Prayer in the Power of the Holy Spirit

One aspect of the triune God I think I have neglected to show the importance of in prayer is the Holy Spirit. This morning I will attempt to show our utter dependence on the Holy Spirit in prayer and in life. Without the Holy Spirit we are not righteous, not good Christians, and dare I say not Christians at all. However with the Holy Spirit in us we can do bold things, do right things in a winsome and righteous way. For example:

In Acts 3 we see where Peter and John are going to pray and are stopped by a lame beggar, and in the name of Jesus they heal him. This amazed the others going to pray who had seen this beggar for years, probably sitting in the same spot. People quickly gathered to see this miracle, and Peter immediately began to preach the Gospel to them. This drew the attention of the Sadducees, who were none too happy (to the point of jealousy), and they had Peter and John arrested.

The next day when the High Priest’s inquired by what “power” they had healed the beggar, Peter answered them boldly. Now mind you this is same Peter who had denied Jesus three times, who could not even stand up to the little servant girl who had pointed him out as being with Jesus. (Luke 22:56) And it gives witness to the power of the Holy Spirit that can change a person when Peter says to the High Priests(Acts 4:8): (And if I may take some artistic license and read this as I think Peter may have said it), “Rulers of the people and elders, if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed,  let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by him this man is standing before you well. This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

And notice the reference to Psalm 118 that the Sadducees and High Priests would have no doubt picked up on.

^“The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.

 This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.  This is the day that the Lord has made;

let us rejoice and be glad in it. Save us, we pray, O Lord! O Lord, we pray, give us success!

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! We bless you from the house of the Lord.

²⁷ The Lord is God, and he has made his light to shine upon us.”

The Sadducees are basically dumbfounded at the miracle and the boldness of Peter and not knowing what to do, they tell Peter and John to not speak in the name of Jesus anymore, to which Peter and John respond that they have no choice but to do so. So the Sadducees again warn them to knock it off or else and then let them go.

As soon as they return to their friends they pray and give thanks, and again quote a Psalm 2:1-2 of David, “said by the Holy Spirit” Acts 4:25

“‘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’— “

The chapter concludes with Acts 4:31

“And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.”

As noted in “The Complete Summary of the New Testament” by Keith Brooks the summary conclusion to Acts Chapter 4

“The more resolute are Christ’s servants to witness of Him, the more spiteful will be the agents of Satan—therefore, let Satan’s agents be ever so spiteful, Christ’s witnesses must be resolute, for the Holy Spirit may be counted upon to enable them to do their part. Persecution gives wings to the truth.”

In terms of prayer I think this gives witness that we must call upon the Holy Spirit to give us the boldness to proclaim His name, especially in the times of persecution, because we are not strong enough. But if we rely upon the Holy Spirit to guide our actions, our words, and our prayers we can be sure that while persecution will come, we can be faithful witnesses to Him.

So this morning we pray, come Holy Spirit, fill our hearts and our minds, that we will be faithful witnesses in our deeds, words, and thoughts in the name of Jesus, Amen.

Lord Help my Unbelief

Mark 9:24 “Immediately the boy's father cried out and said, "I do believe; help my unbelief."”

Do you ever pray about your unbelief? Surely you say “I am a Christian, I have accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior, I believe!” It is an act of faith no doubt. Yes we know our doctrine fairly well, we attend church regularly, and we pray. We feel the Holy Spirit come into our hearts as our love for Him grows. Surely We Believe! We have so many other things to pray about, do I need to pray about my unbelief?

I am currently on my third reading of the Bible this year, well ever actually. I don’t say this to impress anyone.  If I had read it and understood, fully and wholly understood it the first time, it would be foolish to read again; but I did. I will continue reading it until I can understand it fully; and so I imagine I will read it for the rest of my life, God willing.  

As we see in John 13:31 -38 Peter wants to follow Jesus, even unto death. “I will lay down my life for you.” He says. But Jesus knows how Peter will deny him 3 times.

This is a man who has seen the miracles first hand, experienced the teachings of Jesus first hand, and yet he is still capable of denying Christ. Yes we all know after the resurrection Peter went on to be a great witness for Christ even until death, and I pray that if I can be half the man Peter was I shall be blessed.

I also think of Pastor Youcef in Iran, imprisoned today for his refusal to deny Christ, imminent death hanging over his head, his wife and children await his release, which could be granted with that denial. Yet he says that “he cannot” deny Christ. There are many others as well imprisoned to this day for Christ.

Could you do the same? I pray that I could, I pray that I would not find excuses to deny Him. “It’s only a little lie I will tell, but God knows I love him.” “Surely God does not want me to die, my children need me, He will understand. “ “Surely God has more for me to do, I will deny Him now, but I don’t mean it”

So I pray Lord help my unbelief! Lord help me to learn your Word wholly and completely! Lord help me to be faithful to you! Lord help me to realize I am but a sinner that without your Grace I am lost!

I also pray for others who claim to be Christians or religious and will go to support Chick-fil-A, “because they hate fags”, and “god hates fags”. The problem with these people is not their religion, but their ignorance of it, or unbelief. I pray I and they will not judge someone just because they sin differently than I and they do, Lord I pray to remove the plank from my eye.

Pray with me that through the Holy Spirit in the name of Jesus that we will glorify God in all that we do and be faithful to his name even unto the death. Amen!