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Apr 07, 2024

Prayer After Easter

Prayer After Easter

Passage: Acts 4:23-37

Speaker: Andrew Kerhoulas

Series: Practice the Presence - Prayer

Keywords: prayer, resurrection, boldness, corporate prayer, one heart and soul

Easter changed everything. How did Easter impact the prayers of God’s people? By exploring the first recorded corporate prayer after the resurrection, we are (re)oriented to the kind of prayer the risen Jesus intends for his people.

Readings & Scripture

PRE SERVICE TEXT: Acts 4:31
And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.

PREPARATION:

LEADER: Christ is risen from the dead! Come, open your hearts and lives to the joyous Good News!

ALL: Let us celebrate the greatest victory of all time. He has conquered death!

LEADER: Come, open your hearts and spirits to the joyous Good News!

ALL: Let us celebrate the greatest victory of all time.

LEADER: Christ is Risen!

ALL: He is risen indeed!

SCRIPTURE READING/CORPORATE PRAYER: Revelation 7:9-12, 16-17

LEADER: After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every
nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the
Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud
voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” 11 And all the
angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and
they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying: “Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our Good for ever and ever Amen!”

16 They shall hunger no more, neither
thirst anymore;
the sun shall not strike them,
nor any scorching heat.
17 For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd,
and he will guide them to springs of living water,
and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

The word of the Lord.

ALL: Thanks be to God.

CENTRAL TEXT: Acts 4:23-37
When they were released, they went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them. 24 And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, “Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them, 25 who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit,
“‘Why did the Gentiles rage,
and the peoples plot in vain?
26 The kings of the earth set themselves,
and the rulers were gathered together,
against the Lord and against his Anointed’—
27 for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, 28 to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place. 29 And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, 30 while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” 31 And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.
32 Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common. 33 And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. 34 There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold 35 and laid it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need. 36 Thus Joseph, who was also called by the apostles Barnabas (which means son of encouragement), a Levite, a native of Cyprus, 37 sold a field that belonged to him and brought the money and laid it at the apostles' feet.

RELATED SCRIPTURES:

  • 1 Kings 8:54-61
  • Psalm 2:1-3; 42:7
  • Mark 9:29
  • Luke 22:26-30

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

  1. Try to name your favorite pop song of all time. What do the music and lyrics reveal about the generation in which it was written? 
  2. Discuss: Prayer reveals what we believe about God, the world, and ourselves. What does the first recorded corporate prayer after Easter in Acts 4 reveal about the first generation of Christians? Name some specific things you notice. 
  3. Crisis tends to precede large-spread spiritual renewal throughout church history. Do you feel like we are ripe for spiritual renewal? Why or why not? 
  4. How might Easter infiltrate your prayers this week? Discuss and then pray together or on your own.
  5. When and where can you participate in corporate prayer opportunities this week? Discuss and then pray together or on your own. 

Illustrations

InView Media Album 04.07.2024

QUOTES: 

  • There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry, Mine! Abraham Kuyper 
  • Worldview is not what you look at, it’s what you look through. It’s the lens that brings things into focus that otherwise would be very fuzzy. N.T. Wright
  • The subject was laid upon my heart, and was a matter of constant consideration for some time. At last I resolved to give myself to the work, and I shall never forget with what force, at the time, those words came home to my soul: ’Tis done, the great transaction’s done, I am my Lord’s, and He is mine; He drew me, and I followed on, Charmed to confess the voice divine. Jeremiah C. Lanphier (who began corporate prayer for revival in NYC c. 1857)
  • It is most impressive to think that over this great land tens and fifties of thousands of men and women are putting themselves at this time in a simple and serious way the greatest question that can ever come before the human mind: “what shall we do to be saved from sin?” New York Times (1857)
  • The key to renewal is a continual rediscovery of the gospel. Tim Keller 
  • Attention is the beginning of devotion. Mary Oliver 

BOOKS / DOCS

  • Revival born in a prayer meeting” (C.S. Lewis Institute on the Businessman Revival in 1857) 
  • Tim Keller, Prayer: Experiencing Awe and Intimacy With God
  • Eugene Peterson, Answering God: The Psalms As Tools For Prayer
  • Paul Miller, A Praying Life: Connecting With God In A Distracting World
  • Tyler Staton, Praying Like Monks, Living Like Fools

SERMONS/TALKS