The Most Powerful Prayer Nobody Prays [Part 1]

Pastor, author, and Bible teacher, Alan Wright.

When you hear a hero story, isn't there something within you that says, I want boldness like that? That's Pastor Alan Wright. Welcome to another message of good news that will help you see your life in a whole new light. I'm Daniel Britt, excited for you to hear the teaching today in the series Unlimited, as presented at Reynolda Church in North Carolina. If you're not able to stay with us throughout the entire program, I'm going to make sure you know how to get our special resource right now. It can be yours for your donation this month to Alan Wright Ministries.

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Here is Alan Wright. Are you ready for some good news? Anyone, anyone can be brave because boldness comes from the Holy Spirit, and anyone can be filled with the Holy Spirit. We're in a new series on the book of Acts. We call it Unlimited because it's about the limitless impact of the church of Jesus Christ, as we see in a study of the book of Acts. And we're in Acts chapter four today. So if you have your Bible with you, you can follow along. We'll put some scriptures up on the screen as well. And I want to start with just two verses, but we're going to be looking at many scriptures in Acts chapter four. Acts four, verse 29.

And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness while you stretch out your hand to heal and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant, Jesus. Well, April 12th, 1999, it seemed like it was an ordinary day in the city of Atlanta for firefighter Matt Mosley, but it turned out to be anything other than an ordinary day. The fire that was at the site of the former Fulton bag and cotton mill was undergoing a massive, a place undergoing a massive renovation, a developer turning this old mill into loft apartments and a fire had broken out.

Winds were blustery that day and what started as a small fire soon was just raging. Matt Mosley, this young firefighter has his first task was to try to clear out some of the building, make sure there were nobody still in the building. And he said that they were, he was about a floor ahead of the collapse of the building. And he remembered thinking this is it, we're done.

We're not going to make it out of here, but they did make it out of the building. And when he and other firefighters made their way back over to the command post, they noticed that everybody was looking up into the sky. So they paused and looked up with them at the 250 foot crane that was over this huge renovation project at the old mill.

And what they saw made their jaws drop. There was a man trapped atop that 250 foot crane, Ivar's Sims. He was the crane operator and the cab where the machinery was from which he was operating had become overheated and soon was engulfed in flames. And so he walked across the burning steel which was too hot to stay on and found at the very end of the crane the concrete weights that are counter balanced for the crane. And he had perched himself atop the concrete weights in hopes that someone could rescue him.

He was there for an hour. There was no time, they said, for them to bring in say military that had been trained for such a feat. The engineers on the ground said that before long the searing heat would cause the steel to buckle and it would collapse and Ivar's Sims would certainly die. So they needed to try a daring helicopter rescue and they needed to use one of those Atlanta firefighters.

Without much thought young Matt Mosley said I'll go. He said that his boss gave him a quick pep talk and then they strapped him to an 80 foot rope. What was going to have to happen is that they would have to hoist him up over the fire and over the crane in the midst of these horrible updrafts from the heat and real blustery winds. And they would have to avoid Matt Mosley the firefighter being crushed against the crane himself or being burned.

They would have to avoid of course accidentally bumping into Sims and knocking him off to his death. Somehow Mosley would have to get hold of the crane, find his way over to Sims, climb up to meet him, harness him in and they would make the rescue. At first it looked like it was going to be impossible because he was just dangling and the wind was blowing and the entire event was seen by live action news on national TV.

Interstate 75 was shut down as he's just swaying in the breeze 300 feet above the ground. And at first it looked like it was going to be impossible because he was faced the wrong way but Mosley said that in his words the Lord said here you go and turn me around he said and suddenly he was able to catch hold of the crane. He said when he looked down on the crane he saw black footprints and realized that Ivor Sims shoes had been melting as he'd walked across the steel of the crane. He climbed up onto the concrete and he managed to get Sims harnessed in with him and soon the helicopter was lifting them off up high over the burning site and brought them safe to the ground.

Afterwards Sims was treated for smoke inhalation and some heat exhaustion. Matt Mosley the firefighter was fine and everybody wanted to interview him and he said I was only doing my job I'm no hero which seems to be what all heroes say isn't it? I watched the video of that rescue again this week because it was all captured on video and I've seen it before I've even spoken of this before but when I watched it interestingly I found myself at the end with tears like welling up in my eyes to think of this young firefighter who go and just risks his life to save someone who is most certainly otherwise going to die. Just that kind of jaw dropping bravery in the face of such threatening conditions it's just so noble it's just so pure it's so powerful. Isn't there something inside of you that's just inspired by it? I'm just like this is the greatest thing I've ever seen I mean this guy is so brave and there's something within me that just says I want to be like that. When you hear a hero story isn't there something within you that says I want boldness like that? Last week I mentioned that there is an interpretive principle with scripture that many scholars point to of paying attention to the first time something is mentioned in the Bible and this week we're looking at the first instance recorded instance in the New Testament of corporate prayer for the newborn church of Jesus Christ. We're going to see the first thing that God thought was important for us to know that the early Christians prayed about specifically that's what we're going to look they prayed a lot before this but this is the first recorded prayer and here's the context Peter and John in the previous chapter that we had looked at in another sermon they were on their way to the temple and passed by a man who was lame and was begging probably they'd passed by him many many times maybe a hundred times but on this particular day Peter the scripture says turned and looked at the man it was like he did a double take it's like he just looked at him totally different than he ever had before and he suddenly just spoke to the man under the power of the Holy Spirit and he said to the beggar he said silver or gold have I none but such as I have I give unto you and he said rise up and take your mat and walk in the name of Jesus Christ and the Bible says that the man rose up and went walking and leaping and praising God well all of the people were astonished because this man was like 40 years old and everybody knew this was this was not somebody was faking it this was not some kind of magic or trickery this was a man everybody knew had been lame and now he's suddenly walking and leaping and praising God and people were astonished and people were listening to the teaching of Peter who was proclaiming the gospel in this opportune time the religious leaders were upset especially the Sadducees because Peter was talking about the resurrection and the Sadducees were a religious sect that did not believe in resurrection they did not believe in the resurrection of the dead that's why they were so sad you see I'm sorry I could not resist it and so the Sadducees the chief priests all the elders they are talking to one another about what are we going to do about this they arrested Peter and John and kept them overnight and they talked about what to do and in the morning they brought them before their counsel and they said to them by what power by what power or by what name did you do this they knew it was a real miracle they weren't suggesting that the healing was a hoax or that the people were being duped they were just questioning whether it was really from God and Peter the text says was filled with the Holy Spirit and explained to them that this miracle happened through the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth and he was bold enough to say the man that you crucified speaking to the religious leaders he just stood right there forthrightly spoke right to their face and said though you killed him Jesus is alive and he healed this man and then Peter added to that and this name Jesus is the name by which anyone who's going to be saved will be saved for there is no other name by which anyone is saved well the religious leaders are feeling trapped because this lame man is leaping and praising God people are astonished and they don't really have any crime that they can accuse Peter and John of and so they don't imprison them but they tell them that they need to be quiet and here's where we pick up reading Acts 4 at verse 18 so they called them and they charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus they just said you can't do this anymore but Peter and John answered them whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God you must judge for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard and when they had further threatened them the religious leaders threatened them they let them go finding no way to punish them because the people because the people for all were praising God for what had happened so Peter and John rush away from there and join their friends other early disciples of Jesus and they told him what the chief priests and elders had said and this is the context of what's happening in in chapter 4 at when we see this the first recorded prayer of the New Testament Church Acts 4 verse 23 when they were released they went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them and when they heard it they lifted their voices together to God and said sovereign Lord who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them who through the mouth of our father David your servant said by the Holy Spirit why did the Gentiles rage in the people's plot in vain the kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against his anointed they're they're hearkening back to a psalm of David that is speaking of this very moment for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus whom you anointed both Herod and Pontius Pilate along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place and now Lord look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness while you stretch out your hand to heal and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus and when they prayed the place in which they were gathered together was shaken and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness note it well the very first recorded prayer in the New Testament church was a prayer for boldness that's Alan Wright and we'll have more teaching in a moment from today's important series unlock the power of blessing your life discover God's grace-filled vision for your life by signing up for Alan Wright's free daily blessing if you want to fill your heart with grace and encouragement get Alan Wright's daily blessing it's free and just a click away at pastor alan.org would you love a better marriage you don't need more good advice you need more good news marriages like people aren't changed by human effort or even by applying principles marriages are changed by the gospel of grace in six video sessions pastor Alan and his wife and lead you and your spouse into a fresh encounter with the God of grace you'll learn a simple grace-filled process that makes great communication easy you'll discover the freedom of forgiveness and the power of celebration you'll also learn how to pray for your spouse and how to bless one another with a faith-filled vision for the future to help you grow when you order the video series we'll also send you two copies of the accompanying study guide whether your marriage is going through some special challenges or your marriage is in a season of health you'll find powerful transformational truth in good news for your marriage make your gift to Alan Wright Ministries today and fill your marriage with the grace of God the gospel is shared when you give to Alan Wright Ministries this broadcast is only possible because of listener financial support when you give today we will send you today's special offer we are happy to send this to you as our thanks from Alan Wright Ministries call us at 877-544-4860 that's 877-544-4860 or come to our website PastorAlan.org today's teaching now continues here once again is Alan Wright for so many of us when adversity comes the temptation is to pray the Lord would stop the adversity the allure of our hearts is to simply pray for protection or for the problem to go away and I wanna be clear we should do that I probably praise Psalm 91 almost every day over my family for protection and over our lives and during these days of pandemic I pray and claim the promises of God and his finished work in Jesus Christ and how his blood has been shed for us and when there's a mountain in front of you sometimes it is essential to speak to that mountain and to ask God to grant you grace to triumph in the midst of it but note this well that was not the instinct of these first Christians when they faced adversity and were told to be silence astonishingly what they asked God for was boldness you know it's odd I think I this might be true statement I don't exaggerate but I in 30 years of pastoral ministry of praying with people all the time I don't remember anybody ever asking me to please pray that God would give them more boldness in the face of persecution but that was the prayer of the early church the end instinct might be to want a more comfortable life but what we're gonna learn today is that what we need maybe more than anything and especially in these days is courage and boldness that comes from the Holy Spirit I just want to talk to you about really three things today what is boldness and why is it so important and how do we get it well let's start with this what boldness is and really maybe what it isn't boldness biblically is not folly I think it was Jeff Foxworthy who said you might be a redneck if the your last words are hey y'all watch this there are all kind of pictures on the internet of men who have not been supervised by women leave men alone on their construction projects and other thing and no tell it look a few of them just just for fun I don't think that this is boldness I think this is folly right a frame ladder on a sloped roof or what in the world are these two men doing they're both chopping down the same tree but one guy's chopping it down from below while the other guy's sawing up top not it's not smart and I think when this guy's wife said you know stroll the baby I don't think riding on the back of a moped is what that she had in mind this one here I don't know if kids this even real that there's a crane holding up a guy who's on her riding mower and that's his way of trimming the hedges surely surely is not who knows what is this cowboy doing right here how big of a cow is that in his car and what does he does the man does he not have a truck and listen folks this is not water skiing I don't this is not an all-terrain vehicle driving on the land pulling somebody on a piece of wood in a pond is not water skiing this is folly and and again the last one this is not boldness it's foolishness some some people they aren't stupid with ladders they just don't use a ladder at all I boldness is not folly and boldness is not self-serving fleshly anger you know I think probably that might be the way that I would have responded with the Pharisees and the Sadducees they say you can't talk you know if I get bold half the time it's like no I'm gonna tell me what to do I do what I wanted to you know kind of mumbling at people or maybe maybe you feel bold out in the in busy traffic when somebody gets you mad now you're bold you're gonna pull in front of people that that's not that's not the biblical notion of bold and just cause you got mad about something or because you didn't get your way or you feel entitled to something and you get upset about it and it makes you feel momentarily like I'm gonna I'm gonna do something that's not boldness either and boldness is not using a position of superiority to manipulate others that's what the religious leaders were doing they were we're the ones in power and so we're gonna tell you boldly you can't talk anymore Peter and John you see now the biblical view of boldness is deeper and richer than all of that here's my my my attempt at the definition of boldness biblically speaking love motivated Holy Spirit induced courage to speak and act as God leads it's motivated by love it is inspired induced of the Holy Spirit and it's about not what you want but about what God wants how he wants you to speak and act it is a bravery that is a profound assurance of God's grace and is moved by a great love for people and for God Alan Wright today's good news message the most powerful prayer that nobody prays it's from the teaching unlimited and we've got Pastor Alan back here in the studio with a parting good news thought for the day you want to hear it would you love a better marriage you don't need more good advice you need more good news marriages like people aren't changed by human effort or even by applying principles marriages are changed by the gospel of grace in six video sessions Pastor Alan and his wife and lead you and your spouse into a fresh encounter with the God of grace you'll learn a simple grace-filled process that makes great communication easy you'll discover the freedom of forgiveness and the power of celebration you'll also learn how to pray for your spouse and how to bless one another with a faith-filled vision for the future to help you grow when you order the video series we'll also send you two copies of the accompanying study guide whether your marriage is going through some special challenges or your marriage is in a season of health you'll find powerful transformational truth in good news for your marriage make your gift to Alan Wright Ministries today and fill your marriage with the grace of God call us at 877-544-4860 that's 877-544-4860 or come to our website pastor alan.org back now with Pastor Alan in the studio with our parting good news thought for the day and this is the most powerful prayer that nobody prays so is it your hope and desire pastor that we will start praying this prayer I think it would be a very good idea to do as the early church did and they prayed that God would give them boldness you know I love praying with people and and and people have made every almost every kind of prayer requests over the years I'm not totally sure anybody ever asked me to pray hey I've got a difficult situation pray that I'll have courage and boldness right we normally pray the Lord will make the situation go away or get easier and then that's fine to ask him of that but in the early church the Holy Spirit filled them with boldness confidence and and we need this Daniel we need the assurances of the Holy Spirit we need to be able to not just so that we speak up and we need to speak up but so that we don't become afraid that we don't become we don't we don't want to give up that so don't run away from courage invite it in prayer and God will fill you today's good news message is a listener supported production of Alan Wright Ministries