(First Steps in Acts 4) 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.” - Acts 4:29-30 (NIV) From the beginning, the discredit, the dismantling and the destruction of The Church has been the goal of not only the social and political world, but of religion. And in modern times, it may seem to us that it is more possible for that to happen than ever before, but this is such a short-sighted and faith-lacking point of view. Jesus assured Peter and the disciples and everyone else reading The Word, I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. (Matthew 16:18) But, we see the raging of the nations, the plotting of the people and the united threat of political kings and rulers of this earth (Psalm 2:1-2) and we become more fearful of them, than we are confident in the might and sovereignty of God. We seem to think that it is not only our job to build church, but to rescue The Church and Christianity from the threat of encroaching worldly sin. That is not what Peter, John and the new-born Church prayed for however. Please note, Peter did not gather the people to say, Hey, this is really bad! Were being threatened with great danger. We need to respond...we need to make a plan...we need to get representatives elected to the counsel or were in deep trouble. No, instead they took whatever concerns they had to The Source of the solution to all problems, perceived or real. They prayed. But dont miss the nature of the prayer. They did not ask God to defeat their enemies or to exact revenge on them. They didnt ask for retribution or the establishment of their own power and fame. They didnt ask for enough money to fight back, or for the political clout to execute their own system and plan. Instead they asked The Lord, in light of and despite those seeking to bring them down and silence The Church, for the enabling power to serve Him by speaking The Word of God with, not simply boldness, but with great boldness. And secondarily, but no less importantly, they asked God to show, not their power and authority, but His, through the healing of those in need, and the performance of miraculous signs and wonders in order to glorify the Name of Jesus. It has to make one wonder, what might happen, even in these terrible tumultuous present days, if we, The Church, would shape our prayers more in such fashion as the early Church did. Or, if I may be a little more frank, if we placed more of an emphasis on prayer at all. Rather, we waste so much time, railing against a sinful world that is only doing what the world has always done since Adam and Eve. We seek relief from the court system and the political realm. We write editorials and blogs about the blatant vulgarity of this celebrity or the Christian hating bile of that popular atheist. We wave signs, we protest, we point fingers, we organize rallies and boycotts. But, how often do you hear of an entire community of Christian churches planning and coming together, united for no other reason than to pray? Not to hear a preacher, or to enjoy a performance, or to be entertained, but simply and powerfully to seek the will and the purpose and the plan of The Lord and to say to Him trustfully and faithfully, Lord enable us to serve, and we ask to see Your outstretched hand. We want to witness the glory that only comes through the Name of Jesus Christ. Im waiting to see that. Could it be that our Lord is too?
Posted on: Thu, 30 Jan 2014 14:03:52 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015