Introduction
There was once a businessman who decided to open a casino and striptease club opposite a school. (I’m sure that wouldn’t be allowed in real life, but this is just a story, so play along). Facing this undesirable situation, a group of concerned Christians got together and challenged the businessman, shared the gospel with him and urged with him to do the right thing and move his establishment elsewhere.
But he refused, so they mobilised other Christians all over town for a night of prayer. They prayed until daybreak asking God to miraculously stop the moral rot in their town. Two days later, so the story goes, there was an electrical storm. The striptease casino place was burned to the ground. Praise God! High fives all round!
But not for long, because the businessman then sued the Christians, claiming that they were liable for the damage. Because it was their prayer meeting that caused the storm! The believers defended themselves against the allegations, claiming that they could not possibly be held responsible.
Ironic, isn’t it? Swearing on a Bible before a judge and jury, the playboy businessman suddenly believed in the power of prayer. And the prayerful, Bible-believing Christians vigorously claimed it had all just been an unfortunate coincidence.
And the moral of the story? Well, there are three. And they all fit with today’s passage of scripture, as we’ll see. 1) Do we respond to evil, as Christians, by moaning about it or praying about it? 2) When we pray, do we murmur the odd half-hearted request to God, or do we purposefully set aside quality time and join together in faith? And 3) When we do see answers to prayer, do we tell of God’s power, testifying that he has done it, or do we quietly wonder if maybe it was just a bit of a fluke?
Last week, Phil was telling us about what happened in Acts 3. If you weren’t here, it’s about when Peter and John go to the temple, where they encounter a beggar who is lame from birth. Peter heals him in Jesus’ name, and the man elatedly jumps up and praises God, astonishing onlookers.
In the excitement, a crowd gathers, and Peter explains that the healing happened through Jesus, a man they were guilty of murdering, but whom God raised from the dead as the Messiah, as foretold by the prophets. He then urges them to repent and turn to God so their sins may be forgiven.
How does that straight-talking speech go down? Let’s pick the story up in chapter 4, verse 1, which explains what happens the following day.
The priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to Peter and John while they were speaking to the people. They were greatly disturbed because the apostles were teaching the people, proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead. They seized Peter and John and, because it was evening, they put them in jail until the next day. But many who heard the message believed; so the number of men who believed grew to about five thousand.
The next day the rulers, the elders and the teachers of the law met in Jerusalem. Annas the high priest was there, and so were Caiaphas, John, Alexander and others of the high priest’s family. They had Peter and John brought before them and began to question them: ‘By what power or what name did you do this?’
Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: ‘Rulers and elders of the people! If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a man who was lame and are being asked how he was healed, then know this, you and all the people of Israel: it is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. Jesus is ‘“the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.” Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.’
When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realised that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus. But since they could see the man who had been healed standing there with them, there was nothing they could say. So they ordered them to withdraw from the Sanhedrin and then conferred together. ‘What are we going to do with these men?’ they asked. ‘Everyone living in Jerusalem knows they have performed a notable sign, and we cannot deny it. But to stop this thing from spreading any further among the people, we must warn them to speak no longer to anyone in this name.’
Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John replied, ‘Which is right in God’s eyes: to listen to you, or to him? You be the judges! As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.’
After further threats they let them go. They could not decide how to punish them, because all the people were praising God for what had happened. For the man who was miraculously healed was over forty years old.
I think it’s fair to say that Peter’s little thought for the day does not go down all that well. After the excitement of the church’s birth in Acts 2, by Acts 4 the honeymoon is already officially over. The trouble in Acts 4 will lead, as the book unfolds, to increasingly violent persecution and martyrdom, including eventually for Peter himself.
This is the first time the church meets proper hostility, a state of affairs that continues to this day. Persecution will endure until the Lord returns.
For example, the International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law estimates that in the first 220 days of this year at least 7,087 Christians were killed and about 7,800 abducted in Nigeria. They report that roughly 100 churches are attacked every month, and since 2009, over 19,100 churches attacked or looted or abandoned in that country.
The news media does not, generally speaking, find any of this worth broadcasting. After all, it must prioritise informing people who’s been voted off Strictly Come Dancing.
In Acts, it all kicks off because the church is growing fast; By chapter 4.4, just months after the resurrection, the movement has already reached 5,000. The scribes and chief priests are watching their congregations dwindle as people flock to join this unofficial group led by untrained riffraff from up north. It must have felt really annoying.
So they order Peter and John to explain themselves. Naturally, Peter volunteers as spokesman.
Notice, Peter is not rude or obnoxious, but he is straight-talking and direct. There’s no longwinded “in my opinion” or “perhaps” about Peter’s reply. He is filled with the Holy Spirit, v8 says, and the Holy Spirit never waffles.
“It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified [yes, it was you] but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed… Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven… by which we must be saved.”
The evangelist Vance Havner used to say that salt gives flavour, salt purifies, and salt preserves. But salt also irritates. Real Christianity is a bit of a nuisance. It rubs this world the wrong way.
The ruling Sanhedrin meets to discuss what to do. How should they react? They should say, “Well, this healing looks like an incredible miracle. And this Peter guy looks like a new man. How can we explain this? He was running away in panic just a few weeks ago, and now he is fearless. We should investigate his claim about Jesus. What if it’s true?”
Actually, some do do that as the movement continues to grow. Acts 6.7 says, “The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.”
But at this point, the senior clerics dig their heels in, and their only ambition is to stop the gospel spreading any further, so they threaten Peter and John, and strictly forbid them to speak about Jesus anymore.
Satan loves it when Christians talk about anything else but the gospel.
During the English Civil War, the future founder of the Quakers, George Fox, knew it was time for him to get right with God. He wondered from town to town looking for a Christian who would help him make his peace with God.
In the first town he visited, the local parson was fascinated by his questions and confessed that he too had many more questions like them. But no answers. Disappointed, Fox went to a second town where a minister told him that his spiritual anguish might be eased if he just smoked a little tobacco. Frustrated, he went on to a third town but, instead of helping him, the vicar flew into a rage because George Fox had accidentally stepped on his flowerbed. In a fourth town, the reverend suggested that bleeding himself with leeches might soothe his unsettled soul.
George Fox lamented in his diary, “they were all as nothing to me, for they could not reach my condition.” If George Fox had met Simon Peter instead of the useless clergy of his day, he would have certainly heard the gospel and probably responded to it.
Because Peter says here, “As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.”
So what will Peter and the others do now? They have just got out of jail for disturbing the peace and they’ve been given a gagging order for hate speech.
Put yourself in their shoes. Imagine you have given a testimony on Good Friday in the annual public act of witness. And someone who has an axe to grind has made a complaint that you’re intolerant or phobic of whatever lifestyle is currently being promoted.
So you’ve been ordered by the local authority to keep the peace and not speak to anyone under any circumstances about what you believe. You’ll just stir up trouble. You’ll be responsible for causing a public nuisance. It’s a private matter. It’s the law.
What should you do? What does Peter do? The chapter continues. Verse 23.
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 made the heavens and the earth and the sea, and everything in them. 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? The kings of the earth rise up and the rulers band together against the Lord and against his anointed one.”
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.’ After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.
What does Peter do? He leads a prayer meeting, not asking God that the council will change its mind but for the nerve to disobey the authorities even more blatantly than before.
This is the prayer equivalent of bungee jumping or parachuting. The wearing of safety equipment is recommended – literally in fact – because v31 tells us that the walls of the building where they prayed was shaken. You know you’ve had a good prayer meeting when you have to measure it on the Richter scale!
What does Peter’s prayer meeting teach us about prayer? Five things. And I’ll run through them as briefly as I can.
1) Pray together - not just alone
Firstly, pray together, not just alone. Verse 23 says, “On their release, Peter and John went back to their own people.” There is no trace in any page of the New Testament of solitary Christians. No one manages fine on their own. “When they hear the threats, they raise their voices together in prayer to God” says v24.
In all creation the humble snowflake is among the most fragile of things. It is very small, it weighs next to nothing, it quickly melts and is easily crushed. But bound together with other snowflakes it can form an avalanche capable of burying a village.
Likewise, prayer is so much more powerful when there is agreement in the Spirit and we sense breakthrough and we all say, “Amen” with conviction.
We pray together here at King’s in many different ways, but our monthly prayer and worship night is modelled on this gathering here in Acts 4. This is a top priority for us. We believe in the power of prayer together. It changes things. It makes a difference.
2) Focus on God - not on problems
Secondly, focus God, not on problems. “They raise their voices together in prayer. ‘Sovereign Lord,’ they say, ‘you made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and everything in them’” says v24.
What are they doing there? They are focusing on the power and authority and supremacy of God; not on the scale and complexity of their immediate difficulties.
And they go on; v25… “Lord, you spoke by the Holy Spirit…” Why do they say that? God knows that. They are reminding themselves that God is the God of real revelation, he has spoken his powerful word, he has already disclosed his mind to us and it is breaking into the realm of our experience.
And then they say this; v28… “Herod and Pontius Pilate met together … to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed. They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen.”
Again, God knows all this. They’re declaring the truth to themselves that God is in charge of history. There is power in speaking out the truth that nothing takes God by surprise. He will accomplish his plan; he will do what he has said.
Whenever I begin my praying by rattling on to God about how unfair life is, I pray with no perspective, no authority and no power. That’s why Peter leads these people to start by focusing on God.
3) Start with praise, not petition
The third thing flows from the second. Spend time in praise and worship before bringing a list of stuff for God to sort out. God absolutely deserves high praise. He is worthy of our adoring worship. It’s just the right thing to do.
But, more than that, worship pulls down the strongholds of fear and unbelief. Worship leads us into the presence of God where there is fullness of joy. That’s a good place to pray.
So start by exalting and magnifying the greatness of the Lord and speaking out truth about him. The first Christians did.
“Sovereign Lord,” they said, “you made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and everything in them.” Only then, with our minds renewed do we move on to petition.
4) Pray specific prayers - not vague ones
Fourthly, when they present their requests to God what they actually ask for is very precise, very exact. Specific prayers get specific answers, and vague prayers get vague answers.”
There’s no waffly church language; no repetitive rambling in v29-30. They pray, “Lord, consider their threats” and then they ask God for two very specific things.
One, “Enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness.” And two, “Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”
Helen Roseveare was a missionary in what was then called Zaire, now DRC. And she once told the story of a baby who was born prematurely. Her mother died in childbirth, so they brought the baby and its sister to the orphanage where she worked. This is what she wrote:
“We tried to improvise a homemade incubator to keep the baby alive, but our only hot water bottle was leaking. So we asked the children in the orphanage to pray for the baby and its sister. One of the children stood up to pray, ‘Father, please send us a hot water bottle today. Tomorrow will be too late; the baby will die. And Father, please send a toy doll for the baby’s sister so she doesn’t feel so lonely and sad.’
That same afternoon a parcel arrived from England. The children looked on impatiently all the time they were unpacking the parcel. To their great joy, surrounded by piles of clothes, there was a brand-new hot water bottle. The child who had prayed for a doll started to burrow down into the package saying, ‘If God sent us a hot water bottle, he has sent a doll too.’ And she was right!
Helen Roseveare wrote, “Our heavenly Father knew in advance that that child would ask for those very things. Five months earlier he had led a group of women in a small English church hall to place those particular items into that particular package.”
Who knows what blessings will be opened when children around the world open the shoeboxes you prayerfully pack in the next few weeks!
Specific prayers get specific answers, and vague prayers get vague answers. I want to encourage you, when you pray, to ask God for precise things.
5) Know that God answers in his time - not in ours
The fifth and last thing, we know very well, but we can find it hard to accept… Sometimes God answers our prayers quickly - and sometimes he delays.
In v29 the believers pray, “Now, Lord… enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness.”
And in v31 God answers their prayer straight away. “After they prayed, (or as the ESV translates it ‘when they had prayed’) the place where they were meeting is shaken. And they are all filled with the Holy Spirit and speak the word of God boldly.”
They ask God for boldness and God gives them what they ask for immediately. I love it when that happens.
Kathie once prayed for a friend called Beth who had had a violent stomach bug for two weeks and kept being sick. Immediately after Kathie prayed, Beth rushed to the toilet. I don’t know what went on in there. It sounded like a municipal firework display! But she came out, said she felt much better and was fine from that moment on.
But we know that it’s not always like that, don’t we? Don’t be discouraged if God doesn’t answer your prayers straight away. Simeon and Anna waited and waited before they set eyes on the Messiah they had been praying for and longing for a whole lifetime. But wasn't it worth the wait?
Ending
As I close, one last thing. The story is told that the first Christians on the African continent each had a little place in the bush outside the village where they spent time with God and prayed.
After a while, the routes that led to their prayer spots got worn down and became actual paths. So it became obvious which Christians were praying daily and those who were not. Those who really believed in the power of prayer used to say to the others, “Friend, why is the grass growing on your pathway?”
I want to grow in boldness, and I want to see the Lord stretch out his hand to heal and perform signs and wonders. Do you?
Well, let’s not let the grass grow on our path.
Sermon preached at King's Church Darlington, 2 November 2025.
