Bible Text: Acts 4:13-31 | Preacher: Pastor Steve | Series: Abiding in the Holy Spirit
Life can be Challenging
The response of the Church in Acts was to PRAY and then they were AGAIN filled with the POWER of the Holy Spirit
…they were all filled with the Holy Spirit
…they preached the word of God with boldness
We need Spiritual Refueling
Acts 4:13-14 The members of the council were amazed when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, for they could see that they were ordinary men with no special training in the Scriptures. They also recognized them as men who had been with Jesus. But since they could see the man who had been healed standing right there among them, there was nothing the council could say.
Society may REJECT us BUT Jesus ACCEPTS us and gives us an AMAZING POWER resource as we ABIDE in the HOLY SPIRIT!
Acts 4:16-19 …What should we do with these men? …We can’t deny that they have performed a miraculous sign, and everybody in Jerusalem knows about it. But to keep them from spreading their propaganda any further, we must warn them not to speak to anyone in Jesus’ name again. So they called the apostles back in and commanded them never again to speak or teach in the name of Jesus.
He is asking us to TRUST IN HIM!
…working out in us a new way of living
It may be that the REAL issue is NOT what we think.
It may be that we are not CLOSELY CONNECTED to the Lord, TRUSTING Him, ABIDING IN HIM!
We cannot put the enemy under our feet if we stay where we have always been!
We need to MOVE!
Romans 16:20 …the God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.
We need to love God’s truth (Word) in order to pray about the core issues of life.
A passionate-hearted, committed believer in Jesus will pray BOLDLY and will not be held down by the status quo or an unhealthy worldview. 
Acts 4:19-22… But Peter and John replied, do you think God wants us to obey you rather than him? We cannot stop telling about everything we have seen and heard. The council then threatened them further, but they finally let them go because they didn’t know how to punish them without starting a riot. For everyone was praising God for this miraculous sign—the healing of a man who had been lame for more than forty years.
Acts 4: 23-28 As soon as they were freed, Peter and John returned to the other believers and told them what the leading priests and elders had said. When they heard the report, all the believers lifted their voices together in prayer to God
Acts 4:24-28 You made heaven, earth, the sea and everything in them.  By the Ruach HaKodesh, through the mouth of our father David, your servant, you said, why did the nations rage and the peoples devise useless plans?  The kings of the earth took their stand; and the rulers assembled together against Adonai and against his Messiah. This has come true in this city, since Herod and Pontius Pilate, with Goyim and the peoples of Isra’el, all assembled against your holy servant Yeshua, whom you made Messiah, to do what your power and plan had already determined beforehand should happen.
What was their prayer focus?
God is our Creatorwho created humankind and who made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and everything in them.
God is our Purposebecause the Lord tells us what our purpose was and is and will be.
God is our Lordand He is in control according to His Will and not ours.
Why this prayer?
The disciples of Jesus had participated in DOING ministry
They had been OBEDIENT TO GO into ministry
Prayer for healing was the cultural norm of ministry
Acts 4:31…After this prayer, the meeting place shook, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. Then they preached the word of God with boldness.
God’s blessing will come again and again.  It is not a once in a lifetime experience but it becomes a way of living, ABIDING IN the Lord every day
The church needs an INFUSION of Holy Spirit POWER
One of the important battles the church faces today is its lack of confidence in its mission, purpose and Creator.
The call of the Lord is to be INFUSED with HIS freshness and fullness of His Spirit and ask the Lord for His Grace, Love, Mercy, Wisdom, Discipline, Patience, Peace, Joy, Goodness, Kindness, Gentleness, Faithfulness and Power!