Last week, at Wednesday night prayer meeting, we continued our series using the book of Acts as a guide for our own prayers. We came to Acts 7-8 and looked at Stephen’s prayers at the time of his stoning and Simon Magus’s prayers for forgiveness.
Below is the guide I used for that passage. It would work for group or individual use.
Prayer in Acts, Part 4 – Prayer Meeting 01272016
Tags: Acts, Prayer, Prayer Meeting, Acts 7, Acts 8, Forgiveness
Yesterday I received a publication in my mailbox called “Commission Stories,” from the International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention. Here is a PDF of the document. Pages 18-20 tell the story of the Harper family (name changed), who went to a very dangerous place in Southeast Asia to share the gospel. There are actually two amazing stories about them in the publication – the first about their gospel witness in the face of government opposition (and the local believers who partnered with them, risking and giving their lives for the gospel), and the second about Mary Harper’s return to the US in the face of a diagnosis of Lou Gehrig’s disease – which ultimately took her life.
After Mary passed, her husband John spoke Job’s words: “Blessed be the Name of the Lord. Though He slay me, I will trust in Him” (Job 1:21, 13:15). You should read the two short articles. They are great examples of faith in the Lord in the face of persecution, suffering, and death. Not only that, John is a self-professed “hillbilly,” who speaks with amazement of how the Lord used even him.
These powerful stories could be shared together or separately – depending on the nature of your biblical text, how much time you have, and the main point(s) you are making.
Some passage ideas for the first article, which focuses on their witness in a hostile place: Jeremiah 38, Daniel 3, Matthew 16:24-28, Matthew 24:9-14, Mark 8:31-38, Mark 13:9-13, Luke 14:25-35, Luke 21:10-19, John 15:18-25, Acts 4, Acts 5, Acts 7, Acts 9, Acts 12, Acts 14, Acts 16, Acts 19, Acts 28, Philippians 1:12-20, Philippians 1:27-29, Hebrews 12:1-13, Revelation 2, and Revelation 6:9-11.
The second article, which focuses on trusting the Lord in the midst of suffering and death: Job 1, Job 2, Job 13, Romans 8, 2 Corinthians 11, 2 Corinthians 12, Philippians 1:21, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, and James 1:2-4.
Finally, John’s statements about the Lord using him in spite of him being a self-professed “hillbilly” could help illustrate passages that talk about God using us in spite of ourselves: Exodus 3 and Exodus 4 (the call of Moses), Judges 6 (the call of Gideon), 1 Corinthians 1:26-31, 1 Corinthians 15:9-11, and 1 Timothy 1:12-17.
In his book To Live is Christ, to Die is Gain, Matt Chandler makes a great statement about how, once we are in heaven, history will be rewritten for us: “The day will come – perhaps today – when you will die and see all of history being effectively rewritten from the halls of heaven. The annals of history will not be filled with wars and kings; there will be one story, the heroes will be missionaries, and the victor will be seen clearly as Christ. Knowing this, who cares if friends or enemies mock you? Do not be ‘frightened in anything by your opponents’ (Phil. 1:28). Be willing to get on a plane and go to dangerous places. Be willing to take the pay cut at work to do what’s right. Be willing, no matter who your opponent is, to be fearless.”
Chandler is illustrating Philippians 1:27-28 here. I pictured history being rewound and then replayed for me, and most of the moments that I thought were big didn’t even show up in the footage, and tons of moments that I didn’t even know about loomed large in God’s TRUE version of human history.
This thought is helpful for Philippians 1 as Chandler uses it, but also would work with passages about suffering like Matthew 5 (esp. verses 10-12), Romans 8 (verse 18), 2 Corinthians 11, or 2 Corinthians 12. Also, it fits with any of the passages about Christian martyrs, like Acts 7 or 12. You could also use it with missions-oriented passages like Matthew 28 or Acts 1, or passages that speak to the perspective of earthly approval/fame vs. your soul/eternal rewards – like Matthew 16 (verse 26 in particular), Matthew 25 (esp. verse 31 and following), Revelation 20, or Revelation 22.
Sermon Illustr8r 