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Pastor Mike will be speaking on The Power of a Prayer Meeting 1. He will be reading out of Acts 12:1-9.
The church was called to gather and to come to God almighty because with cometh my help does it come from the political figures does it come from the religious leaders does it come from the church leaders no it comes from Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior amen.
Hello this is Pastor Mike Sanders and today we begin our 19th year on radio. Thank you for joining us we’re going to be in Acts chapter 12 and we’re going to be talking about the power of a prayer meeting God uses prayer God works through prayer and when God is getting ready to do something great he first moves his people to prayer so let’s see that manifested as we look at the early church in Acts chapter 12 and let’s study about the power of a prayer meeting.
Stan Guthrie in his article that he wrote entitled Doors Into Islam in a magazine entitled Christianity Today said these words about a unique experience that had taken place in Afghanistan. He said after watching the Jesus film and listening to Christian radio on July the 15th 2001 Samuel not his real name took a monumental step for an Afghan and a Muslim.
He received Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. Soon thereafter as Western AIDS were either arrested or expelled from Kabul the Taliban came looking for him. They told Samuel that he was of working for foreigners which had been legal and they then threw him in jail and for the next 14 days they beat Samuel at least once a day with a five -foot steel cable.
After the last of these sessions, he fell unconscious in the prison cell floor. That night, Samuel had a dream. In it, a luminous man wearing bright white clothes appeared to him. The visitor, whom Samuel would later describe as having very beautiful feet and shoulder -length hair, spoke kindly to him.
Then he said, get up. In the dream, the visitor led Samuel out of the prison cell. Going to the front gate, the ex -Muslim met another man who was wearing bright green, which many Muslims associate green with God’s blessings.
This man led him out of the prison. Then all of a sudden, Samuel awoke from his dream. And when he looked up, he found that prison cell doors were open. He walked through it to find the front gate of the prison unguarded and open.
A close western associate said that Samuel walked out and he walked into the night as a free man. When we come to our text this morning in Acts chapter 12, we have a very similar incident that takes place for the Apostle Peter.
As we come to this text we must be reminded that God is teaching us that He is always delivering His people either through a trial or He is delivering His people from a trial. This certainly would include any kind of persecution that God’s people might face.
We see in this passage a beautiful picture of God’s pattern for deliverance for those who look to Him. I’ve entitled this message the power of a prayer meeting and as we analyze Acts chapter 12 verses 1 through 19 I want you to see some important points that will help us as we face the challenges of the days that are before us.
In these uncertain times and unusual days God is calling us to be a people of prayer. You will note in Acts chapter 12 verse 1 the Bible says now about that time Herod the king stretched out his hand to harass some from the church that he killed James the brother of John with a sword and because he saw that it pleased the Jews he proceeded further to seize Peter also.
Now it was during the days of unleavened bread so when he had arrested him he put him in prison and delivered him to four squads of soldiers to keep him intending to bring him before the people after Passover.
Peter was therefore kept in prison, but constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church. And when Herod was about to bring him out that night, Peter was sleeping, bound with two chains between two soldiers and the guards before the door were keeping the prison.
Now behold, an angel of the Lord stood by him and a light shone in the prison, and he struck Peter on the side and he raised him up saying, arise quickly, and his chains fell off his hands. Then the angel said to him, gird yourself and tie on your sandals, so he did.
And he said to him, put on your garment and follow me. So he went out and he followed him and did not know that what was done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision. When they were past the first and the second guard post, they came to the iron gate that leads to the city which opened to them of its own accord, and they went out and went down one street, and immediately the angel departed from him.
When Peter had come to himself, he said, now I know for certain that the Lord has sent his angel and has delivered me from the hand of Herod and from all the expectation of the Jewish people. So when he had considered this, he came to the house of Mary, the mother of John, whose surname was Mark, where many were gathering together praying.
And as Peter knocked at the door on the gate, a girl named Rhoda came to answer, and when she recognized Peter’s voice because of her gladness, she did not open the gate, but ran in and announced that Peter stood before the gate.
But they said to her, you are beside yourself, yet she kept insisting that it was so. So they said, it is his angel. Now Peter continued knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished.
But motioning to them with his hand to keep silent, he declared to them how the Lord had brought him out of prison, and he said, go, tell these things to James and to the brethren, and he departed and he went to another place.
Then as soon as it was day, there was no small stir among the soldiers about what had become of Peter. But when Herod had searched for him and not found him, he examined the guards and commanded that they should be put to death, and he went down from Judea to Caesarea and stayed there.
What an amazing story that we read about here in Acts chapter 12. But at the crux of this miraculous, story that is unfolded in Acts chapter 12 is that we see several times that God’s people have gathered together and they have prayed and that’s why I think it’s important for us to learn about the power of a prayer meeting and I hope today that as you walk away that you not only have a sense of the value of prayer in your own personal walk with the Lord Jesus Christ but that you would once again even in these unique times understand how important it is for the church to gather and pray together that it’s not just that God has called us to pray individually to him which is rightly so but that he has also called us together as his people to come together and corporately pray to the Lord Jesus Christ and that the Bible teaches us that where two or three are gathered in his name there is Jesus Christ in the midst so what do we see first and that is the problem that activated the prayer meeting We are introduced in verse 1 to a man who is called Herod the King.
He is literally, his literal name is Herod Agrippa. Now you might think in your mind and remember that there was a king back in the Gospel of Matthew at the birth of Christ who had ordered that all the children, all the children that were born to be murdered and to be killed, all the male children.
But this is not the same Herod, this is the grandson of that Herod. And like his grandfather, he was a cruel dictator who did not value life nor cared about Christianity. Herod Agrippa was the son of Herod the Great and many describe him as an insane person.
Historians say that he had created an intense persecution upon Christianity, not because so much that he was against Christianity, but he saw it as an advantage for him politically. You remember in the scriptures that the Bible says in verse 3 of chapter 12 that because he saw, meaning Herod, that it pleased the Jews.
He proceeded further to seize Peter, meaning that he began to persecute the church and of course that unbelievable scenario. In verse 2 we have this clip that he killed James, one of the apostles. He was the brother of John.
Herod is trying to pick off one leader at a time of the church and so he goes after James. He sees that the Jewish people, the Jewish religious elite, that they like this. They’re excited about it and so then he says let’s go after Peter.
But he had to wait because it was the season the scriptures teach us in verse 3. It was during the days of unleavened bread which always were the seven days before the Passover and it was a special festival for the people of God as they were preparing to receive the Passover.
The Bible tells us that James was killed. James was the first of the apostles to be martyred. We know that from history and from the Scriptures that all the apostles were martyred for God except for one.
John the Revelator, he would end up on the Isle Patmos and he would be isolated from population and he would be one who would die on the Isle Patmos after he wrote the book of Revelation. There’s no doubt that the church was distressed.
The threat of martyrdom was upon the people of God and we find that Peter was in a perilous condition as a leader. He was the visible representative. He was the spokesman for the church in the early days.
And here Herod has come after him and has now thrown him into prison. We might think it’s strange that bad things should happen to such good people. Why would God, as He is advancing the cause of Christ, why would He allow James to be murdered, and why would He allow Peter to be thrown into jail?
We might think in our hearts that have this kind of a mindset that those who are faithful to God should live trouble -free lives, but that’s not true. I want you to understand that whenever you stand up, speak up, for the Lord Jesus Christ, that you run the risk of pushback, and you run the risk of there being friction not only in your family, but in your community and on the job.
And believe it or not, sometimes when you stand up for Christ, there might be even those within the family of God that might push back on you. But I want you to remember that in God’s sovereign will, that He is always working even when there is trouble amongst us, even when there is persecution, even when there are trials.
We may curse the darkness, and we may curse the political figures, and we may be upset at them and want to protest and riot and somehow try to overthrow the government, thinking that that is the resolution of all of our trials.
But I assure you, that is not the strategy of the early church. That when they found themselves under political pressure and under political persecution, that what we learned from them is that they were a people of prayer, and that they understood that their weapons were not of this world, but their weapons were spiritual weapons, and that God was calling them to not only pray individually, but collectively as the people of God.
When we come to God in our problems, we are literally saying to Him just by our actions that God is still in control. I must remind you that as a pastor, I must remind you that as a pastor, how do you know that God is still in control?
Disappointed I was in so many Christians who seem to be so frazzled and shaken to their core of their faith when we experience COVID upon the land. How many Christians look to retaliate to political figures and rally on downtown squares and try to fight the battle of the world with worldly weapons when what God was really calling the church to do was to come together and pray.
You be careful of political figures and people who claim to be Christians who wanna lead you down a rabbit hole that is not honoring to God, for God has not called us to advance the kingdoms of this world, but he has called us to advance the kingdom of Jesus Christ.
My friends, God is still in control when there is persecution. God is still in control when the leaders of the church are martyred for the cause of Christ. God is still in control even when we find opposition in our life.
We recognize that God is in control because we remember three important truths, that no matter what, we are not afraid as believers of danger. I mean, I have to be honest with you, to live is Christ and to die is gain.
Too many Christians look at death as such a sad thing and such a terrible thing, but for the child of God, it’s our promotion, it’s our graduation, and we step out of this world, this sad, sinful, sorrowful world, and we step into a glorious place, a place that is prepared for the people of God, a place in the presence of God, and the psalmist said, in thy presence is fullness of joy, and at thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore.
Do you think anybody goes to heaven as they’re disappointed? Do you think anybody steps out of this land and steps into the immortal land of heaven and thinks, wow, I wish it would be so much more? There’s nothing to be afraid of.
We’re not afraid of danger. The second reason that we recognize God is in control is because we’re not afraid to suffer. God uses suffering. He used suffering to make the church stronger. He used suffering to teach the church that they can’t rely upon a personality like James.
They can’t just look to Peter for all their answers. They must look beyond those church leaders and they must look to Jesus Christ, and so the church was called to gather together and to come to God almighty and to come to him because whence cometh my help?
Does it come from the political figures? Does it come from the religious leaders? Does it come from the church leaders? No, it comes from Jesus Christ. Christ, our Lord and Savior, amen? I want you to know that you and I understand that even in the midst of suffering, God can use suffering to make you a stronger Christian.
God can use suffering to make our church a better church. I have to just be real with you this morning if you’re okay with that. Not that I’m not ever real with you, but just want to say that. But I think our church is stronger after COVID.
I think we’re more united, more caring, more loving, and more understanding and more sensitive. And I think that there’s something special that God has done among our people. And I think we’re more grateful for the opportunity to be with God’s people and to gather and understand how quickly the freedoms that we have to live our faith can be gone in a moment.
There’s a special work that God has done among you and I as his people. We know God is still in control because we’re not afraid. to trust God’s care. That’s what prayer does, prayer says, Lord, we trust you.
We’re not gonna look to the world for the answers, we’re gonna look to you. There was a problem that activated the prayer meeting, but I also want you to see the people that assembled for the prayer meeting in verse five.
Peter was therefore kept in prison, but constant prayer was offered to God, or him, by who? Go ahead, you can answer, the church. Let’s try that again. I know it’s been a week, you guys have been out of sync, haven’t you?
Peter was therefore kept in prison, by constant prayer, was offered to God, for him, by who? Do you know who the church is? It’s you. It’s not these buildings, it’s not these facilities, it’s not this beautiful campus that God has entrusted to this family of fellowship, of believers.
The church is you, it is the people of God, it is the saints of God that believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and there is not only a global church that encompasses the entire world, but there are local churches of fellowship of believers, like the Open Door Church and other churches in our community that worship Jesus Christ and believe he is the only way to heaven.
And I tell you that God had assembled the church in this trying time, you can imagine how devastated they were, that their leader, James, the brother of John, was killed with the sword, and how they were grieving, and now Peter was in jail, wondering what is gonna happen to this ragtag collection of people who somehow have been moving forward, advancing the cause of Christ, would the movement of Jesus stop?
No, my friends, for God had called Peter’s faithful friends. To come together and pray, from its inception, the end. the early church has demonstrated an earnestness and a constantness in its prayer life.
Would you just walk with me through Acts chapter one? We’ll start there with the thread that exists of the people of God committed to prayer. And I want you to know, not just prayer individually, but together.
I know some of you say, pastor, I can pray at home. I can pray while I’m driving on the road, yes, but keep your eyes open. But I want to say this, there’s something special and there’s something powerful when God’s people pray together.
In Acts chapter one and verse 14, we see these all continued with one accord in what church? Prayer and supplication. We jump over to chapter two and verse 42, as again, Luke is describing this unique unity that exists in the family of God.
And in verse. 42, he says, they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship in the breaking of bread and in what? Prayers. We come over to Acts chapter four, and again, we come down to verse 23, and you remember that again, the church was facing a little persecution from the religious elite, the Sadducees, were upset at Peter and John, and they had preached the gospel to them.
The high priest, Caiaphas, was upset, and here we see the church praying, verse 23, and being let go, they went to their own companions and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them, verse 24.
So when they heard that, they raised their voices 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. We jump over to chapter six, when the church was facing the problem of organization and so much growth going on the church that the needs of different people in the church were being neglected.
The apostles said to the church, you’ve gotta pick out some leaders to help, you’ve gotta pick out some servants, some deacons to help with the task. We pick up in verse four, why would they wanna do that?
Why would they wanna get more people involved? Look at verse four, that we will give ourselves continually to what, prayer. Now we’re over here in Acts chapter 12, and we see that the church in verse five is offering prayers to God, offering prayers to God.
We sometimes minimize prayer and we say, well, all we can do now is to help. was pray, as if that’s all we can do. Oh, we wish maybe we could do something more, or maybe something more effective. But I wanna say to you, each and every one of you, this morning that the most powerful and the most effective ministry at the Open Door Church is prayer.
And not only should each and every one of you be committed to pray daily, but you and I should be committed to coming together and praying together as God’s people. I think about, I was thinking about last night as I was just going over my notes and thinking about what I wanted to say this morning to you.
And I was thinking about how we have all these classes across our campus, whether they’re adult classes, youth classes, children’s classes, and how beautiful it must be for God to look across this 52 acre campus and see the people of God divided up in these groups and classes and that they are praying to him together as the family of God.
Oh, I know, some of you missed it, didn’t you? Some of you didn’t come this morning because Sunday school’s not important to you because praying together is not important to you. But I’m gonna challenge you this morning to step out of your comfort zone and step out of your worldly thinking that it’s not important to be with God’s people and it’s not important to be in a class praying together.
Before the church comes together in a worship service, we have people across this campus praying together, learning the word of God together, and I think it is a powerful hour in the life of the open door church.
I would strongly encourage each one of you that if you’re not connected to a class or you have neglected or you have allowed COVID to get you out of the habit of connecting with God’s people in prayer, that you would once again step up your game and say prayer is important and prayer is valuable and coming together and praying together with God’s people and whether that’s on a Sunday morning or whether that’s on a Wednesday evening or whether that’s on another day or night,
some of you are gathering together on Tuesdays and Thursdays and some of you are gathering on Wednesday mornings and some of you might gather together on a Saturday morning. Whatever it is, I just want you to know there’s nothing that is thrilling the soul, if you will, of our heart, of our God, like seeing his people praying together.
Some of you may not think prayer is that important, but I’ll tell you what’ll change your marriage and what’ll change your family is praying together. There’s nothing that unites a husband and wife and there’s nothing that unites the family together like prayer.
I want to encourage you to pray with your spouse. I want to encourage you to pray with your children. You see, my children are growing up. It’s okay, keep praying with them. Can I have prayer with you?
I told the people up in… Binghamton, I was preaching through the book of Amos and we were talking about Amos and he was praying for his nation, praying that God would turn them around. But I told them about, there’s really only two people in my life that have ever turned me down to pray.
And I’m not kidding with you, I’m not lying to you, I’m just telling you what happened and isn’t anything to do with Mike, it just happened, but there was only two people and when they turned me down, the next day within 24 hours, they were gone, they had died.
All I’m saying is this to you, is don’t underestimate the power of prayer and don’t devalue it in your life and know that when God gives you the opportunity and you are given the invitation to pray with a prayer partner, to pray with a pastor, to pray with other people in the church, elders, deacons, leaders, spouses, children, whoever it might be, dear friends in your classes and your groups and your Bible studies,
that you do not neglect this. this moment and that you understand how precious it is and there is no other time that you are closer to the throne of God than when your heart is bowed before God almighty with God’s people praying to Jesus Christ.
Amen, go ahead. What we see about their prayer is that it was consistent. It was not something that the church just did randomly but rather it was regular, it is something that they made important part of their life.
It was the life of the church and people say, well, prayer is boring or prayer is not that important or I can just do it with another way or another’s time but listen to me, my friends. We’re called to be a consistent people.
When we pray, we’re saying, Lord, I need you and I not only need you every hour, Lord, but I need you every moment. We are humbling ourselves. Prayer is a reflection of our hearts and when our heart is so prideful that we’re too good and we’re too busy to gather with God’s people to pray, it is only telling the Lord where our heart is.
Their prayers were not only consistent but they were fervent. They were fervent, they were passionate, they were authentic, they came right from the heart. I know some of you say, well, I just don’t know what to say when I pray.
Well, just speak from your heart like you’re talking to anybody. You may not have the fancy words and you may not even always be theologically in line but that’s okay because God knows the heart, amen?
And you remember the thief on the cross, he had been a pretty rough dude because it’s not like every day the Romans were wanting to crucify people but this guy had lived such a life that not even the Romans and all of their humanism and all of their secularism and all of their pluralism, not even the Romans could put up with this guy in society anymore and they said, we’ve gotta crucify him.
We gotta get him out of here because he is a mess. and He is a menace upon society. And so they were going to crucify Him on this cross, and while He was on the cross, He saw the Lord as Savior, Jesus Christ.
God always delivers His people. He’s either delivering them through a trial or from a trial or out of a trial. And that’s what we’re seeing in the Apostle Peter’s life. And what is it that people of God are doing?
Praying. So much can be resolved in prayer. And I hope that you’re taking that opportunity to tap into the power of prayer, and not just individually, but collectively with the church family. Well, we want to encourage you to check us out on our YouTube channel.
We are there, hope worth having. Just type that into the search button. And there we have all of our sermons that we’ve been teaching, as well as we have. some interviews and different Bible studies and we hope you’ll take advantage of them and we encourage you to continue to access extra resources to help you to grow in your faith.
This is Pastor Mike Sanders reminding you that in Christ there is hope worth having.