Acts 4:23-37 Once More

My commentary had so much to say about prayer, and I just had to revisit it again.  

"They did not pray to have their circumstances changed or their enemies put out of office.  Rather, they asked God to empower them to make the best use of their circumstances and to accomplish what He had already determined.  This was not fatalism, but rather faith in the Lord of history who has a perfect plan and is always victorious.  They asked for divine enablement, not escape, and God gave them the power that they needed."

"Do not pray for easy lives.  Pray to be stronger men and women.  Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers.  Pray for powers equal to your tasks.  That is the way the early Christians prayed, and that is the way God's people should pray today."

"The early church strongly believed in God's sovereignty and His perfect plan for His people.  But note that they did not permit their faith in divine sovereignty to destroy human responsibility, for they were faithful to witness and pray.  It is when God's people get out of balance and overemphasize either sovereignty or responsibility that the church loses power ... Pray as though everything depends on God,  and work as though everything depended on you."

"They did not ask for protection; they asked for power.  They did not ask for fire from heaven to destroy the enemy, but for power from heaven to preach the Word and heal the sick ... Their greatest desire was for boldness in the face of opposition.  Their emphasis is on the hand of God at work in the life of the church, not the hand of man at work for God.  Believing prayer releases God's power and enables God's hand to move."

Wow, Father!  This is the prayer I need to be praying myself!

 

Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford