If it wasn’t for Jesus we wouldn’t have met each other, but
here we are brothers and sisters.
I’m going to tell a story from the book of Acts when the church almost
lost one of their leaders, Peter.
Acts 12 – Peter was kept in prison but the church of God was
earnestly praying for him.
The early church under that stress practiced one of the
first principles Jesus gave them—ask and you shall receive. Jesus said, “My Father’s house shall be
called a house of prayer.”
Paul says to Timothy, “First I want people to hold up holy
hands and pray.” In Genesis 3 men
began to call upon the name of the Lord.
With no Bible to read, something told people to call out to God. The first people of God were “those who
call on the name of the Lord.”
David said, “He will hear when we call to Him.” Moses said, “Who has a God like us who
answers when we call?” We don’t
need the same weapons or strategic plans of the world when we have prayer. The church was born in a prayer meeting
as they waited for the Spirit.
The early church now has no influence. James has been called
and Peter arrested so what do they do?
They have no money. They
have nothing yet they have everything because they have God. “In the day of trouble call upon Me,”
God said. We have a living God who
answers us.
My wife and I in these decades since we came to rundown
Brooklyn have seen God start a prayer ministry that now has over 1,000 people
coming to pray on a Tuesday night.
God answers prayer!
What would happen if churches shut down and just
prayed? Every revival has started
that way. God comes when we humble
ourselves and pray.. The early
church shut things down and started to pray.
Nothing happened right away but they kept praying. And they kept praying. Just before it looked like Peter would
be killed, God stepped in. Peter
is sleeping in chains and an angel appears and an unnatural light shines. That’s what has happened and will
always happen when we give ourselves to prayer. God will send something to happen.
We don’t need more computers or more cleverness or higher
IQ; at the heart of everything what the church of Christ needs is something
fresh from heaven. Tozer said, “If
you can explain a church something is wrong.” When God comes you can’t explain it.
What we need today is more of something from heaven—a
supernatural visitation. The devil
is strong and moving on the earth but our God is greater. That’s why the worse epitaph would be
“You have not because you asked not.”
Maybe you were running and busy—but what I would have done if you would
have just asked.
When God enters into what we’re dong there’s an impact you
can’t explain. How many times did we
watch Billy Graham on TV. No one ever claimed he was a fancy speaker or a
complicated theologian—he just preached the good news. But why did he bear so much fruit? Prayer.
How many want something fresh in your ministry? The Bible says as Peter slept an angel
woke him up. That’s what God does
in answer to prayer. God wakes
people up when we pray. What’s the
first great revival that shaped our country? The Great Awakening.
What caused that? It was
God. When God comes He begins to
wake people up. It’s like scales
fall off their eyes.
When my daughter was in her late teens we went through 2.5
year nightmare when she was a prodigal.
I tried everything and one night on a Tuesday night at a prayer meeting
someone sent up a note and said they thought we should pray for our
daughter. I took the note and felt
it was of the Lord and asked our associate pastor to pray. They began to pray like those in labor. Some of us think that’s fanaticism but
it’s travail like a mother giving birth.
They called on God and I went home and told my wife, “It’s over. Chrissy is coming home.” The next morning Chrissy was back on
the floor in my kitchen on her hands and knees and she said, “Daddy, I’ve
sinned against God. I’ve sinned
against you” and as she wept she asked “who was praying for me last
night?” That didn’t come from my
cleverness. When the Holy Spirit
comes people get awake. And
the chains fell off.
I’ve seen male prostitutes and cross dressers come into
church. One named Ricardo went by
Sara on the streets and I saw God change that man and chains fell off. God changed him and years later he got
married. We rented Madison Square
Garden to do an outreach and the
couple walked out on the stage and people were so happy.
Lastly, as they were leaving the prison compound the Bible
says as they approached the gate opened by itself. When people pray, God opens doors. Sometimes we try to force doors open, but when God opens
them… I want more open doors from
God!
Samaritan’s Purse is about open doors. When we say we’re going to call on God
we will get a battle royal because Satan knows he is defeated when we
pray.
God opens doors…I don’t want to preach anymore. I want to pray with you. There’s way better preachers than
me. We don’t need preaching so
much. God is listening. His ear is open right now.
**This was followed by a moving time of prayer as Jim prayed over hundreds of people who filled the area in front of the stage and flowed up the aisles. God heard.
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