Pray for Your Church: Impact (6)
“Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word, by stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus.” And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness. Acts 4.29-31
When progress stalls
The backdrop for our text is that the freedom of the Church to proclaim the Name of Jesus and do good works in His Name was being threatened. The religious authorities, who could enlist for their purposes the civil authorities as well, had ordered Peter and John to stop preaching Jesus and the resurrection. Especially to stop preaching Him publicly.
Such a disruption and cessation would have jeopardized the progress of the Kingdom of God. The Church would have gone into decline, believers would have failed in their witness, and the whole Jesus-project would have been lifted up to mocking and scorning.
How did the Church respond?
First, they understood that preaching and evangelizing were the means provided by God for bringing His grace and rule into human affairs and to restore men and communities to uprightness before Him (cf. Ps. 45.6). The goal in sight, in all they were doing, was the further realization of the promised Kingdom, concerning which Jesus had taken such care to prepare them (Acts 1.1-3).
Because God alone can advance His Kingdom and bestow His grace, it never occurred to the apostles to pressure the powers-that-be to recant their policy. Instead, they pressured the Lord, by turning to prayer and using His own words (Pss. 146, 2) to provoke Him to action (cf. Is. 62.6, 7).
And what action did they seek? Not that the authorities should relent, but that they, the believing community, should continue faithful in their mandate, regardless of social, cultural, or political conditions, and that God would honor their faithfulness by continuing to advance His Kingdom of grace.
In the event, while the policy of the rulers remained unchanged—and would ultimately lead to persecution and violence against the Church—the grace of God prevailed through the Spirit-empowered faithfulness of the community.
The Church in every age has understood that only God can imbuue us with power to bear witness to Jesus (Acts 1.8). Only God can bring fruit from the faithful sowing of Kingdom seed (1 Cor. 3.5-9). Only King Jesus can destroy whatever works of the devil stand in the way of His Kingdom. And when He is working to bring the light of His Good News into the darkness of the sinful world, not even the gates of hell can keep Him from fulfilling His purpose (1 Jn. 2.8; Matt. 16.18).
So, when the growth and witness of His churches are either threatened from without or allowed to fall into neglect and disrepair from within, only turning to Him in prayer can bring revival and renewal to His Church and awakening to the world. Prayer is the sine qua non for sustaining, increasing, and advancing all aspects of the local church’s impact in its community.
Seeking the Lord for revival
The Old Testament presents many clear instructions as to how a faltering, struggling community of God’s people can begin to be revived. They must pray, and pray together, that God will give them repentance and bring the revival and renewal they seek (2 Chron. 7.14; Jer. 33.3). Psalm 119 alone contains nine separate petitions for the Lord to revive His servant, lifting Him from the dust, turning his eyes away from worthless things, reviving righteousness and lovingkindness in him, renewing his witness to the truth, overcoming every affliction, and renewing him in the Word of God (vv. 25, 37, 40, 88, 107, 149, 154, 156, 159).
If the psalmist knew that seeking the Lord for revival was for him the way of recovery and renewal, how can we fail to follow suit? And since the first believers came together to seek the power of God to keep their witness going, their church growing, and every plan of every adversary thwarted, should we not embrace the same effort?
The state of prayer in many churches can only be described as unhealthy. Most church leaders and members devote relatively little time praying about anything, much less for revival. And almost no time is given to church members uniting their voices, according to the Word of the Lord, to seek Him together for reviving grace.
A prayer for your church
But we can begin to change this situation. We can take up the work of seeking the Lord for revival in prayer, making this part of our daily intercession with King Jesus. We can encourage others to seek the Lord for revival. We can bring praying for revival into the various groups we attend in our church. And we can augur for specific time during which, as Edwards wrote, “united, specific, extraordinary prayer” for revival can, like those in Acts 4, move the Spirit of God to empower us once again.
Here’s a prayer you can use to begin seeking the Lord for revival and helping your church to do the same:
Lord Jesus, forgive my sins—
my hardness of heart,
indifference to the lost,
complacency of faith,
and disobedience to Your Word.
Revive me, Lord Jesus,
and cause Your Spirit to stir
among all the members of our church,
until, together, we are seeking You
for revival, renewal, and awakening
in our lives, our church, and our community.
For reflection
1. Do you believe there is a need for revival in our day? Explain.
2. Can we expect revival to come without seeking the Lord for it?3. What can you do to encourage seeking the Lord for revival in your church?
Next steps—Preparation: Begin praying daily for revival. Share the prayer above with other church members and call on them to pray for revival as well.
T. M. Moore
Give thanks
If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment and give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).
Other columns of interest this week: We continue reading excerpts from the book, Revived! in our Read Moore column. Why not listen in? Last week’s Crosfigell letter called us to make sure we have the right priorities.
Thank you.
Many of you are faithful and generous in praying for and supporting Crosfigell and The Fellowship of Ailbe. Thank you. I encourage all our readers to seek the Lord about becoming a supporter of The Fellowship of Ailbe. It’s easy to give to The Fellowship of Ailbe, and all gifts are, of course, tax-deductible. You can click here to donate online through credit card or PayPal or Anedot, or send your gift to The Fellowship of Ailbe, P. O. Box 8213, Essex, VT 05451.
Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
