To Boldly Go (Acts 4:23-31; Matthew 28:18-20)
Sharing Problems with People of Faith (Acts 4:23-24)
23 And being let go, they went to their own companions and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them. 24 So when they heard that, they raised their voice to God with one accord and said: “Lord, You are God, who made heaven and earth and the sea, and all that is in them,
Immediately upon their release the apostles Peter and John go to their own. [The word companions (NKJV) or friends (ESV) has been added for readability. However the text only says they went to their own.] In the company of their fellow Jesus followers they begin to share their experience. The threats of the chief priests and elders were reported to their fellowship.
Jesus followers should be intentional and inclined to keep close company with committed Jesus followers... especially when they are being persecuted for Jesus following. (Psalm 1:1-2; Acts 4:23-24)
The companions of Peter and John are said to have raised their voice to God with one accord. What does this mean? Were they were all saying the exact same thing at the exact same time? The word rendered with one accord (NKJV) or together (ESV) is an adverb that literally means with one mind (ὁμοθυμαδὸν). It is likely that as one in the group was praying the others were sounding in their agreement and support for the words they both heard and understood. We do this by saying "amen" as a person speaks to God on behalf of the group (1 Corinthians 14:16). One accord praying happens when the Lord's people convene in His name to make requests (Matthew 18:19-20). Where the prayers of a single righteous person are effective (James 5:16) there is a special presence and power associated with the gathering of God's people to pray:
Based on the promise of Jesus the unity of this group in purpose and prayer will get results. As we consider the prayer we should note that it is very Jewish. It sounds like the worship literature of their Scriptures (Exodus 20:11; Nehemiah 9:6; Psalm 146:6); it begins with an acknowledgement of God's power and role in the universe - Sovereign Creator.
By starting prayer with a recognition of God's role in Creation the person praying declares the Lord's right to rule and their own obligation to obey.
Seeing Life Through the Lens of Scripture (Acts 4:24-30)
24 So when they heard that, they raised their voice to God with one accord and said: “Lord, You are God, who made heaven and earth and the sea, and all that is in them, 25 who by the mouth of Your servant David have said: ‘Why did the nations rage, And the people plot vain things? 26 The kings of the earth took their stand, And the rulers were gathered together Against the Lord and against His Christ.’ 27 “For truly against Your holy Servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together 28 to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose determined before to be done.
The followers of Jesus are not confused by recent events. They are not tossed about by adversity and left to wonder about what is happening. There are two reasons for their sound understanding of their circumstances. First, Jesus told them these things would happen (Matthew 5:11-13; 10:23; 23:34; Luke 21:12; John 15:20) . Second, they have learned to see life through the lens of Scripture; they have a biblical world view. As they review the recent persecution of their Rabbi they realize, owing to the Spirit's leading, that it was all according to plan. Here is what they see in Psalm 2 and recent events:
This part of their prayer comes from God by the mouth of [His] servant David. They not only see through the lens of Scripture (Acts 4:27-28) they pray using the words of God Himself.
Persecution of the early church drove it not to programs, petitions, or powerful politicians but to prayer. In the wake of threats they threw themselves before the throne of grace pleading for help with the words of God Himself. Our prayers will have more weight when we follow their example and pray to God Himself with the words of God Himself.
Seeking Support to Boldly Go (Acts 4:29-30)
29 Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word, 30 by stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus.”
In the latter part of their prayer the apostles and their companions call the Lord's attention to the threats issued by the priests and the elders: look on their threats. The charge of the risen Lord was fresh in their minds. They were to be witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. His commissioning was not to be subverted by cowardice or the desire to avoid conflict. Remembering their own innate frailties and tendencies toward fretting, they called upon God to make them able:
For your own glory give us the disposition to boldly go where no one has gone before with a message that no one has heard before validated by works that no one has done before.
We must be especially aware of the reason for their prayer. They did not ask for a way out but for the strength to press in.
The prayers of the early church look very different from our own. We beseech God to give us better stuff where they asked to be made better; they asked for boldness for the one thing: witnessing. We want healing in order to be comforted in our affliction apart from our calling but they asked for healing as a help for the one thing: witnessing. We seek signs and wonders as a means of creating buzz about ourselves. They asked for the same thing but for an entirely different reason: witnessing. Their praying was for the resources needed to accomplish the mission of making Him known - for witnessing. (Isaiah 43:10; 44:8; 49:6; Acts 1:8)
Supernatural Confirmation (Acts 4:31; Matthew 28:18-20)
31 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.
The answer from Heaven was immediate. As if to say "Let's shake things up" the place where they were assembled together was perturbed. It says that they were then filled with the Holy Spirit and began to operate in the boldness that they had requested. But one might ask, why was the building shaken and why is that not happening today when we ask for boldness.
There are times in Scripture where a sign is used to indicate that something spiritual has taken place without seeking to make it normative. That is, there are instances of God performing a work in a special way so as to reveal how He will work in the future - even without the sign.
God is listening now for prayers to answer. Prayers for boldness in the face of persecution. Prayers for validation when confronting vicious opponents of the gospel. Let the church convene, call out to God for help, in order that we might succeed in our commission - witnessing.
There are three things that we can do with the expectation that God is going to hear. There are three things that should come into our prayer life and we can do them with the expectation that God is going to help.