When God says "I Have Heard You!"

 

Shortly after Dallas Theological Seminary was founded in 1924, it almost came to the point of bankruptcy. All the creditors were going to foreclose at noon on a particular day. That morning they met in the president’s office for prayer that God would provide. In that prayer meeting was a man by the name of Harry Ironside. When it was his turn to pray, he said, “Lord, we know that the cattle on a thousand hills are yours. Please sell some of them and send us the money.”

While they were praying a tall Texan stepped up to the business office and said, “I just sold two carloads of cattle in Ft. Worth. I’ve been trying to make a business deal but it fell through and I feel compelled to give the money to the seminary. I don’t know if you need it or not, but here’s the check!”

The secretary took the check and knowing how critical things were financially, went to the door of the prayer meeting and timidly tapped. When she finally got a response, the president took the check out of her hand. It was exactly the amount of the debt! When he looked at the name, he recognized the cattleman and turning to Dr. Ironside said, “Harry, God sold the cattle!”

Peter and John healed were on the way to the temple for prayers when a lame man begged for money. They healed the lame man and that attracted a crowd. The apostle took the opportunity to preach to the crowd. While they were speaking to the people the religious rulers came, seized Peter and John and put them in jail. The next day they commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. After further threats they let them go.

In Acts 4:23-31 we read, “on their release, Peter and John went back to their own people and reported all that the chief priests and the elders had said to them. When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God. “Sovereign Lord,” they said, 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? ...

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. They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen.  Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”

On their release, Peter and John went back to their own people and reported all that the chief priests and the elders had said to them. In spite of Peter's courageous defiance he and John related to the whole body of believers their experience -the arrest and the threats. When our daily lives surround us with temptation and evil, what a blessing to meet with brethren to draw strength from one another!

In this Church if one member rejoiced all rejoiced, so the lame man was received with open arms; if one member suffered all suffered, so the bullying of Peter and John became the bullying of all. The believer’s response was not wringing their hands in anxiety; it was not spending time speculating what course of action they should take. When the Church heard about the threats, the first response was to pray! 

They lifted their voices to God with one accord.  It was many voices, many hearts, but words ascending as one voice. Jesus had told them "I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by my father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there in their midst” (Matt. 18:19-20). There is real power, exponential power in the prayer of agreement. Jesus was right there in their midst.

Persecution bound the believers closer to one another and they were thereby able to lift up a unified concert of prayer. Persecuted believers naturally draw together for mutual support. One of the greatest tactics that Satan uses to make us ineffective as a church is to get us upset with each other. Division in the church always hinders prayer and robs the Church of spiritual power. The early believers were of one mind .

They did not begin the prayer by feeling sorry for themselves and pouring out their woes. The prayer began with praise for God's sovereignty. Before they came to any petition, they filled their minds with thoughts of the sovereignty of God. They prayed with power and confidence because they knew who they prayed to- the Lord of all creation, the God of all power (Heb. 1:3). When we pray, we often forget just who it is we pray to.

The opening reference to God's creative power in the disciples' prayer was a common and appropriate way to approach God in prayer, especially when a request for the exercise of that power followed, as it did here. Hezekiah used the same approach (2 Kings 19:15-19; Isa. 37:15-20). He prayed “Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth.

Give ear, Lord and hear; open your eyes, Lord, and see; listen to all the words Sennacherib has sent to ridicule the living God. “It is true, Lord, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste all these peoples and their lands. They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods but only wood and stone, fashioned by human hands. Now, Lord our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, Lord, are the only God (Isaiah 37:16-20) .

It is worth noting that even in the face of persecution on the horizon, the prayer of the Church was primarily praise rather than petition. They praised God for being what He is; omnipotent, the Creator of the universe. That helped put things into perspective. The Jewish religious rulers were the most powerful Jewish force in all of Israel. So the disciples go directly to the One who is the most powerful force in the universe, the One in control of everything!

The early church had absolute confidence in the absolute power of their God! Underlying their prayer was this conviction of the absolute sovereignty of God. The Sanhedrin had power; God had almighty power. The Sanhedrin could threaten, but it could not go one step beyond the permissive will of God. Instead of thinking about how strong our opponents are, we need to remember how powerful our God is (Rom. 8:31-39).

The disciples saw what was happening to them as a fulfilment of Psalm 2; “Sovereign Lord . . . 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? (Acts 4:24-25). The events of Good Friday may have seemed to some like a chaotic tragedy, but to the believers, the death of Christ fulfilled David’s ancient Psalm. They had witnessed the initial fulfilment of that prophecy. The final fulfilment is presented in Revelation 17:9-14.

The kings of the earth were opposing their witness, just as they had opposed their Lord. The disciples understood what happened by seeing what the Bible said about it. David had been inspired to say long before-hand that these very things would happen. They should expect this sort of opposition and not be troubled because of it because God was in control of all things.

Because they saw their circumstances in light of God’s Word, they could recognize that the wrath of man never operated outside of the sphere of God’s control. These enemies could only do whatever the hand of God allowed. Knowing that whatever comes my way has passed through God’s hand first and he will not allow even the most wicked acts of men to result in permanent damage brings real peace.

Why did the Gentiles rage and the peoples plot in vain? While the saints did not quote the entire psalm in their prayer, reading the rest of this Messianic Psalm is comforting. The plotting and imaginations of wicked rulers are vain and worthless. They cannot defeat God’s plan no matter how hard they try. Regardless of the persecution and suffering they cause, in the end God will win.

The opposition which brought about their Lord's death and burial was followed by His resurrection, so that His persecution had purpose. Likewise, believers can be assured that their persecution has purpose in God's sovereign plan of redemption. It will not simply be persecution for persecution's sake. It will not be wasted. And based on this realization, this truth prompts the disciples to cry out for power to witness boldly.

We should likewise not be surprised when people oppose our work for Christ and when people hinder our efforts for His cause. This has often been true and will often continue to be. This very fact of itself should give us comfort when it does happen. God has not lost control. He has said that such trials will come. But he has also said that all opposition to His work is vain.

Having stated that they know the opposition was predicted by God, they showed their faith by asking Him for the strength to continue to do what is right. They had been specifically commanded not to preach and had been threatened with punishment if they continued. But instead of quitting they prayed for strength to continue doing the very thing they had been commanded by the rulers not to do!

They did not ask for the persecution to cease, but only that they have the boldness to speak God’s word despite the threats. This is the same request we should make when we face suffering for the cause of Christ. They did not ask for terrible calamities on their enemies, but only that they themselves could be faithful despite them. Healing, wonders and signs in Jesus’ name was what had originated Peter and John’s arrest, but they asked for it to continue!

God gave them an immediate sign to show that He heard them when He shook the place where they were gathered. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly (Acts 4:23-31). While our God does not always answer prayers immediately, he is still the omnipotent God who desires to answer the petitions and pleas of His children. He can answer our prayers as surely as He did those of the early disciples. He can also give us assurance of His presence as He did to them.