Prayer is Seeking God.

Peter and John return and report the problem. The response of the believers (several 1000 of them) what the Sanhedrin told them…they were to keep their mouths shut!

The people respond with Acts 4:24: “When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God..” Let me ask you…when you hear of an issue, how do you respond? The believers hear the reports and at this point they are not threatened by persecution, the threat is to stop doing this new religion and healing a lame man go about your lives before Jesus. Their response is to seek God… Strongly leaning toward Prayer is to seek God in every circumstance…when you wake up, in your quiet time with God, before your meals, before you leave the house, before you turn on the TV or read a book, and before you go to bed.  Seeking God is not hard. God is not interested in your formalities…He is interested in getting to know you.

Psalms 34:29 states; “The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are attentive to their cry (or prayer).” Or As God called to the Prophet Jeremiah in 33:3, “Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.” God desires to know you.

Brian Brown tells the story of being at the community pool with his family. Kids were screaming, playing, and splashing in the pool, music was playing, the lifeguard whistles were blowing and in the midst of the conversation, his wife quiets him. He said, "What are you doing?"

"Shush, did you hear that?"          "Hear what?" he said.

"Listen!"        And over all of the noise, she had heard their youngest daughter screaming. As she listened to it, she then said, "OK, every thing's alright. That's a happy scream."

He said he was blown away that, over all of the other voices, she not only recognized her child's voice but also was able to identify what type of scream it was. Why? Because every day she talked with them and in the process learned the sound of their voices.

And then he writes, “ that's what it takes for us to understand His voice, that every day communication and spending time saying to God, ‘Speak to me’." This is why it's so important spending time in prayer. The only way you will be able to hear the voice of God is if you spend time seeking God.

Prayer is seeking God…Christ followers are devoted to knowing God. You know I love ya, Don

The Least is often the Most! Simply Talking to God!

Prayer is a word that describes a relationship. Disciplines of prayer provide patterns for attending to God throughout the day. Prayer is a divine dialogue through an intentional encounter with the creator of the universe. The prayer disciplines open our gaze and bearing to God. Prayer is sustained less by duty. It is increased by a desire to connect and grow in intimacy and communion with God.

Acts 4:23-31  
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. You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David:

“‘Why do the nations rage, and the peoples plot in vain?  The kings of the earth rise up
    and the rulers band together against the Lord
    and against his anointed one.'

Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed. They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen. Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”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.

 … an amazing text that grants some very articulate postures for the purpose of praying and directly experiencing God. Our devotion to prayer brings about a radical transformation. It is an inward posture of humility, dependence, and responsiveness that changes us.

We look upon prayer simply as a means of getting things for ourselves, but the biblical purpose of prayer is that we may get to know God Himself. - Oswald Chambers

Prayer is talking with God. Any encounter with God will bring about transformation… radical transformation.

Henri Nouwen is considered a pioneer and leader in the modern spiritual formation circles. He struggled a great deal with depression during his life. Yet, he finds a super natural comfort in prayer. Nouwen writes, “To pray is to descend with the mind into the heart, and there stand before the face of the Lord, ever-present, all seeing, within you.” He also wrote; “Prayer is the way to both the heart of God and the heart of the world – precisely because they have been joined through the suffering of Jesus Christ…prayer is letting one’s own heart become the place where the tears of God’s children merge and become tears of hope.”

Prayer is the radical transformation of the heart that is not interested in the manipulation of the spiritual… in contrast: The follower of Jesus prays so as to allow the Spiritual to manipulate, grow, and advance the physical.

You know I love ya, Don 
 

What a request!

Prior to Acts 4: 23-31, Peter and John were severely warned not to preach the Good News of Jesus. What happened after that is recorded in Acts 4, starting with verse 23…

²³ After they were released, they went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them. ²⁴ When they heard it, they raised their voices together to God and said, “Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth, the sea, and everything in them, ²⁵ it is you who said by the Holy Spirit through our ancestor David, your servant:

‘Why did the Gentiles rage,

and the peoples imagine vain things?

²⁶ The kings of the earth took their stand,

and the rulers have gathered together

against the Lord and against his Messiah.’

Look familiar? The Early Christians were quoting from our text today in Psalm 2.

²⁷ For in this city, in fact, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, ²⁸ to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place.

They stated the obvious and well known by everyone, yet they did not request retribution. They did not request fire to come down and remove the problem. They did not call in angels to fight their battles. This is what they asked…verse 29.

²⁹ And now, Lord, look at their threats, and grant to your servants to speak your word with all boldness, ³⁰ while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”

Now look it how God answers their prayer.

³¹ When they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God with boldness.

God grants them boldness. God honestly, totally, and with power hears their request. Spending time with Jesus in the Psalms is to hear God calling His people to honestly be open with God. For we serve a open God.

So, let me ask you, “Do you share you life openly with God?” Does Jesus know you openly and do you share yourself as a transparent believer?”

You know I know love ya, Don