Praying Like the Church

Acts 4:24-30

And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said,

“Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them, who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit,

“‘Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathered together, against the Lord and against his Anointed’—

“for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place.

“And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”

D. A. Carson, For the Love of God (Vol. 1)

These earliest of our brothers and sisters in Christ ask for three things (4:29-30): (a) that the Lord would consider the threats of their opponents; (b) that they themselves might be enabled to speak God’s word with boldness; and (c) that God would perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of Jesus (which may mean, in their expectation, “through the apostles”; cf. 2:4; 3:6ff; 5:12) (July 17).

Aaron Orendorff,

How might the apostles’ prayer be a model for us today?

First, it illustrates the primacy of corporate prayer. The church “lifted their voices together to God and said . . .” (24).

Second, the prayer begins by focusing on God’s sovereignty over: (1) creation, (2) politics, (3) history, (4) redemption and even (5) evil itself.

Third, the church asks the Lord to “look upon their threats.” This is a constant refrain in the Psalms, where again and again various authors beseech God to take notice and give ear to their desperate situation. The implication is that if God sees, he cannot help but involve himself in the cause of his people.

Fourth, the church asks for boldness, continued boldness to be exact. They ask, in other words, for courage (implying that they are fearful), for strength (implying that they are weak) and for perseverance (implying that they are in danger of giving up).

Fifth, the church asks that alongside their personal boldness (enabled by God’s regard for their condition), God himself would “stretch out his hand” to work powerfully through their ministry.