Acts 4:23- 24 - "On their release, Peter and John went back to their own people and reported all that the chief priests and the elders had said to them. 24 When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God. “Sovereign Lord,” they said, “you made the heavens and the earth and the sea, and everything in them."
Prayer gives us the power to stand in the midst of trouble and opposition.
The church of Jesus Christ was not the effort of man. Rather, it was an absolutely divine network.
The Book of Acts is really a book of the Acts of the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit used the disciples, ordinary people who made themselves available and dedicated for the establishment and the expansion of His church.
At the ascension of Jesus Christ from Mt. Olives, there were five hundred followers of Jesus Christ present.
Our Lord Jesus commanded them ALL to go and wait for the promise of the Father, the Holy Spirit, in the city.
After ten days, the number decreased into almost a hundred and twenty. The rest of them eventually left the congregation, because after ten days they still didn’t see the promised Holy Spirit.
The Lord is not looking for a crowd.
Judges 7: 2 - "The Lord said to Gideon, “You have too many men. I cannot deliver Midian into their hands, or Israel would boast against me, ‘My own strength has saved me.’
In the same way, God spoken to Zerubbabel:
Zechariah 4:6 - "So he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty.
Peter and John were arrested by the Jewish court (Sanhedrin, seventy members of Jewish court, where the High Priest is the chairman and the chief priests and teachers of the law are other members) because they preached the gospel and healed the sick.
Acts 4: 17 – 21a - "But to stop this thing from spreading any further among the people, we must warn them to speak no longer to anyone in this name.” Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John replied, “Which is right in God’s eyes: to listen to you, or to him? You be the judges! As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.” After further threats they let them go."
Acts 4:23- 24 - "On their release, Peter and John went back to their own people and reported all that the chief priests and the 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 heavens and the earth and the sea, and everything in them."
This is the nature of the church. When we are in trouble, we are not looking at the problem or talking to each other for a human solution. Rather, the church raised their voices together in prayer to God.
There is good news!
We have a Father in Heaven who listens to His children’s cry and prayer.
He immediately responded by sending His power to His people, encouraging them to be strong and carry on in the ministry without fear.
Acts 4:31 - "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."
We should not be discouraged by what happens around us.
Our Lord is powerful and able to turn the situation upside down.