POWER PRAYERS

Sermon of the Week #200612 – March 24, 2006

The Lord Jesus Christ went to the Mount of Olives forty days after the resurrection with the Apostles, and ascended up to Heaven on Thursday. He had given them the Great Commission to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature, he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, he that believeth not shall be damned. However, He instructed them to wait until they received the power from on high. The two men in white apparel asked them, “Why stand ye looking into Heaven? This Jesus who is received up from you into Heaven shall so come again as ye beheld Him going up into Heaven.” So they went back to Jerusalem and began to pray.

Now the next day was Friday and they did not expect the power to come that day because the Lord said, “You will receive the power not many days hence.” So they preyed on. The next day was Saturday and they thought, “This is the Sabbath, so this might be the day when the power comes.” It did not, so they preyed on. The next day was Sunday and they reasoned, “This is Sunday and many of His appearances after the resurrection were on Sunday. Perhaps this will be the day.” Nothing happened so they preyed on. Then Monday and Tuesday they prayed, and still no power. But when Wednesday came they thought, “This must be the day when we receive the power because this is the day in the future when most churches will have a mid-week prayer meeting.” Nothing happened and it is good the power did not come on them then, because only two or three would have showed up for the meeting. Then Thursday came again and they thought, “This is the anniversary of the Lord’s leaving.” Nothing happened. Then again Friday and Saturday came and still no power. Then on the second Sunday it happened! They received the power from on high on the Day of Pentecost and the Church was born that day. Notice the power did not come from the East, North, West or South, it came straight down out of Heaven.

              Peter preached the first gospel sermon about the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus, told them how Jesus ascended and sat down at the right hand of God, and that they were guilty of crucifying the Son of God. They cried out, “What must we do?” And Peter told this believing multitude, “Repent and be baptized everyone of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Three thousand people responded to the invitation and were baptized that very day. Then Luke tells us, “The Lord added to them day by day those that were saved and they continued stedfastly in the Apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread and the prayers.”

The Church began on the Day of Pentecost after a ten-day open-end prayer meeting. What power prayers they must have been. Prayer is mentioned twenty-nine times in the Book of Acts; more times than any other book in the New Testament. There were other power prayers in the Book of Acts besides this one, so let us listen in on a few of these power prayers of the Book of Acts. The first prayer we listen to is at the Beautiful Gate.

THE BEAUTIFUL GATE

In Acts three Peter and John went up to pray in the temple. A lame man from birth was there and saw Peter and John and asked to receive alms. Peter and John were flat-busted and had no money, and said they would give what they had. Peter took him by the right hand, lifted him up in the name of Jesus Christ and he was healed, and immediately entered with them into the Temple walking and leaping and praising God.

Ladies and Gentlemen, if something like that had happened today the following scenario would have taken place. The man who was healed would have said, “Mister Peter and Mister John, I thank you for what you have done for me by the power of Jesus of Nazareth. I realized you are going into the Temple to pray. But if you don’t mind, I won’t go in with you today because I know that today is the day when the Bethlehem Bulls are playing the Jerusalem Jackals, and I have to see that game.”

Peter and John would have said, “We understand. Praying is nothing compared to the outcome of the Bulls and the Jackals, but perhaps you can find time to go in with us next week.” The former lame man would have said, “Mister Peter and Mister John, I really can’t make it on that day because that is the day when they have the play-offs and the Mesopotamian Mosquitoes are playing the Capernaum Chiggers, and I am just itching to see that game.”

If this had happened, Peter and John would have gone into the temple and prayed and nobody would have paid any attention to them. I don’t know what the score was that day between the Bulls and the Jackals, but because this former lame man stood with the Apostles in preaching the Word of God, a blowout happened for God. The number of the disciples came to be about five thousand. What a power prayer that was.

Several years ago I went to preach at an area-wide meeting and a man attended who told me that he was driving on the highway on a Sunday morning. A trooper pulled him over and asked him, “Sir do you know how fast you were going? You were driving eighty-five miles an hour.” The man told me he told the policeman, “I don’t know how I could be going that fast. All I was doing was driving along listening to Ed Bousman on the radio.” He said the policeman told him, “Well, I was listening to him too. So go ahead and drive carefully.” Ladies and Gentlemen, it pays to stand with the preaching of the Word of God. Here is another one.

PRAYER FOR BOLDNESS

Because of the healing of the lame man and the tremendous result, Peter and John were arrested. At the trial the authorities perceived the boldness of Peter and John although they were unlearned and ignorant men; they took knowledge of them that they had been with Jesus. Since the man who was healed was standing with them they could not deny what happened, and let them go with a warning, “not to do it again.”

Peter and John returned to their own company and reported all the chief priests had said unto them. One might think that the time had come to play it cool and say as little as possible about Jesus and His church. The church got together for a prayer meeting. They prayed, “Lord, look upon their threatenings and grant unto Thy servants that they may speak Thy word with boldness, while Thou stretcheth forth Thy hand to heal; that signs and wonders may be done, in the name of Thy holy servant Jesus.” And when they had prayed, the place was shaken wherein they were gathered together, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spake the Word of God with boldness. They were accused and threatened for being bold, and they prayed for more boldness.

Boldness is the element that is lacking in much of the preaching that is done today in our churches. Nothing must be preached if it differs from what the majority wants to hear. If it offends people to hear the terms of pardon Peter preached on the Day of Pentecost regarding repentance and baptism for the remission of sins, don’t preach it.

Some might say it is different today. God no longer shakes church buildings to show His approval. However that is a mistaken idea. God is still in the shaking business. In Hebrews twelve we note, “Yet once more will I cause to tremble not the earth only, but the heavens also. This word signifying the removing of the things that are shaken, as of things that are made and the things, which are not shaken, may remain. Wherefore receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us have grace, whereby we may offer service well pleasing to God with reverence and awe for our God is a consuming fire.”

There are some things that cannot be shaken. The Church of Christ is one thing and the Word of God is another. If I knew that God would give this ole world a shake tomorrow at nine o’clock, I would put the Bible on the floor at five till nine and stand on it. Because when the Lord gives this world that final shake, the only firm place to stand will be the Word of God. Peter said, “The grass withereth and the flower falleth, but the word of God abideth forever.” Pray for boldness.

However, it is well to remember that the prayer for boldness comes with a price tag. Boldness is expensive. When the church at Jerusalem prayed for boldness, in the very next chapter all of the Apostles were beaten; in the chapter after that, Stephen was put on trial for his life; in the chapter after that he was stoned, and in the chapter after that all the church was scattered abroad, but they went everywhere preaching the Word. For those who cannot pay the price it has been well said.

 “Preach a sermon preacher, make it short and sweet;

Our stomachs are a hungering, at eleven o’clock we eat.

Preach a sermon preacher, make it round or flat.

We love to play hide and seek and guess just where you’re at.

Preach a sermon preacher, fill it with some jokes,

Tell us some anecdotes and entertain us folks.

Preach a sermon preacher don’t get to ‘pacific

As long as you will generalize we’ll think you are terrific.

Preach a sermon preacher, tell us what we like to hear;

And we’ll pat your spineless back while you scratch our itching ear.”

What a power prayer that was. Here is another.

PRAYER FOR TIME TO PREACH THE WORD

In Acts chapter six is the prayer that gave more time to the preaching of the Word. The church had a problem. Evidently they had a program that we call meals-on-wheels. A service rendered by the church to care for the poor widows who were in need of food. Some of the widows it seems were neglected and there was a murmuring in the congregation about the problem.

Here is an amazing situation. The church at Jerusalem at that time was the only church that ever existed that had twelve Apostles on what is called today ‘the staff’. Think of it! Twelve Apostles on the staff, and the church murmured. If they murmured, what chance does a preacher have today of pleasing everybody? Even the Apostles could not do that.

However the Apostles did have the answer. They called a congregational meeting and informed them that their time was completely taken up and did not have time for this program. And then they gave them the solution, “Choose out seven men of good report full of the Spirit and wisdom and we will appoint them over this business. We however will give ourselves stedfastly to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”

It seems that preaching and praying is the primary work of a preacher. Preaching does not seem the chief concern today. When I was in Bible College there were twenty-four young men in the class. Upon graduation all twenty-four became preachers. Where is there a Bible College today with that kind of percentage of preachers?

A young man goes to Bible College today and if I ask what are you going to be, more than likely he will say, “A counselor, psychologist or a youth minister.” You may ask what is wrong with that? Nothing is wrong with it, but where are the preachers? Remember the church did not begin with a counseling session. It began with preaching. As far as counseling is concerned, I am a counselor. Every time I preach, I counsel.  What do you think I am doing now? I counsel people in bunches, in hunks, in great big slabs.

Remember Paul said, “The preaching of the cross is foolishness to them that perish, but to the saved it is the power of God.” I went to preach in a Bible college and just before I came to the platform somebody in the audience was asked to lead in prayer. I never heard a prayer like he prayed before. He prayed, “O Lord, we thank you tonight that we have come here to listen to what this fool has to say.” I knew then that I was in the right place. Paul further said, “The wisdom of this world is foolishness with God.” That may be the answer to the problem. Today they are trying to convert the world with the wisdom of the world, and God is saying that trying to convert the world with the wisdom of the world is foolishness.

             I saw a statement by a five-star General of World War II where he said, “What the country needs is not more scientists, but we need more preachers.” What a power prayer that was.

THE PRAYER FOR EVANGELISM

And now the prayer of evangelism. In Acts ten Luke tells us about the prayer that led to worldwide evangelism. Peter was in the city of Joppa residing in the home of Simon the tanner. He had a great desire to pray, so he went up on top of the house to pray. His prayer is not recorded, but judging from the results of his prayer, his prayer might have been something about evangelism. It seems as he prayed he became hungry and desired to eat.

While they were getting things ready, he fell into a trance and saw a vision. He saw as nearly as can be explained a great sheet let down out of Heaven held up by four corners and in the sheet all kinds of four-footed beasts and creeping things of the earth and birds of the Heaven. A voice came saying, “Rise Peter, kill and eat.”

Since most if not all the beasts were unclean to Peter as a Jew, he would not obey the voice in the vision, which was the voice of God. Peter said something like this, “Lord, I have done a lot of terrible things in my life. I have cut peoples’ ears off, I have sworn before the enemies of Jesus that I was not one of His disciples, and I even told them that I did not even know Him. For these sins I have repented with bitter tears, but there is one thing I have never done, or ever will do. I have never been so depraved and low-down that I would stoop so low as to eat a ham sandwich.” The voice said, “What God hath cleansed make not thou common.”

While Peter thought what this vision might mean, some men arrived from a Gentile centurion named Cornelius; who on instructions from God had sent for Peter to hear the Word of God. This would have been unthinkable that he should ever go into a gentile house, much less share the gospel with him, but Peter now understands the vision; that any prayer he prays for conversion of the lost includes all races. Now he finally understands the great Commission that said the gospel should be preached to every creature not just some of them.

It is a strange commentary on much of the preaching done today by white preachers in America. Most preachers spend most of their lives preaching to the same class of people; middle-class white people who live in the suburbs. Churches too, have the same vision. Let us get a nice preacher, who can do a nice job, building up a nice church, in a nice suburb.

One preacher I knew who has since crossed over Jordan, preached in the inner city of a large American city. He explained to me why he had buried his life in such an unglamorous ministry. He said, “I like squirrels. I like rabbits. I like green grass. I like to preach in a nice neighborhood. But that is not where the people are. The people are down here in the inner city.”

Peter saw a sheet let down out of Heaven. He was challenged by what he saw in the sheet. Is there no sheet let down for us, no sheet for you, and no sheet for me? There is. In fact, the New Testament is full of sheets, and on one of those sheets it is written, “And He said unto them, Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, he that believeth not shall be damned.” What a power prayer Peter must have prayed when he saw what was in the sheet.