The sermon for today came from Acts 4:23-31. Earnest prayer was one of the distinctive marks in the early church. Their reflex was to pray. In the midst of prosecution, they prayed. The religious leaders charged Peter and John not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus (Acts 4:18). After being threatened and released by the authorities, they went to the other believers , reported to them what happened, and prayed as one voice [voice: singular noun] for boldness to continue to speak the word of God (4:23-24, 29, 31).
In their prayer, they started the prayer with God’s own sovereignty: “Sovereign Lord…” (4:24) This group of early church believers prayed for boldness to speak the word in Jesus’ name. Their prayer was grounded in His sovereignty. Due to the reality of the resurrection, they were not filled with fear. They recognized the sovereignty of God in the midst of difficulty. The current circumstance did not overcome their sound theology. Or they did not yield to what they saw and allow the circumstance to distort their theological lens.
The pastor said that we can go to a seminar to learn the word of God. But we can’t learn how to speak the word of God with boldness from a seminar, for such boldness comes from the Spirit who works in our hearts. It comes from the heart—the center of our passion. We pray for boldness to speak the word in the name of Jesus. When we pray in order to speak and speak with prayer, the sovereign Lord will bring it to pass.
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