SALVATION IS FOUND IN NO ONE ELSE, Sarah Barry
THE BELIEVERS' PRAYER
Passage: Acts 4:23~31  
Key verse: 29
The Believers Pray
23 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. 24 When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God.(A) “Sovereign Lord,” they said, “you made the heavens and the earth and the sea, and everything in them.(B) 25 You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David:(C)
“‘Why do the nations rage
and the peoples plot in vain?
26 The kings of the earth rise up
and the rulers band together
against the Lord
and against his anointed one.[a]’[b](D)
27 Indeed Herod(E) and Pontius Pilate(F) met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus,(G) whom you anointed. 28 They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen.(H) 29 Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness.(I) 30 Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders(J) through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”(K)
31 After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken.(L) And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit(M) and spoke the word of God(N) boldly.(O)
Cross references
- Acts 4:24 : S Ac 1:14
- Acts 4:24 : Ne 9:6; Job 41:11; Isa 37:16
- Acts 4:25 : Ac 1:16
- Acts 4:26 : Ps 2:1, 2; Da 9:25; Lk 4:18; Ac 10:38; Heb 1:9
- Acts 4:27 : S Mt 14:1
- Acts 4:27 : S Mt 27:2; Lk 23:12
- Acts 4:27 : ver 30; Ac 3:13, 14
- Acts 4:28 : Ac 2:23
- Acts 4:29 : ver 13, 31; Ps 138:3; Ac 9:27; 13:46; 14:3; 28:31; Eph 6:19; Php 1:14
- Acts 4:30 : S Jn 4:48
- Acts 4:30 : ver 27
- Acts 4:31 : Ac 2:2
- Acts 4:31 : S Lk 1:15
- Acts 4:31 : S Heb 4:12
- Acts 4:31 : S ver 29
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Source:  BibleGateway
1. God is sovereign (23-28)
When Peter and John were threatened and released from prison, they went back to the believers and had a prayer meeting. They began their prayer by acknowledging the sovereignty of the Creator God. They quoted Psalm 118:22, and marveled at how Herod and Pontius Pilate and the Gentiles and Jewish rulers had conspired together against the Messiah, and thus had fulfilled the prophecies of the Psalm. They accepted persecution as a part of God's sovereignty, and they rejoiced in God who rules over all.
2. Enable us to speak with boldness (29-31)
They had just two prayer requests: (i) Lord, consider their threats and enable us to speak your word with boldness; (ii) Lord, stretch out your hand to heal through the name of Jesus. They did not try to save themselves; they only asked to extend God's mercy and love into the lives of sinsick and suffering people.
Prayer: Lord, grant me boldness to speak your word.
One Word: God is sovereign