8.1 Key themes⤒🔗

• God wants his church to pray to him in all situations.
• From the example of the church in Acts, we see that the church must pray:
  - with faith in God, praising him.
  - to ask God for what they need to glorify him.
• God loves to answer the prayers that his church prays with faith and to his glory.

8.2 Acts 4:23–33←⤒🔗

^4:23 When they were released, Peter and John went to their fellow believers and reported everything the high priests and the elders had said to them.

^4:24 When they heard this, they raised their voices to God with one mind and said, “Master of all, you who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and everything that is in them,

^4:25 who said by the Holy Spirit through your servant David our forefather, ‘Why do the nations rage, and the peoples plot foolish things?

^4:26 The kings of the earth stood together, and the rulers assembled together, against the Lord and against his Christ.’

^4:27 'For indeed both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, assembled together in this city against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed,

^4:28 to do as much as your power and your plan had decided beforehand would happen.

^4:29 And now, Lord, pay attention to their threats, and grant to your servants to speak your message with great courage,

^4:30 while you extend your hand to heal, and to bring about miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.'

^4:31 When they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God courageously.

^4:32 The group of those who believed were of one heart and mind, and no one said that any of his possessions was his own, but everything was held in common.

^4:33 With great power the apostles were giving testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was on them all.

© NET Bible

8.3 The Church in danger←⤒🔗

The book of Acts tells us how God made his church grow in the days of the apostles. Thousands of people heard the preaching of Peter, John, and the other apostles. They believed in Jesus and were baptized. In those first years, the church grew very quickly.

But most of the Jewish leaders did not believe the message that the apostles were preaching. One day they caught Peter and John and put them in jail. They warned them that there would be trouble if they ever preached about Jesus again. Then they let them go.

Peter and John immediately went to their own people: the church. They told them what had happened. What was the first thing that the church did? They prayed to God (verse 24 of our passage).

God wants his church to pray to him in all situations. In this passage, God gives us a wonderful example of how the church should pray, and what happens when the church prays.

8.4 Pray with faith in God←⤒🔗

The church was in great danger. The Jewish leaders were making plans to destroy them. But see how the church began their prayer (verse 24). They did not start by talking about their danger. They started by praising God!

Their praise showed their faith in God. They knew that God is:

• The Sovereign Lord (verse 24). To be “sovereign” means to have all the power. The name “Lord” also stands for power and authority. It means the same as “Master.”
• The Creator of the heavens and the earth and the sea, and everything in them (verse 24).
• The God who said long ago that these things were going to happen (verses 25–26). The church remembered Psalm 2. Psalm 2 was written long before Jesus came to earth. But this Psalm already spoke about rulers and nations that make plans against God and God’s King.

The church knew that the Jewish leaders were not in control over them. God is the One who is in control. He is in control over everything that happens. He is the One who made everything. The future is also in his hands.

When we pray, do we also praise our God for who he is? Do we pray with our eyes fixed on God? Do we put all our trust in him?

8.5 Ask what is needed to glorify God←⤒🔗

After the church praised God, they asked him for what they needed. What did they need? They needed boldness to speak God’s Word (verse 29).

The church did not ask God to take away the danger. They knew that this danger was part of God’s greater plan (see verse 28). But they asked him for boldness (courage). They knew that Satan was trying to make them afraid, so that they would stop speaking God’s Word. If they wanted to glorify God’s name, they needed to be bold.

Today, when we pray, we should always ask ourselves, “What does God want in this situation? What is his plan? What will glorify him?” From the Bible, we know that God’s plan is to let his kingdom come. He wants more and more people to know him. He wants his church to trust and obey him. When we pray, we must focus on these things.

8.6 What happens when the Church prays←⤒🔗

When the church prays to God in this way, he will answer. That is what we see in this passage. God filled the church with his Holy Spirit, so that they could continue to speak his Word with boldness (verse 31). He also continued to give power to the apostles to do miracles (verses 30, 33). All of this was for the glory of his name.

In this Bible Study, we have already learned many things about the church. The church is the body of Christ. The church is the army of God and the light of the world. In this lesson, we see that we can only be these things if we pray. God loves to answer the prayers that his church prays with faith and to his glory. That is why the church in this world is always: the church on its knees.