totallylovedbygod65
Member
- Mar 12, 2024
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- 284
ACTS 12
5 Peter therefore was kept in prison: but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him.
PRAYER OPENED THE GATES
It seemed impossible, James had been killed and now Peter was imprisoned, what is happening the church is losing it's leaders. What shall we do?
What would be your response to all this?
In verses 6-19, we have the miracle of Peter's release from prison, the prison door opening by themselves the word used here, is translated and now forms the English word, automatic.
Wait a minute, these things, don't happen. do they?
Yes, they do, not because of the number of people praying or the amount of prayer undertaken, but because God is pleased to answer prayer.
Great things happen, because God answers prayers, he alone is the only one, who answers prayer. God deserves and takes all the glory when a prayer is answered, but he also loves to hear the prayers of his people, it says the prayers of the saints come before the throne of God Revelation 5:8
And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.
All through the Old testament, we are encouraged to call upon God, in Psalm 50:
and call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.”
Jeremiah 29:12
Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you.
Isaiah 64:7
There is no one who calls upon your name, who rouses himself to take hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us, and have made us melt in the hand of our iniquities.
Look at this last verse from Isaiah, let me ask you, is there anyone in your church, who is rousing him/herself to take hold of God in prayer. This is what the church in Jerusalem, were doing, when we call upon God in prayer, he moves.
Look at the example of the church in Acts 4:
23 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,[d] 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’[e]—
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.
This was the church taking hold of God in prayer, the whole church praying in unity, for Gd to work in power.
WS Dowd said:
Prayer is weakness, leaning on omnipotence.
Prayer can open doors that cant be opened, it can do things, that amaze the human eye and heart, it is God acting, just because he loves to show his glory in response to the earnest and fervent prayers of his people.
Let's rouse ourselves to pray, God wants to hear us.
God bless you
KK
THE WOW FACTOR
“And as they were going down to the end of the city, Samuel said to Saul, Bid the servant pass on before us, (and he passed on), but stand thou still a while, that I may shew thee the word of God…1 Samuel 9:27.”
Chapters 8-10 are the story of the anointing of King Saul, and the Lord has laid this particular verse upon my heart. Before Samuel anointed King Saul, he did one thing. That was to tell Him to stand still so that he could show Him the Word of God.
Before God places us into ministry, He will tell us to do this, because you cannot be in ministry, handling God's Word, before you know God's word and its author intimately.
Many Christians are doing much activity. They are busy doing something, but they are not studying and meditating on the Word of God. Even after nearly 50 years of being a Christian, the Word of God gives me things that make me go wow!
Moses before he was sent to Pharaoh, was trained on the backside of the desert. The Apostles spent 40 days being trained by Jesus after his Resurrection and Paul spent time training after his conversion. Note that Samuel says to Saul, “Stand still”. We have to be still before God, so that he can train us. He also says that it will be for a while; God does take us aside for a time, until he feels that we know His Word enough.
God's Word is a double-edged sword. Let me say this, you do not give a double-edged sword to a child and neither does God give ministry of the Word to people until they are fully mature in Christ.
Let me use a personal example, the Lord told me in 2003 that I would write devotions and articles, and so I started to write, but it was not until he trained me and through people He used to help me and studying His Word, have I come to the level I am at now… which is not all that high… as I am still learning all the time.
The Lord wants his children to stand still and know His word. Are you prepared to do this? The Lord says to people wanting to do ministry of teaching and preaching etc., that they have to be like Mary in Luke 10:38-42 and spend much time at His feet and in his Word. You need to sit at his feet before you can stand up and preach/teach to others.
Jesus spent 33 years on this earth; he spent the majority of these in a carpenter's shop and only 3 in public ministry. Let us learn from His example. God is the ultimate trainer. He has the ultimate training tool - The Word of God. Sit at his feet and let Him open the book of books to you. You may well be a minister with many degrees, or you may be a babe in Christ, it doesn't really matter. The Bible is the only book with the WOW factor… Amen. Have you had the wow factor as you HAVE read its pages today?
God bless you,
KEITH
5 Peter therefore was kept in prison: but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him.
PRAYER OPENED THE GATES
It seemed impossible, James had been killed and now Peter was imprisoned, what is happening the church is losing it's leaders. What shall we do?
What would be your response to all this?
In verses 6-19, we have the miracle of Peter's release from prison, the prison door opening by themselves the word used here, is translated and now forms the English word, automatic.
Wait a minute, these things, don't happen. do they?
Yes, they do, not because of the number of people praying or the amount of prayer undertaken, but because God is pleased to answer prayer.
Great things happen, because God answers prayers, he alone is the only one, who answers prayer. God deserves and takes all the glory when a prayer is answered, but he also loves to hear the prayers of his people, it says the prayers of the saints come before the throne of God Revelation 5:8
And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.
All through the Old testament, we are encouraged to call upon God, in Psalm 50:
and call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.”
Jeremiah 29:12
Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you.
Isaiah 64:7
There is no one who calls upon your name, who rouses himself to take hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us, and have made us melt in the hand of our iniquities.
Look at this last verse from Isaiah, let me ask you, is there anyone in your church, who is rousing him/herself to take hold of God in prayer. This is what the church in Jerusalem, were doing, when we call upon God in prayer, he moves.
Look at the example of the church in Acts 4:
23 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,[d] 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’[e]—
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.
This was the church taking hold of God in prayer, the whole church praying in unity, for Gd to work in power.
WS Dowd said:
Prayer is weakness, leaning on omnipotence.
Prayer can open doors that cant be opened, it can do things, that amaze the human eye and heart, it is God acting, just because he loves to show his glory in response to the earnest and fervent prayers of his people.
Let's rouse ourselves to pray, God wants to hear us.
God bless you
KK
THE WOW FACTOR
“And as they were going down to the end of the city, Samuel said to Saul, Bid the servant pass on before us, (and he passed on), but stand thou still a while, that I may shew thee the word of God…1 Samuel 9:27.”
Chapters 8-10 are the story of the anointing of King Saul, and the Lord has laid this particular verse upon my heart. Before Samuel anointed King Saul, he did one thing. That was to tell Him to stand still so that he could show Him the Word of God.
Before God places us into ministry, He will tell us to do this, because you cannot be in ministry, handling God's Word, before you know God's word and its author intimately.
Many Christians are doing much activity. They are busy doing something, but they are not studying and meditating on the Word of God. Even after nearly 50 years of being a Christian, the Word of God gives me things that make me go wow!
Moses before he was sent to Pharaoh, was trained on the backside of the desert. The Apostles spent 40 days being trained by Jesus after his Resurrection and Paul spent time training after his conversion. Note that Samuel says to Saul, “Stand still”. We have to be still before God, so that he can train us. He also says that it will be for a while; God does take us aside for a time, until he feels that we know His Word enough.
God's Word is a double-edged sword. Let me say this, you do not give a double-edged sword to a child and neither does God give ministry of the Word to people until they are fully mature in Christ.
Let me use a personal example, the Lord told me in 2003 that I would write devotions and articles, and so I started to write, but it was not until he trained me and through people He used to help me and studying His Word, have I come to the level I am at now… which is not all that high… as I am still learning all the time.
The Lord wants his children to stand still and know His word. Are you prepared to do this? The Lord says to people wanting to do ministry of teaching and preaching etc., that they have to be like Mary in Luke 10:38-42 and spend much time at His feet and in his Word. You need to sit at his feet before you can stand up and preach/teach to others.
Jesus spent 33 years on this earth; he spent the majority of these in a carpenter's shop and only 3 in public ministry. Let us learn from His example. God is the ultimate trainer. He has the ultimate training tool - The Word of God. Sit at his feet and let Him open the book of books to you. You may well be a minister with many degrees, or you may be a babe in Christ, it doesn't really matter. The Bible is the only book with the WOW factor… Amen. Have you had the wow factor as you HAVE read its pages today?
God bless you,
KEITH