The Power of a Prayer Meeting 2

Pastor Mike will be speaking on The Power of a Prayer Meeting 2. He will be reading out of Acts 12:1-9.

And even if you have a hard time articulating what you want to say to God, the Bible says even the groanings of our heart through the Spirit of God are launched into heaven and he understands your plight, he understands your problems.

And my friends, he is effectively working in response to your prayer. Hello this is Pastor Mike Sanders from the Opendoor Church. I serve there as the senior pastor and we welcome you to the Hope Worth Having radio program.

Hope Worth Having is about reaching people with the hope of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Today we’re in Acts 12 and we’re going to be continuing our study in the power of a prayer meeting. So join me as we jump into this text.

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? 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… of 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? 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.

And 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 for 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 come together and pray. From its inception the early church has demonstrated an earnestness and a constantness in its prayer life.

Would you just walk with me through Acts chapter 1? 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 1 and verse 14 we see these all continued with one accord in what church? Prayer and supplication. We jump over to chapter 2 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 got to pick out some leaders to help.

You’ve got to pick out some servants, some deacons to help with the task. We pick up in verse four, why would they want to do that? Why would they want to 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 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 want to 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 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 an 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 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. and 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 outta 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.

He saw the holy God being crucified unjustly, and he said to Jesus, remember me. Now some of you deep theologians, you would never let him into heaven, because he didn’t pray the right sinner’s prayer.

He didn’t say it the right way, and he didn’t walk down an aisle, and he didn’t bend a knee. My friends, he’s on the cross, he can’t bend a knee. But let me tell you what God looks at, your heart. You’re worried about your words, but God is watching your heart.

Remember me and Jesus said, today you’ll be with me in paradise. Unfortunately, many people have prayed the sinner’s prayer, but they never meant a word of it. They’re still living in their sin, thinking maybe they’re okay with God.

It is with the heart, the Bible says, man believes unto righteousness. So we see that God looks at a heart when we are praying. Thomas Watson, the great Puritan preacher, said that the angel fetched Peter out of prison, but it was prayer that fetched the angel to go to prison and get Peter.

Now I want you to remember this about prayer. Why is prayer so important to you and me? In God’s sovereignty, in his wisdom, he has chosen to work through the prayers of his people. You want to move the heart of God?

You want to see God activated in your life? Feast not in praying to him. Keep coming to him with your prayers, because this is how God has chosen to work. It is no wonder that the Apostle Paul said to the Thessalonians, brethren, pray for us.

Is there anything more special than to be on anybody’s prayer list? I’m so grateful for the many of you who remind me that you are praying for me, the cards you send, the text messages, the emails, the letters that you sent to me, the one -on -one communication, and saying, pastor, we are praying for you.

I am touched and I am moved, because it is special to be on your prayer list. And we need to learn to pray for each other. and we need to do it together. God’s ear is always open when we come to Him in prayer.

We see that even though the church was earnestly praying in verse five, we jump down to verse 16 of chapter 12, and they’re kind of astonished that God answered the prayer. Now Peter continued knocking, and when they opened the door and saw Him, they were astonished.

Have you ever prayed like that? You prayed to God and you didn’t think He would answer it, but then all of a sudden, bam, it happens. The door opens. The life is changed. A decision is made. Wisdom is given to you.

I wanna ask you a question. Do you trust in God to answer your prayers? Do you believe that God would answer your prayers? Here’s a powerful truth. God answers prayer. Wow, I know you wanted something deeper.

But when you hang out with a bunch of New Yorkers, it doesn’t get too deep up there. I’m just teasing. Last year, I was preaching at this conference and as soon as I got done, I was trying to get out of New York as quick as possible because I didn’t want them to lock me down because of COVID.

And so I was flying through those little towns and a little police officer, he pulled me over. I guess you shouldn’t drive 55 in a 30. But I started dropping names and I started letting them know I was a pastor and I was at a Bible conference and thank God it saved me from a ticket.

But this time I drove as slow as I could and I told Terry, I said, if they locked me up because of COVID, hopefully they’ll let you go and you go tell the people to pray that I could get out of jail.

You see, God answers prayer, church. And that’s why you should be a praying people. The third thing I want you to see is that the peace that attended the prayer meeting. I want you to go back to verse six of chapter 12.

It’s just amazing as I was reflecting on this verse this week that the Bible says when Herod was about to bring him out, Peter knew that he was gonna die. He knew that this was the end of his life, that Herod was just waiting for the Passover to be over but the Bible says that night, Peter was what?

Bound with two chains. Have you ever tried to sleep with two chains? Two soldiers and the guards before the door were keeping the prison. I mean, he knew his life was over and the people are praying for God to release him.

It’s an impossible situation. What is Peter doing? Tossing and turning, being fretful and just upset and full of anxiety? No, he slept. The Bible says he gives his beloved sleep. Peter slept, why? Because he was assured of God’s care.

You may be facing something that has caused you to be very anxious, something that has caused you to toss and turn at night, but let me assure you what the psalmist said in Psalm 29, 11, that the Lord will give strength unto his people and the Lord will bless his people with peace.

It’s something to go through the storm with peace, isn’t it? It’s something to walk through the fiery trials of life and still have the peace of God in your heart. You wanna talk about being a testimony for God?

It’s not melting down every time there’s a problem in your life. It’s not melting down every time there’s a disagreement. It’s not getting angry and upset every time a mistake has happened, but it’s walking in the peace of God.

It’s experiencing the peace of God when the pressures of life are on you. Peter’s peaceful submission to the Lord. Lord, you’re in charge to live as Christ, to die as gain. Whatever your plan is, God, I’m all in.

I want you to see the fourth thing, the pardon that answered the prayer meeting. In verses seven through 11, we see Peter’s supernatural deliverance. We read it to you earlier. We see that Peter is liberated from prison by an angel.

And I want you to see that as soon as God has made the exit, as soon as God has made the way forward, that Peter showed instant obedience. Did you see that? I want you to go back to the text and notice that the Bible says in verse seven, Behold, an angel of the Lord stood by him and a light shone in the prison, and he struck Peter.

The Greek word has the idea of he hit him hard. I mean, Peter slept so good that he had to be slapped upside the head to wake up. And the angel raised him up and said, rise quickly. He said, get up. And as soon as he obeyed, what happened?

His chains fell off his hands. You’re waiting for the chains to fall, and then you’ll obey. God’s waiting for you to obey, and then the chains will fall. This is the way God works in your life, is as soon as you obey him when you don’t understand, as soon as you trust him, when it doesn’t all make sense, as soon as you look to him, that’s when the chains fall in your life, and that’s when God starts blessing and doing miracles in your life.

Let’s go on. The angel said to him, gird yourselves and tie on your sandals. He’s saying, get dressed, Peter, get dressed. And it was after that he got dressed that the Bible says that he went out and he followed him.

He didn’t know what was done by the angel. He was kind of- in a haze, and he didn’t quite clearly grasp everything that was unfolding, but it was in that moment that they came to the iron gate that leads to the city, which opened to them of its own accord.

You see, the angel said, get dressed. The angel said, get out of here. And that’s when God started doing miracles in the life of Peter. Are you there yet? I know that you’re waiting for all the answers before you trust and believe.

But God wants you to trust and obey, and the answers are soon to follow you, church. A church that understands that no matter what our circumstance, prayer is always the best thing we can do, is a church that will always obey God and see Him do a miraculous thing.

The psalmist said in Psalm 18 .6 in my distress, I called upon the Lord and cried unto my God. He heard my voice out of his temple and my cry came before him, even unto his ears. You think God has checked out?

You think God is not listening to you? But not only does God answer prayer, God hears your prayer. And even if you have a hard time articulating what you wanna say to God, I want you to know that the Bible says even the groanings of our heart through the Spirit of God are launched into heaven before the throne of God and he understands your plight, he understands your problems, he understands your emotions and feelings.

And my friends, he is effectively working in response to your prayer. The final thing that I want you to see very quickly in verses 12 through 19 is the joy that accompanied the prayer meeting. We see verse 14 that the little girl Rhoda, she came, she was a servant in the house and the Bible tells us that she came to the door and when she recognized Peter’s voice because of her gladness or her joy,

she did not open the gate, she left the guy standing there. I mean here, this guy’s life’s being threatened and he’s trying to hide and he’s trying to get away and he’s trying to run from Herod, but he wants the people of God to know and he comes and knocks on the door.

She won’t let a man, she’s so excited, she’s so ecstatic, she runs in and she announced to the crowd that Peter stood before her at the gates. But you’ll notice in verse 15, the Bible says they said to her, you are beside yourself, which means you’re crazy.

Yet she kept insisting that it was so and they said it is his angel. Underscore that line because you know the Jews believe that when you die, that your angel, your guardian angel will appear to your family to assure you that you are aware.

Okay, in the presence of God. So that’s why they said to her, it is his angel. It is his angel. But it was not his angel, it was Peter. And what does Peter do? He gives a joyful testimony of how God delivered him.

When God answers prayer, there is great joy. How meaningful it must be for the people of God to come together and to seek God on a matter. How meaningful it must be for prayer partners to call one another and pray for a matter.

How important it is for a class to be praying for one of their classmates. And to see God answer that prayer and see God do a miracle and see God part the waters and see God provide a breakthrough. How special and joyful it must be when we see the Lord answer prayer, amen.

I mean, some of the reasons we don’t have joy in our life is because we’re not experiencing the power of a prayer meeting that brings joy to your life. That if you would value prayer more, not just individually, but corporately, if you would come together and you would pray and you would see God answer these prayers in your life, your heart would be bubbling, your heart would be overflowing, you would be a joyful warrior for God out there in this crazy world.

What did the people learn? They’ve learned in Peter’s deliverance that there is no earthly king and there is no earthly president and there is no earthly governor that can succeed for long in hindering the kingdom and the cause of Jesus Christ.

Let the political people do whatever they think they gotta do, but the cause of Christ will march on. It’ll march on. It’ll march on without Mike Sanders. It’ll march on without you. It’ll march on because God will always raise up a generation and there will always be a remnant in every generation that loves Jesus Christ and let the political leaders get together and conspire trying to hinder the work of God.

Let the Herod’s rise up and be dictators and try to hinder the work of God. But Jesus Christ, through the power of his people praying together, will have his cause, his gospel, reach the ends of the earth.

There is no enemy on this planet that can thwart the God’s will for reaching the world with the gospel. But what does God say when people pray? I leave you with Psalm 50, verse 15. Call upon me in the day of trouble.

I will deliver you and you shall glorify me. Would you pray with me this morning? God is still in control. That is the most important thing we can learn. Even in these troublesome times that we live in, we need to remember that God is in control.

And what is the result of it? That we’re not afraid. We’re not afraid of danger. We’re not afraid to suffer. And we’re certainly not afraid to trust God that He will care for us. And so that’s what the power of a prayer meeting is.

It does work in us effectively. And it not only draws us together as the people of God, but it draws us to God Himself. Well, if you haven’t been to our Facebook page, Hope Worth Having Facebook page, check us out.

Like our page. Again, we’re putting out daily posts, sometimes several times a day. Videos we’re also putting some of our blogs on there now and we’re just trying to get the message of the gospel and God’s Word to as many hearts as possible.

And so I hope you’ll check us out on Facebook This is pastor Mike Sanders reminding you that in Christ there is hope worth having.