Acts 4:23-31 (NIV)
On their release, Peter and John went back to their own people and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them. When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God. “Sovereign Lord,” they said, “you made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and everything in them. You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David:
“‘Why do the nations rage
And the peoples plot in vain?
The kings of the earth take their stand
and the rulers gather together
against the Lord
and against his Anointed One.
Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed. They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen. Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”
After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.
The natural response to this initial persecution was not to hide or scatter, but to gather and share. As usual, the whole group of believers was gathered together, so Peter and John knew right where to find them.
They shared all that the Jewish leaders had threatened, and the whole group turned immediately to prayer. The people immediately recognized that this turn of events was not unexpected but was precisely what Jesus had predicted would happen to them (Mark 13:9, John 16:33). So, theirs was not a prayer of desperation or fear. It was a prayer of confidence and faith.
They found inspiration for their prayer in Psalm 2:1-2, which talks about the ultimate impotence of those who rattle their sabers against the Lord and oppose His anointed one. The Psalm begins with their revolt and ends with their utter defeat. The disciples saw a very specific fulfillment of this in the unified front of Herod and Pilate, extremely unlikely allies! But even this alliance was foreseen by God and pointed out to David, who then wrote it down as encouragement for these Christians.
The core of their prayer of faith is in verses 29-30. Far from being ready to capitulate at these signs of opposition, the Christians were doubling down. Instead of falling silent at the threats, they prayed that God would give them even greater boldness to speak. Instead of refraining from performing miracles, they asked for even more wonders to be done through them in Jesus’ name.
The answer to their prayer was instantaneous and powerful. As promised, they received all that they needed to not only stand firm in the face of opposition, but to actually move forward. A fresh wind of the Holy Spirit blew through the place and, in response, they all moved out and began to speak about Jesus with renewed boldness and passion.
Father, I love the fact that the gut response of those passionate, persecuted Christians was to turn immediately to You in prayer for the power to do even more, to move the ball forward with even greater focus. They didn’t think that, since they were facing opposition, they must be doing something wrong. Based on Your word and Jesus’ warnings, they realized that they were doing everything right! Lord, grant us that same boldness to move forward and never back down, to stand firm in our faith as we mover forward to do Your will in Your power. Amen.
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