05 August 2010 Devotion for Today "A Church on Fire" Acts 4:23-31

^{3On their release, Peter and John went back to their own people and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them. 24When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God. "Sovereign Lord," they said, "you made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and everything in them. 25You 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?

 26The kings of the earth take their stand

      and the rulers gather together

      against the Lord

      and against his Anointed One. 27Indeed 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. 28They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen. 29Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. 30Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus."

 31After 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. (Acts 4: 23-31)

 
 

The story is told of the village atheist who wasn't really a bad man, he just didn't believe and refused to go to church. Many had been after him for years but he turned them down partly because the church was a lifeless social club filled with hypocrites. However, one night the church building was struck by lightening and caught fire. Everyone in town ran to the church to try to put the fire out, including the atheist. The preacher, seeing the atheist running as fast as he could to the church, exclaimed, "This is the first time I ever saw you running to church!" The atheist responded, "This is the first time I ever saw the church on fire!"

 
 

Once again we see Peter and John, who had just been released from the custody of the Sanhedrin and threatened for preaching the name of Jesus Christ. But their threats fell on deaf ears; partly due to the boldness of these two men and because of the prayers of the church who were praying for them. Prayer is the most powerful weapon the church has to defeat the enemy. Satan has been trying for years to shut the church down- but the meeting he despises most is the church's prayer meeting. He causes that recliner to feel so much better on a Wednesday night (the time of most American evangelical prayer meetings) than any other time of the week. But the church in the book of Acts prayed powerfully, and we get a sense of their prayer in the text here today. They began by praising God and spent time thanking Him for the release of the apostles and thanked Him for their boldness. They then asked God to stretch out His hand to do powerful miracles, signs and wonders. You will notice no time was taken up in this prayer meeting for Aunt Sally and sister Sue and their ingrown toenails and irritable bowel syndrome. I once had a prayer request from someone for a case of chronic flatulence! I am not kidding!

 
 

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that God is not interested in prayers for all of our aches and pains but let's face it, we've all got aches and pains. We need to be less focused on our ingrown toenails and chronic flatulence so that we have the energy to pray not eloquent prayers, but powerful prayers and more importantly show up to see God doing these great wonders that we ask Him to do.

 
 

The place that night was shaken in a powerful way, and the Holy Spirit's fire burned within them. Someone once said that if you catch fire for God, people will come out to watch you burn. May you burn with a passion for God today and let it begin in your prayer life!

 
 

Prayer: Dear God, remove this lethargic attitude in my life and instead set my heart afire with a passion to burn for You. Let my prayers blaze brightly to the heavens and pour down Your power down upon me. Let people come out to watch me burn for You and spark that same blaze upon them as well. In Jesus Name, Amen.

 
 

Have a blessed day!