The Early Church’s first prayer meeting followed the release of Peter, John, and the now-healed lame man. I had never considered it the first prayer meeting, but it is the first we have on record. The prayer outline was informative and needed more implementation in my prayer times.
The prayer (Acts 4:24-31 ESV) with my headings and implementation:
And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said,
The Greatness of God
“Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them,
I had limited my opening line in prayer to something that acknowledged my Father and His holiness, applying the principle from Jesus’ teaching on prayer in His Sermon on the Mount. Rarely had I exalted Him in His sovereignty and creative power. Lord is translated from the Greek word despotēs, where we get our word despot. The opening line enunciates the absolute and unquestioned power of our Lord. It is a power that was lost in my constant reference as Father.
Incorporating Scripture
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’—
Bringing Scripture into prayer builds our faith that our prayer will be heard. How so? The Apostle John penned, “This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him” (1 John 5:14-15 NASB). His Word is His will; thus, incorporating Scripture into our prayer lets us know He hears our cry.
Application of Scripture
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.
This was one of my biggest hurdles in making personal applications and praying God’s promises. I had erroneously applied a “whiny attitude” to the words “You said” when quoting His Word to Him in prayer. Nothing like childhood baggage to hinder adult prayer! 😊 Then, one of my children opened my understanding when they said that quoting the Scripture back to the Lord is like a lawyer reciting case law in making their case before the judge. That word lit the divinely illuminated light bulb for me that still shines in my prayer times.
Petition
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.”
Speaking the word with boldness was the focus of this first prayer meeting. The Sanhedrin had not prohibited miracles as such but the preaching of Jesus. Yet, the church knew the preaching of Jesus ushered in the miracles as confirmation, particularly for salvation. Hence, their request.
Speaking the word with boldness means speaking it with confidence, knowing that God’s hand is near to accomplishing His will at that moment. They had asked that His will be healings—signs and wonders by His hand—while they were speaking His Name.
It is noteworthy that God did exceedingly above in answering that prayer (cf. Acts 5:12-16) as those infirmed and covered by Peter’s shadow as he walked by were healed, all through faith in the Name!
Prayer Answered
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.
When prayer is concluded, there can be a confirmation of some sort. Other times, it is faith alone; confirmation is when the Lord trusts me with His silence.
I can rejoice in both, knowing He has heard!
