This is a supplemental devotional to Sunday’s message “Peter the Persecuted,” covering some important verses that time constraints prevented in the preaching.

Acts 4:24-31

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, 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? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathered together, against the Lord and against His Anointed’ 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, to do whatever Your hand and Your plan had predestined to take place. And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to Your servants to continue to speak Your word with all boldness, while You stretch out Your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the Name of Your holy servant Jesus.’ 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.

In Acts 4, when the church learned that the authorities had commanded them not to proclaim the gospel of eternal life through Christ, their response was immediate prayer. That’s the right thing to do. Too often when opposition arises, we exhaust all other options and then pray. Let us teach one another, when problems come, pray first.

Now let’s note some things about their prayer that teach us how to pray.

First, they prayed in light of what the scriptures said to them. They understood what was happening, because they found that insight in God’s word. And they were sure God would bring victory, because they trusted His word.

Second, they didn’t look at God’s power and authority through earthly eyes; they looked at their opponents’ power through God’s eyes. This allowed them to see that what had happened to Christ (rejection and crucifixion) was by God’s plan. And it allowed them to see that what was happening to them (threats and persecution) could also only happen by God’s plan. Herod and Pilate couldn’t take Christ’s life from Him—unless He willed it. And the authorities of that moment couldn’t stop Christ’s church with their threats. Let us teach each other to view our problems from heaven’s viewpoint. It will build our faith and help us to trust the Lord in times of suffering.

Third, they asked God for big things, not small. They could have asked Him to just make the persecutors stop. God could do that, but it would have been small. They asked Him for a lot more. They asked Him to give His Son’s Name so much victory on earth that the authorities of this world would be rendered irrelevant. They asked Him to make it obvious to anyone willing to see, that Jesus Christ is God’s One and Only Anointed Servant for the salvation of the world.

So often we pray for God to make the government do good things and for good men to win elections so that His will can be done. Perhaps we should follow the early church’s example, praying instead, “Father, we know from Your word that the nations and kings will continue to oppose You, mock You, and celebrate every form of rebellion against You. So they will treat us the same. But You are greater than they are. Their plots are ‘in vain,’ and will come to nothing in the end. Do great things in our lives and in the world that show everyone willing to hear the truth, that Jesus is Savior and Lord. And make us bold enough to stand with Christ, and for Christ, even in the face of their mocking, threats, and demands that we stop proclaiming Christ.”

God answered their prayers. The persecution didn’t stop–as we’ll learn soon in our study of Peter’s life–but the church grew, and the gospel spread.