Church On Mission: Prayer
About this series:
The opening lines or pages of a book are often designed to set the context for all that follows. For example:
‘It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness…it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair’ (A Tale Of Two Cities, Charles Dickens).
‘It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen’ (1984, George Orwell).
The same is true of the Bible. The opening pages set the stage for all that follows; it’s long, unfolding story can invariably be traced back to these scenes. In particular, we see God eternally existing and then choosing to create all there is out of nothing. He commissions mankind - the pinnacle of his creation, made in his image - to, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule…” (Genesis 1:28). Then sin enters the world and there follows a spiralling downward away from harmony with God and with people. And yet there is the gospel promise of Genesis 3:15.
And then, following a restating (to Noah) of the commission to, “be fruitful and increase in number; multiply on the earth and increase upon it” and the establishing of a covenant (Genesis 9:1-11), we’re introduced to Abram (from Genesis 11:26), called by God to become the one through whom he will accomplish the mission given to mankind and through whom God’s intended blessing of mankind will come about.
This series is designed to explore a few points in the biblical journey that flows from these opening scenes in the Bible, the story of how God’s blessing will fill the earth. It’s clearly only a very few of the many stages on that journey that we could talk about, but they will serve to show how God’s people have always been on mission and how the church today is still on mission today.
Importantly, it is God’s mission. Christopher Wright has said, ‘God doesn’t have a mission for his church, he has a church for his mission.’ God’s intent has always been to fill the earth with his blessing and his people have always been his means for bringing that to pass. It’s important that we have an understanding of the biblical storyline and that we see our involvement as being in God’s mission rather than imagining that we are asking God to bless our mission.
This eight-part series will begin with three practical steps we can all engage with in order to become people on mission - Prayer, Care and Share. These three words represent vital practical elements of a missional lifestyle and they contain a logical progression too. Please keep these three words in mind as we work through the series, especially as ways to apply what’s being said - for example:
What does it look like to be sent? Prayer, care & share.
How can we still be on mission against all the odds? Prayer, care & share.
About this talk:
Prayer is, of course, foundational to the Christian life. It is where we make our requests known to God and where we kneel in surrender; where we make bold petitions and where we wrestle with perplexing questions. Prayer is the starting point of engaging in God’s mission as we align ourselves with his own plan to bless the world and seek him for the fulfilment of that.
The passage in Acts 4 records the events immediately following the release of Peter and John, who had been held by the Sadducees and the temple guard, “because the apostles were teaching the people, proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead” (Acts 4:2). The Sanhedrin decided that, “to stop this thing from spreading any further among the people, we must warn them to speak no longer to anyone in this name” (v 17). However, “Peter and John replied, ‘Which is right in God’s eyes: to listen to you, or to him? You be the judges! As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard’” (vs 19-20).
Having been released, Peter and John went straight back to the church to report all that had just happened. In response the believers, “raised their voices together in prayer to God” (v 24). In the face of threats from the religious authorities, the early church had a far greater conviction - God’s mission, through the message about Jesus, must go on. Nothing will stop it, so nothing will stop them. Their primary convictions, expressed in their prayer, are:
God is the Sovereign Lord (v 24). He alone has the right to command his people, not the authorities; only he is Lord, not them or even Caesar. He is sovereign; whatever the Sadducees may want done, it is God who rules. Their confidence in coming to God in prayer could not be expressed more emphatically than with, “Sovereign Lord.”
All that had recently happened was prophesied: “You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David…” (vs 25-26). What is happening is just what God’s word said would take place.
Despite the opposition they’re facing, God’s sovereign will is being worked out. This was displayed most clearly when, in killing Jesus, “They [were in fact only doing] what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen” (v 28). If God’s sovereign will is accomplished through turning that great evil into ultimate good, the imprisonment and threats they have just received will surely only work to serve God’s purposes too.
And so they pray, “God, we ask you to continue your mission through us in the face of this opposition.” Their passion is undaunted by all that has happened (to Jesus as well as to Peter and John), so they ask for more power to continue the mission: “Enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus” (vs 29-30). Far from taking a break or going into hiding for a while until things have calmed down, they want to see God at work all the more, whatever the cost.
The result is well known: “the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly” (v 31). As in 1:8, the disciples are empowered by the Spirit for the mission he is sending them on, with the result that their prayer is answered through receiving power to live and speak for Jesus wherever they went.
Our context may be different, but the same convictions can equally drive us to prayer that God’s mission will continue with great power. As we pray for our friends, our town, our nation, our world, we remember that God is the sovereign Lord, working out his purposes as recorded in the Bible (which culminated in sending his Son). We, his people, are now the ones who take the message of the good news forward in the power of the Spirit, with signs and wonders following.
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