What Happens When Christians Pray Together | The Lifeline of Prayer

2:03 forest together. They came to a large raging river and they needed to get to the other side. So they decided to pray. The first guy prayed, Lord, I pray that you will give me the strength to cross the river. Suddenly, boom, he had bulging biceps. He swims across the river. It took him about four hours. He almost drowned twice, but he did make it to the other side. The second guy's watching this. He's thinking, oh, okay. I'm going to pray a little differently. He prayed, Lord, give me the strength and the tools to cross the river. Boom. He too had bulging biceps, but he also had a rowboat. Now it took him about two hours to get across. He capsized twice. but he did make it. A third guy watching all of this said, Lord, give me the strength, give me the tools, and give me the intelligence to cross the river. And poof, he turned into a woman. She checked the map, walked 100 yards up the way, and walked over the bridge.

3:09 Okay, so I just lost all the men. Well, there's clearly a right and a wrong way to pray. And we've all had times in life, and some of you are having that time right now, where you're in a desperate situation. and you need God to intervene in your situation right now. And you need to understand that God can change circumstances. If necessary, he can change the course of nature through prayer. But most of all, what changes in prayer is you. You're changed through prayer. God often will allow hardship and difficulty, challenge and need, sometimes even tragedy, so he can reveal himself to us and put his glory on display. Because really when we pray, we're acknowledging our weakness.

4:02 And this is hard for a lot of people because we think, I can figure this out. I can resolve this conflict. I can save my own family. I can get everything resolved. I'll do it. And it doesn't work. And we have to call on God and say, Lord, I'm weak. I need your help. Come through for me. This maybe is a little harder for men than it is for women sometimes. And why is it that it's harder for men? Because we're stupid. Remember my joke in the beginning? But listen, guys, consider this for a moment. Who was the strongest man who ever walked this earth? Don't say Superman, he's not real. Samson isn't the right answer. Most of you got it. It's Jesus. Strongest man who ever lived. He was omnipotent. He was all powerful. and yet we see Jesus spending hours in prayer calling on his father.

4:55 So if Jesus felt he needed to pray, how much more should we be praying? Here in Acts 12 is a story about the power of prayer. Things are looking very dim for the believers at this moment and it looked like it was gonna be the worst ending imaginable but God changed things for them. Now at this point historically in Acts, a new wave of persecution has hit the church. The first wave was Saul of Tarsus hunting down Christians, arresting them and executing them. It effectively comes to an end with a conversion of Saul. And he is now being molded into the man God wants him to be and he will dominate the second section of the book of Acts as the apostle Paul. So now Herod comes back with a wave of persecution against the church. but now we also see that the church has sort of shifted gears. If they were in first gear, they're in second or third gear now because now they understand they are to take the gospel to everybody, not just Jews. So the Lord showed Simon Peter that he was to go with the gospel to others and he brought this centurion named Cornelius and Simon Peter together. So everything is in high gear. Everything is moving in the right direction. And the devil attacks again.

6:17 Because Satan hates it when we are advancing. He hates it when we're making a difference. And he especially hates it when we're pulling people out of hell and having them change their membership to heaven. Right? So here's the story. One of my favorite stories in the Bible. I know I say that about a lot of stories, but this really is one of my favorite stories in the Bible. Acts 12 verse 1. Now about that time, Herod the king stretched out his hand to harass some of the church. He killed James, the brother of John, with the sword because he saw that it pleased the Jews. He proceeded further to seize Peter also. Now this was during the days of unleavened bread. So when he had arrested him, he put him into prison and delivered him to four squads of soldiers to keep him, intending to bring him to the people at Passover.

7:14 But I love verse five, underline the whole verse. Peter was therefore kept in prison, but constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church. Constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church. So the first thing King Herod does is he murders James. This is James of James and John. These guys did everything together. They were close brothers. And this must have been so devastating for John to lose his beloved brother. Remember, it was James and John that wanted to be seated on the right and left hand of Jesus when he came into glory. It was James and John who were nicknamed the Sons of Thunder. Now one of the Sons of Thunder is passed into heaven. And this is just showing the wickedness of Herod. You know, sometimes we get confused because we see the name Herod so many times in the New Testament.

8:14 And you need to understand there were a number of Herods all related to each other. This was a devilish dynasty. First there was Herod the Great. He wasn't called that because he was a great man, but because he was a great builder. There are structures in Israel today still standing built by Herod the Great. Like his retreat called Masada. and he also rebuilt the second temple. He spent over 40 years doing so. So he was a man who was very paranoid. He had been declared by Roman authorities to be the king of the Jews. So when those wise men came from the east saying we want to worship him who's been born the king of the Jews, that was the most inflammatory rhetoric you could use with a paranoid tyrant like Herod the Great. And of course he gave the order to execute all those baby boys born in Bethlehem.

9:12 So that was the first Herod. Now the Herod that we're reading about in this story is Herod Agrippa I. He is the grandson of Herod the Great. He's already martyred James. Now he intends to martyr Peter. And then later Paul would stand before Herod Agrippa II. This is a classic example of the sins of the parents being visited on the children. I don't believe in what some describe as a generational curse where there's a curse on your family and you need to break that curse. But I do believe godless and godly behavior can be passed on as a legacy. And we've seen it in families where it just seems like every generation is as wicked, if not more wicked, than a generation before. And we also know that if you've been raised in an alcoholic home, it's far more likely you might become an alcoholic.

10:06 If you come from a divorced home, it's more likely that you yourself will get divorced. In fact, some people will even excuse their behavior. Well, it runs on my family. This is the way we are. Well, I was raised in an alcoholic home. I was raised in a home where a lot of divorce happened. I'm not an alcoholic. I don't drink at all. And I've been married over 47 years. So God can change the narrative. God can change the narrative in your family. He can break that cycle of sin. But the Herod say we're a wicked bunch.

10:49 We really enjoy hearing when people appreciate Pastor Greg's messages. I just wanted to let Greg know that he has inspired my life. I feel like he's an older brother and he's given me so much hope and love through the Word of Christ. I just retired as a law enforcement after 41 years. And thank you for everything you do in bringing the word of Christ to the lost and to the needy. Take care. It's a blessing to know that listeners are hearing these messages and God is using his word to touch hearts. How have Pastor Greg's studies impacted your life? Would you let him know? Send an email to greg at harvest.org. Well, we're in Acts chapter 12 today. As Pastor Greg presents his message, what happens when Christians pray together?

11:45 Let's continue. So Herod gives the order to arrest Simon Peter. He is delivered to four squads of soldiers to keep him. He's behind two gates, chained to two guards, and guarded by 14 more. Now, normally you would be chained maybe to one soldier if you were a high risk, but to have a soldier on each arm. By the way, I think both of those soldiers heard the gospel, right? Hey, you get chained to a preacher, you're gonna hear a sermon, right? And I'm sure he shared the gospel with those men. And so here now is this bleak situation. James is already dead. Now Peter is surely going to be next. So what did the church do? We read these words. So the church organized a protest and stormed Herod's palace. No, actually that's not in there. Oh no, here it is.

12:37 The church had a boycott of all products made in Rome. No, we don't read that either. Here's what we read again, verse five. Constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church. Though all doors remained closed, one door was open, the door of prayer. The door into the presence of God. Yet for many, prayer's the last resort. Well, we've tried everything, and all we can do now is go pray. What are you talking about? That's the first thing you should do. Pray about everything. That's what Paul tells us in Philippians 4. He says, don't worry about anything. Pray about everything, and the peace of God that passes all human understanding will keep your heart and mind in Christ Jesus. Nothing is too small to pray about. Is there something troubling you right now?

13:31 commit that to the Lord in prayer. Nothing is too big to pray about. Nothing is too hard for the Lord. With God all things are possible. So the church wisely went to prayer. It's been said, Satan trembles when he sees the weakest saint upon his knees. Now here's some vital insights into how to pray effectively. The title of my message is What Happens When Christians Pray Together. What happens when Christians pray together? A lot, as shown in this story. Here's point number one. The prayer that has power is the one that is offered to God. The prayer that has power is the one that is offered to God. Verse five again, constant prayer was offered to God. You say, what?

14:23 Isn't all prayer offered to God? Not necessarily. Did you know it's entirely possible to pray a prayer with no thought of God whatsoever? Oh, we've all done it. I mean, even when we worship. What is worship? Worship is prayer set to song. Have you ever had your mind wander in worship? You're thinking, oh Lord, I love you so much, the lion and the lamb. Really what you're thinking about is what you're gonna eat after church. Or there's some other thing that's entered your mind. How could they come to church wearing that? Or whatever it is that's happening. And you may have no thought of God at all. Jesus told the story of a Pharisee who prayed thus with himself, which is a King James way of saying his prayer wasn't heard by God. It was sort of a performance. And sometimes prayers can be a performance. I think it's a great thing, by the way, when Christians are in restaurants and their meal comes and they say grace together.

15:22 Do that, absolutely do that. Just don't make a show out of it. You know, don't stand up and say, Lord, we thank thee for this food today, hallelujah. People are like, what's going on over there? All right, and here's another tip. Don't pray too long. Why do some people feel they have to pray for all the missionaries in the world. When the food comes, can we do that? After, let's eat the food. Don't let the food get cold anyway. But it can be a performance. You know, Isaiah said, I saw the Lord sitting on his throne. He was high and lifted up, and his glory filled the temple. And I said, woe is me. But sometimes a prayer, it'll be more like, look at me. Look at how long I can pray. Look at how eloquently I pray. Look at me. That's not what prayer is about. Here's the real objective of prayer. It's not to get God to do what I want Him to do.

16:17 It's to get my will in alignment with Him. Right? So in alignment with God. Jesus said in John 15, If you abide in me and my words abide in you, you shall ask what you will and it shall be done for you. Another translation, more from the original Greek, would go as follows. Jesus speaking, if you maintain a living communion with me and my word is at home in you, you will ask at once for yourself whatever your heart desires and it will be yours. So we gravitate toward the latter end of that statement. Oh yeah, whatever my heart desires, awesome. Wait, hold on. You have to maintain a living communion with him and his word needs to be at home with you. So get in alignment with the will of God. You say, well, how do you know the will of God?

17:10 By careful study of the Scripture. Nothing lies outside of the reach of prayer except that which lies outside of the will of God. That is why Jesus in the Lord's Prayer taught us to pray,