Empowered by Prayer: The Church's Vital Source

1. "In a similar way, in the church, a church with all of its programs and ministries and activities, all that we have, the power station of the church, the church is prayer. That without prayer, nothing can really be effective in the life of the church. That we can have church services, and we can sing songs, and we can share the words, and we can meet with the women's ministry, and the men's ministry, and the youth church, and the children's church, and all of that can go forth. But if there is no prayer, there is no real power that's taking place. Amen. Amen. All that's happening is that we are going through the motions. We are actors on a stage, but without prayer, there is no power. Prayer is the power source for the church." [01:08] (57 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


2. "Prayer is a great response to life. Prayer is a great response to life. Prayer is a great response to life. We look at the text, it reads this way, verse 23. The first thing we see is their release. It says, on their release. Those are three words, but they represent so much. That little phrase, on their release, it means a whole lot because it's implying now that Peter and John, who had been in prison overnight, but now have been released. On their release. That may not mean much to you, but if you've ever been in the criminal justice system or had a loved one in the system or had a family member or a friend in the system, those three words, on their release, means something to you because you understand that nobody enjoys being locked up, but we enjoy when we can be released." [05:27] (57 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


3. "Christianity is not a solo sport. It's a team sport, and so when Peter and John go through what they go through, the first people they run to is the church because they need their people to help them deal with what they just went through. Oh, it's a beautiful thing when you can come to a place and share what you are going through and not be judged or criticized or your story minimized or your story downgraded. They listen and they hear their story. They lean in to what they've gone through because they've just gone through a traumatic situation. They had, this was the church's first time facing persecution. Nobody had ever been arrested. Nobody had ever been pulled into the council before, and so Peter and John had gone through this, and when they get done, they moved from their report to their response, and look at what they say, and look at how the church responds." [12:26] (62 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


4. "When you pray, you're talking to God, but you're also talking back to yourself. And you are reminding yourself how great and how mighty. And how strong God is. Then he moves and says, he starts praying scripture back to God. Sometimes if you don't know what to pray, just open the Bible and pray the scripture right back to God. You can just read it and pray it back. That's exactly what they do. They pick Psalm 2 and they pray Psalm 2 back to God. And they say to God, God, why do the nations rage? And why do the people plot in vain? And the kings and the rulers, they band together against you, Lord, and against your anointing. And what they're saying is, God, we remember how you told David they were going to rise up against your people." [24:05] (54 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


5. "While you were planning my destruction, God was working on my construction. While you were planning my elimination, God was working on my elevation. While you were planning my annihilation, God was working. While you were working on my anointing. While you were planning my funeral, God was planning my flourishing. While you were planning my devastation, God was planning my resurrection. He says, you may have been using that to tear me down. But as I was going through the treatment, as I was going through the situation, as I was going through the betrayal, as you were going through the hard situation, as you were going through the rejection, God was doing something in your life. And in your heart, that they wouldn't be prepared for you on the other side of your trial." [28:04] (50 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


6. "Lord, we don't need you to deliver us. Lord, we don't need you to protect us. Lord, we don't need you to eliminate them or retaliate against them. Lord, we need two things. Lord, would you give us boldness? And Lord, would you keep doing signs and wonders? Lord, we're not asking you to take us out of it. Lord, we're not asking you. For material blessings. Lord, we're not asking you for the car or the house or the healing. Lord, we're not asking you to do something for our children or our grandchildren. Lord, all we need you to do is give us a spirit of boldness. Because we know it's coming. But we just want to be bold for your purposes. We don't want to shrink under the assignment that you've put on our lives." [30:29] (63 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


7. "God, we don't want to pray for easy lives. God, we're not praying just for you to bless us in the city and bless us in the field and bless us when we go and bless us when we come. That's not what we're praying for here, God. We're trying to do your work. We're trying to serve your purposes. We're trying to save a city. We're trying to impact our neighborhoods. We're trying to raise up this next generation. We're trying to rescue young people. Boys and young girls that don't know you. We're trying to impact my neighbor that's next door to me that slept in this morning and doesn't know anything about God. We're trying to reach somebody that doesn't know you. So, God, we don't need all the extra stuff. God, what we need is boldness for you." [31:30] (49 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


8. "Friends, that's what we ought to be praying for. We praying for the wrong. We praying for the wrong thing. We asking them for material blessings when we need spiritual blessings. God, make us a bold church. Make me a bold man. Make me a bold woman. Make me a bold person so I can declare what thus says the Lord. Hallelujah, somebody. Hallelujah, somebody. That's the prayer. Would you stand with me all over the room, family? Would I want to close this sermon the way this church prays it. I want to invite us to raise our voices. And I want to invite us to pray toward God today. I want to invite us to pray and then we're going to open the doors of the church." [34:24] (53 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)