More
“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 4:31)
What do people WANT in life? Why,
they want – MORE! More income, more time away from
work, more years on their lives, more fun, more
freedom; MORE! And what you have of those precious
commodities right now isn’t enough – you want MORE!
Even in the best of lives, events
conspire that seem to ruin us, by stealing our peace
and robbing us of joy. Our “batteries” run dry, as
the enemy seems to sweep the field and win the day.
The family assets may remain secure or not, we may
live a long time, our health might be intact, we may
have the same number of children than before, our
income might be there, fun and freedom may seem to
be ours, but everything may seem “wrong,” even when
outwardly, others might say that all is well with
you.
Are you in ministry? Are you and
possibly your spouse contemplating serving God in
some capacity? Please understand, by the way, that
marriage (and also having children) IS a ministry.
Note that agreeing, as the Holy Spirit leads you, to
teach something like a Sunday School class, is GOOD
in the sight of God. A larger ministry that reaches
a significant part of the world is indeed important,
but so is reaching that one child in your Sunday
School class. He or she may well do something on
behalf of the Lord that no one else could ever do.
They need to learn to reach out to God and you may
open that door.
I have been re-reading a book by
Stormie Omartian, called “The
Power of a Praying Husband.” It’s an
important book and the premise is that a husband
should pray for his wife, which seems obvious,
except that very few pray to the extent urged by
that book. And it’s been timely reading, for many
do not understand the importance of prayer. The
example of a need for prayer in “The
Power of a Praying Husband” is that our wives
need prayer, and it’s true. Actually, we are to see
that EVERY aspect of our lives and every person we
know needs prayer. Our Scripture for today is an
example of answered prayer: It says, “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 4:31). The disciples asked
for boldness and He gave them more of His Holy
Spirit, and He IS the Answer we all so desperately
need.
Here’s what Stormie Omartian tells
husbands about praying for their wives – “The
more powerfully the Lord is using her, the greater
Satan’s plans for her destruction. Don’t ever
underestimate the significance of your prayers for
her. God will hear them. They will save her life
and secure her future. If you are in ministry, your
wife may be the enemy’s target just because she is
at your side helping you with what God is calling
YOU to do. The devil will try to destroy you by
destroying her” (pages 214-215). We need to
pray, not only about marriage, but in everything.
Yes we are targets, but God answers those who pray.
Marriage, like everything else in
life that’s valuable, is as much at risk as it ever
has been in history. If you trust in the Lord and
love Him, your very life is in danger because there
really is an enemy who wants to destroy you, if
possible. The phrase “if possible” is exceptionally
pertinent, by the way, for God has a far different
intention – He intends to protect you and give you
life!
Knowing that God intends to save
you, the enemy has secondary measures designed to
nullify your effectiveness. He will lead you into
sin and disgrace if he can; especially if you leave
an opening for him. He will work to damage your
reputation, even when you have done nothing wrong.
And he will make you angry and fearful if he can do
it, even those who thought they were all done with
such feelings.
In Acts Chapter Four, the Early
Church was growing rapidly. Literally thousands
were coming to the Lord (Acts 4:4). Miracles were
occurring and lives were being changed. It was at
that point the enemy counter-attacked, attempting to
turn their confidence into fear. He used the
religious leaders in the place that had formerly
been formerly called Israel, and most of those
leaders did not know the Lord. Yes, the Jewish
leaders had the appearance of religion, but only in
their actions, not in their hearts.
At one point they arrested the
disciples of the Lord (Acts 4:3-4) and “commanded
them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of
Jesus” (Acts 4:18). The disciples did not
agree, replying, “Whether
it is right in the sight of God to listen to you
more than to God, you judge” (Acts 4:19).
But the disciples were human and the command of
those leaders did bother them. They DID respect the
Jewish leaders as they had been taught since
childhood, and they needed renewed boldness in order
to continue.
So they did what you and I need to
do: “They raised their
voice to God with one accord” (Acts 4:24),
which is to say, they fervently PRAYED! They needed
“BOLDNESS” to
continue speaking God’s Word, in the face of an
order to stop doing that very thing. And God
dramatically answered them: “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 4:31 – our Scripture for
today).
Jesus had given them the Holy Spirit
in the past, as we can see in John 20:22, where “He
breathed on them, and said to them, ‘Receive
the Holy Spirit.’” Subsequently, He had
commanded them to remain in Jerusalem to wait for
the baptism of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:4-5). They
did wait and they did receive (Acts 2:1-4). And
now, as recorded in Acts 4:31, they received MORE of
that same Holy Spirit. Look at your life – you need
more of Him, too. All of us need less of this world
and more of His Spirit.
Is your marriage in trouble? Are
you fearful? Are you confused about events in your
life that don’t seem to add up and you don’t know
why? Are people against you? Just like the
disciples, we all need MORE of the Holy Spirit of
God. Let’s pray:
Lord, fill us with Your Holy
Spirit. Lead us, Holy Spirit. Show us the way, for
we do not know what to do, where to go. Let us know
Your will and give us boldness in doing Your will.
Forgive us, Lord, for not looking to You more. And
give us the peace that only comes from God. In
Jesus Name. Amen.
