I was lying in a Filipino hospital with excruciating pain. It felt like someone was twisting a knife in my stomach. The doctor’s first priority was to rehydrate me, as I had gone through a serious bout of dysentery. They did a series of tests, but could not determine the cause of my pain. After a day, the pain went away. Not knowing what else to do, the doctors released me from the hospital. As I l walked out the hospital exit, the pain came back.

I decided to go back to the missions guesthouse where we as a short-term missions team had been staying. As the “knife” work continued, I asked my teammates to pray for me. They prayed for God’s healing. The pain gradually subsided and by the next morning, it was gone for good. I have no doubt that God answered prayer by healing me.

The early Christians certainly knew about the power of prayer. After the Jewish leaders had commanded Peter and John to stop speaking about Jesus  (Acts 4:18-31), they went to their own people and together, they prayed. How did God respond to their prayers? “After they prayed, 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).

God’s power not only shook the building , but also moved the people to speak the Word of God boldly. All of this came after the people prayed together.

I am convinced that prayer is our primary way of moving the hand of God. He doesn’t always say yes to our prayers, but how will He answer at all, unless we ask.

Being a bit of a rebel at heart, I applaud Peter and John’s courage in standing up to the Jewish authorities in Acts 4:1-22. The Sanhedrin, a council of Jewish religious leaders, was the power centre of Jewish religious at the time. Because Peter and John were teaching about Jesus, the Sanhedrin called them in for questioning (see my previous post, “God’s Power in and through Imperfect Instruments”).

These powerful Jewish leaders commanded Peter and John to stop teaching in Jesus’ name. Disobeying the Sanhedrin was not a good idea as it could lead to expulsion from the synagogue, being shunned by their fellow Jews, or even worse.

Peter and John responded in this way: “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” (vv. 19-20).

Peter and John chose the way of rebellion in this instance so that they might obey the Lord. The questions I have for us today are:

Who or what do we need to defy in order to obey God more fully?

Who is the person in our lives who may be hindering us from following Jesus more closely?

What are the forces (e.g. materialism, naturalism, individualism) that may be eroding our commitment to God and His Word?

Let’s be inspired by the rebellious courage of Peter and John and lovingly stand firm for truth, no matter what the cost.

As a young camp counsellor, I had strong opinions about what constituted a good camp speaker. When Mr. B stood up to speak at the start of camp, I just knew we were in trouble. Yet, God used this imperfect instrument in an incredible way to reach into the hearts of many that week, including myself.

In Acts 4, the Jewish leaders were alarmed that the apostles were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead. They detained Peter and John for questioning. Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, responded powerfully to their questions. He spoke with God’s power and even the Jewish leaders took notice. “When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus” (v. 13).

After deliberating amongst themselves, these same religious leaders exercised their human authority by commanding Peter and John to stop speaking in the name of Jesus. I love Peter and John’s response: “...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” (vv. 19-20).

It is intriguing to me that when Peter spoke with God’s power, people paid attention. Yet, when the Jewish leaders exercised their authority, which in this case was contrary to God’s desires, it had little effect. It’s a good reminder that the most powerful authority that we wield as Christian leaders is the authority that God entrusts to us by His Spirit. God’s power can make a huge difference in and through imperfect instruments.