Growing with God

1) What do we learn about the early believers from this passage?
In a word? Unity. One purpose, one mind, one Body in their many parts, all working together for their singular mission. “After they were released, they went to their own people and reported everything” (verse 23). After being released from the council of the Sanhedrin where they had been detained and threatened for preaching Christ, Peter and John didn’t part ways and keep it quiet what had happened that afternoon, going home to nurse their wounds. They understood that living out the mission of the gospel, necessitated continual dependence on biblical community. They did not wait until the coming Sunday to connect with their local believers. No, they immediately went to “their own people”, telling them everything, which precipitated a powerful time of prayer and deep, life-giving connection. This local body of believers, this local church, carried one another’s burdens, set everything aside from the everyday tasks to come together in prayer, lifting their voices together. They spoke truth, they prayed boldly, they were answered and experienced God’s physical response together. Jesus’ core prayer for all believers is this, “make them one as we (Father, Son, and Spirit) are one. (John 17:21).

2) What do we learn about prayer in this account?
First, prayer here is natural and based on an open and trusting relationship with the Almighty. When Peter and John came and shared their report with their local church community, the very first response was prayer. They didn’t first discuss and deliberate on steps to protect themselves from future persecution, leaving prayer as an afterthought. Second, prayer was familiar. On hearing the report, they simply raised their voices and started praying. To be okay praying out loud in a group of other believers, you have to either 1) have no stage fright or 2) already have a close relationship with the Lord where prayer is commonplace. These believers were familiar with the Almighty, their prayer was conversational, they had made their home with Him; talking with Him about big and small and everything in between was simply their mode of operation. Third, prayer includes praying Scripture back to the Lord to keep their prayers focused and grounded in truth. (Verses 25-26 are quoting Psalm 2:1-2) Fourth, prayer acknowledges reality. The believers spoke frankly and honestly about their situation, the trials they were facing, and the religious unrest plaguing them. Fifth, their prayer relied on the bedrock of God’s faithfulness. The believers prayed for God to give them boldness and they expected He would give it to them. Finally, their prayer for God to heal and perform signs is not only secondary to the request for boldness, but also has one intent: for the lost to know the Savior. (John 4:48) Healing and miracles were not asked for to comfort those suffering, but for the glory of the Lord to be revealed and souls rescued for eternity.

3) Why was the place where they prayed shaken? (verse 31)
The Almighty God is Lord of all creation, nothing is beyond His sphere of control in any realm, physical or spiritual. It makes sense that the God of All would use creation to not only reveal Himself, but also to reflect His glory. Paul write in his letter to the Romans of God plainly revealing His “invisible attributes” through what “has been made” that is, creation. (Romans 1:20-21) In other places in Scripture, God uses the physical world to point our attention to the spiritual one, and His lordship over all. For the Old Testament prophet, Elijah, God met him in a still, small voice after sending an earthquake, a fire, and tornado. (1 Kings 19:9-13) In speaking with Job, the man faithful to God regardless of his tragic circumstances, the Lord spends several chapters pointing out the magnificence of creation from the micro to the macro level, all for the purpose of shifting Job’s heart towards God’s glory. (Job 38-41) This great encounter came to Job “out of the whirlwind” from whence the Lord spoke. (Job 38:1) Creation, and physical acts within creation, are intended for one main purpose, to point to God’s glory. Jesus said that if people were to stop praising God, the rocks themselves would cry out in praise! (Luke 19:40) The shaking of this place where the local body was meeting and praying was intended as a physical marker to encourage spiritual hearts as they were reminded of the God who hears and answers their prayer. They did not pray so that the place would be shaken, but God chose to bless them with a physical representation of His answer as well as a physical answer.