The authorities couldn’t care less what the Christians said and did in private, but what they said and did in public challenged their narrative and threatened their power. What were those Christians doing? Publishing essays on corruption in the Sanhedrin? Calling people to overthrow the government? Planning a political coup? None of the above.

It is important to understand why these believers were persecuted. It was not because they were pursuing political power for themselves or trying to take it away from others. (That may get you persecuted, as some Christian political activists are finding out, but it won’t get you answers to prayer.) There is not the least hint that these believers had any interest in political power. They would no more trade the power they had for political power than you would trade a real Ferrari for a 3-inch die cast model of one. Then why were these Christians persecuted? They were persecuted because they were speaking and acting in the name of Jesus.

Recently, there has been talk about Christians being persecuted for their conservative views. The Jesus-followers in Acts 4 were not persecuted for their views; they were persecuted for Jesus, in whose name they spoke and acted. If we suffer, let it be for the same reason.

Notice that these men and women rooted their prayer in the Bible. This was not some technique they were taught for getting answers. They prayed Scripture because the Spirit that inspired Scripture was inspiring them. The first line of their prayer echoes King Hezekiah’s great prayer in 2 Kings 19. They then quote at length from Psalm 2. But again: this is not a technique. They are not trying to catch God in his words or use his words as leverage to get him to do what they want. They pray this way because they are inspired by the same Spirit that inspired Hezekiah and the psalmist.

Imagine that we are in their place: the U. S. attorney has threatened us with fines and jail time, and we have called a prayer meeting. What do you think we would pray about? Many of us, I suspect, would pray for protection. That is not wrong; it is not selfish or unspiritual. But these Jesus-followers did not pray for protection. Why not?

Were they okay with being humiliated and beaten and locked up? Not any more than we would be. Yet they, under the Spirit’s leading, didn’t ask God for protection. Why? Because they were sure they already had it. They believed that God was protecting them. So, if he allowed them to suffer, as he allowed his only Son to suffer, he would make it right! That is how we must think of God.

People pray for protection when they are on the defensive. These Christ-followers were on the offensive. They weren’t retreating; they were advancing. They weren’t hiding. They were proclaiming. They understood that they were on an important mission. Safety, comfort, and riches were not among the mission objectives. But bringing people over to God and his kingdom was. If some of them – if all of them – had to suffer to accomplish the mission, they would suffer.

So, what did they ask for? They (verse 29) asked God to consider the threats that had been made against them (they were certainly considering them) and to give them courage to speak his word with boldness. It’s as if they – this group of people who were for each other and knew that God was for them – had said: “Master, we’re scared, and we don’t want to fail you because we’re afraid. We need you to empower us to speak your word (about Jesus and for Jesus) boldly.”

When some people hear the line, “speak your word boldly,” they think, “But I’m not an evangelist.” They assume that speaking God’s word is synonymous with persuading people to accept Jesus. But that isn’t quite what these Christians prayed for. The apostles were not arrested for presenting the Four Spiritual Laws but for acting as Jesus’s representatives and speaking in his name.

This whole ordeal started when Peter and John helped a beggar at the temple gate. Do you remember what Peter said at the time? “I don’t have any money, but what I do have I give you in the name of Jesus…” (Acts 3:6 PAR). He acted with what he had (which is something each of us can do), and he did it in Jesus’s name. He dared to interact with a person in need as Jesus’s representative. We can do that. We should do that. And if we will do that, we will learn more about prayer in a month than we would otherwise learn in a lifetime.

When these people asked for boldness, they were expecting God to “stretch out [his] hand to heal.” They were expecting signs and wonders to be performed through the name of [God’s] holy servant Jesus” (Acts 4:30). But they weren’t expecting God to do these things out there somewhere; they were expecting him to stretch out his hand through them. You say, “But I don’t have the ability to heal or perform signs and wonders.” You don’t need it. Give what you do have – money, time, a listening ear, a car, a prayer – and give it in the name of Jesus. Peter didn’t worry about what he didn’t have. He said, “What I have I give you in Jesus’s name.” That’s all you need to do. God can (and will) handle the signs and wonders.

It can feel awkward to say to people, “I’m doing this” – where this may be giving money, driving to an appointment, providing a meal, mowing a lawn, and 10,000 other things – “in the name of Jesus.” Sometimes I have helped people in these ways, and when they’ve thanked me (they usually haven’t known that I’m a pastor), I’ve said something like: “I’m glad to help but I want you to know that I do this because I belong to Jesus.” I’ve yet to meet a person who wasn’t taken off-guard by that.

Sometimes, a wall goes up at the moment. I’m sure some of these people thought I was weird (and, full discloser, I feel weird every time I say it). But those same people, many who never learned my name and wouldn’t remember it if they had, might remember Jesus’s name. And just think what would happen if someone else did something for them in Jesus’s name next month, and someone else two months after that. What an effect it would have! The testimony about Jesus, as in verse 33, would have great power.

People who act in Jesus’s name find that they can pray in Jesus’s name. The two go together. And they see answers. This is 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.”

Now, how do we apply this? First, when an opportunity arises to act and speak in Jesus’s name, be ready to act. But make sure you are not using his name to lend authority to your cause. I’ve seen people do that, especially in the realm of politics. That will compromise your testimony and destroy your prayer life. But if people will act in Jesus’s name in the world, they will be able to pray in Jesus’s name in the prayer closet. And remember what Jesus said: “Whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you” (John 15:16).

Next, find opportunities to pray with others. This is essential. One such opportunity happens every Wednesday evening at Go Deep at 6:30. We begin our time by praying together for our needs and for the church’s mission. I want to start a prayer group during the week dedicated to praying for Cal Road Church according to the Scriptures. But you can start your own prayer group in your home or at a park or in a restaurant. If that idea resonates with you, go for it!

A final reminder: the most important factor in your prayer life is what happens when you are not praying. As we have seen repeatedly, prayers arise from a life, not just a mind or a mouth. If you suspect that something in your life is hindering your prayers, take steps to deal with it—and the sooner the better.