Acts - Prayer

June 4: business meeting about 2025-2026 budget

For many of us, prayer can feel like fishing. Quiet, boring, uneventful.

There are no hacks this week about how to pray better. No quick tips. Instead, Aidan hopes he can reignite the flame of prayer in our hearts.

Acts 2:42 NIV
[42] They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

Acts of the Apostles 4:26-31 NLT
[26] The kings of the earth prepared for battle; the rulers gathered together against the Lord and against his Messiah.’ [27] “In fact, this has happened here in this very city! For Herod Antipas, Pontius Pilate the governor, the Gentiles, and the people of Israel were all united against Jesus, your holy servant, whom you anointed. [28] But everything they did was determined beforehand according to your will. [29] And now, O Lord, hear their threats, and give us, your servants, great boldness in preaching your word. [30] Stretch out your hand with healing power; may miraculous signs and wonders be done through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” [31] After this prayer, the meeting place shook, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. Then they preached the word of God with boldness.

The disciples went from praying bashfully to boldly.

Often we pray in a mumble. We throw in "if it's your will" to hedge against disappointment. We pray in a leisurely, "take it or not" kind of way.

But what does it look like to be bold in prayer?

1. Reliant

John 14:16-17 NLT
[16] And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. [17] He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you.

As we encounter the spirit, we pray. And as we pray, we encounter the spirit.

Ephesians 3:16-17 NLT
[16] I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. [17] Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong.

Colossians 1:9 NLT
[9] So we have not stopped praying for you since we first heard about you. We ask God to give you complete knowledge of his will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding.

Romans 8:6 NLT
[6] So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace.

Jude 1:20 NLT
[20] But you, dear friends, must build each other up in your most holy faith, pray in the power of the Holy Spirit,

Often we want to handle things on our own. The apostles were completely dependent on the spirit.

Sometimes we're praying for a mountain to move, and when it doesn't, we realize that we're the mountain and God wants to move us.

2. Relational

Acts of the Apostles 4:23-24, 29-31 NLT
[23] As soon as they were freed, Peter and John returned to the other believers and told them what the leading priests and elders had said. [24] When they heard the report, all the believers lifted their voices together in prayer to God: “O Sovereign Lord, Creator of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them—

[29] And now, O Lord, hear their threats, and give us, your servants, great boldness in preaching your word. [30] Stretch out your hand with healing power; may miraculous signs and wonders be done through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” [31] After this prayer, the meeting place shook, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. Then they preached the word of God with boldness.

The disciples were together in prayer. They did not do it alone.

Aidan has a naturally cynical disposition. He needs others in different phases of life and different personalities to help him come to God with the right perspective.

We all need different lenses to help shape our prayer.

We need to pray with practical people. With the professors. With the poets. With the pastors. With the prophets. With those in pain.

3. Rooted

The apostles tie their circumstances to the reality of the scriptures. And they pray the scriptures

Acts of the Apostles 4:25-29 NLT
[25] you spoke long ago by the Holy Spirit through our ancestor David, your servant, saying, ‘Why were the nations so angry? Why did they waste their time with futile plans? [26] The kings of the earth prepared for battle; the rulers gathered together against the Lord and against his Messiah.’ [27] “In fact, this has happened here in this very city! For Herod Antipas, Pontius Pilate the governor, the Gentiles, and the people of Israel were all united against Jesus, your holy servant, whom you anointed. [28] But everything they did was determined beforehand according to your will. [29] And now, O Lord, hear their threats, and give us, your servants, great boldness in preaching your word.

Humbling ourselves helps us to root our faith.

The Psalms are a great place to go to shape our prayer language. The Psalms are a prayer book that the church has been using for hundreds of years.

The subject of God's promises should be the subject of his people's prayers.

4. Reckless / Resilient

The Early Church throws themselves boldly into the grace of God.

Acts of the Apostles 4:29-31 NLT
[29] And now, O Lord, hear their threats, and give us, your servants, great boldness in preaching your word. [30] Stretch out your hand with healing power; may miraculous signs and wonders be done through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” [31] After this prayer, the meeting place shook, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. Then they preached the word of God with boldness.

They had expectation, not entitlement. Unbridled trust. Even when it didn't make sense.

Acts of the Apostles 12:4-7 NLT
[4] Then he imprisoned him, placing him under the guard of four squads of four soldiers each. Herod intended to bring Peter out for public trial after the Passover. [5] But while Peter was in prison, the church prayed very earnestly for him. [6] The night before Peter was to be placed on trial, he was asleep, fastened with two chains between two soldiers. Others stood guard at the prison gate. [7] Suddenly, there was a bright light in the cell, and an angel of the Lord stood before Peter. The angel struck him on the side to awaken him and said, “Quick! Get up!” And the chains fell off his wrists.

The church prays hard for Peter, and he is delivered from death.

Acts of the Apostles 12:1-3 NLT
[1] About that time King Herod Agrippa began to persecute some believers in the church. [2] He had the apostle James (John’s brother) killed with a sword. [3] When Herod saw how much this pleased the Jewish people, he also arrested Peter. (This took place during the Passover celebration.)

James was killed just before Peter was arrested. He was one of the big 3 disciples. It is important to note that the church is praying boldly for Peter even in light of James recently being killed.

Prayer does not always go the way we expect.

We must make peace with the fact that God is Lord over BOTH answered and unanswered prayer.

Even Jesus faced the silence of God in prayer. But he continued to trust and pray anyway.

Conclusion

Prayer cards for the summer

When and where?

Commit. When and where are you going to pray?
Put it on the calendar. Make sure it happens.

Do you have a set prayer time to meet with the Lord?
Have a distinct location in your life that you consecrate to the Lord.
Deck chair? Porch? Couch? Path in your neighborhood?

What?

What are you going to pray for?
Pick 3 people to pray for. Pray for them consistently. For years. Pray until you go home to Jesus.

Be real in your prayers, but don't settle for small prayers. Pray for prayers that can't happen apart from the Spirit of God working. Pray for things you might not live to see.

Ephesians 3:20-21 NLT
[20] Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. [21] Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen.

Grace Church was started in the 60s. They prayed on their knees that God would grow that small, new church. And look at where things are now.

Are we praying for the new generations, rather than being cynical about the future of mankind?