How to Pray When Truth Makes You a Target

In this episode, we walk through the powerful and sobering story of Stephen in Acts 6–7—the first martyr of the New Testament. Full of faith, wisdom, and the Holy Ghost, Stephen boldly stood on truth even when it cost him everything.

Instead of defending himself before the Sanhedrin, he delivered one of the longest speeches in Scripture, exposing a pattern: God sends truth, and people reject it. His message didn’t just confront their actions—it challenged their beliefs. And they couldn’t handle it.

As they dragged him out and stoned him, Stephen responded in a way that defines true Christianity: he prayed.

“Lord Jesus, receive my spirit… Lord, lay not this sin to their charge.”

Even in death, he reflected Jesus—speaking truth in love and extending forgiveness to those killing him.

This episode reminds us that following Christ isn’t about comfort—it’s about conviction. In a world that resists truth, believers must stand firm, speak boldly, and still love deeply.

Because real faith doesn’t just declare truth…

It demonstrates it.

Follow us on Facebook or Instagram or enjoy our blogs and even more episodes at www.presstopray.com!

Transcript

Press means to apply force. When God said press, prayer reaches every single situation. He gave
us permission to apply force to every situation that we will go through.
And in this podcast, we are going to learn to apply force to what's applying pressure to us.
Greetings, everybody. Welcome to the Press Movement Podcast.
Thank you for signing in with us today. Prayerfully, you've been blessed as we have continued
going through every prayer in the Bible and now we are in the book of Acts showing the church
how it should act. And here today to help us navigate this next prayer is a veteran of the Press
Movement in Sister Alicia Owens.
Hi, everyone. Hello. We're going to hand this over to her to take it from there.
Okay, so today we are going to be talking about the prayer that Stephen prayed in Acts 7 at the
end of the chapter. To set things up, we're going to start in Acts 6. And so the first picture, it
says, you know, and in those days when the number of disciples was multiplied, there arose a
murmuring of Grecians against the Hebrews because their widows were neglected in the daily
ministration. So in this time, we have the Hebraic Jews and their widows are being neglected in
the church dealings and they're not being taken care of.
There arose this concern that their widows were not being taken care of and that they were
being neglected. And so what transpired during this time or over the next couple of verses
were they appointed what we would call in this day and time deacons. And there were seven of
them chosen, the first of which was named Stephen.
And so during this time, Stephen's ministry pretty much takes off. He becomes known to be full
of grace and full of power. He preaches boldly about the name of Jesus.
And it incites some debates amongst those who attended the church in that time. And, you
know, because they looked at him as someone who was basically blaspheming against what
they knew to be true or what they believed to be true. And whenever someone comes out and
speaks something different from what you know to be true, it's always going to incite
something different.
So he was accused of blaspheming God. He was accused of speaking against the temple. He
was accused of blaspheming Moses.
And he was accused of saying that Jesus would destroy the temple. And so they took him before
the Sanhedrin court at this time. And that is where the beginning of chapter seven kind of picks
up.
And they're asking him in verse one, it says, then said the high priest, are these things so? And
from verse two to verse fifty three, it is what is known as the longest speech in the New
Testament given by Stephen. In this moment, they are giving him this moment to kind of
defend himself and kind of say what he that he didn't do that. And, you know, that there was a
misunderstanding.
And instead of doing that, he evolves into this 52 verse long speech that is not defending
anything, but rather speaking further against the setup of the church, the things that they have
been doing, the things that they believe. And he begins to go over the history of each of Israel.
And so he's talking to them about basically what Moses went through leading up to getting to
Egypt, how God spoke to him at the burning bush and how he was given direction to free the
people of Israel from the bonds of Pharaoh and how he returns to Egypt, how he led Israel out
and how they rejected his leadership and made the golden calf idol.
And so he rounds the speech out and he starts, I believe it is in verse 51, he says, Ye stiff-necked
and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye always resist the Holy Ghost as your fathers did, so do
ye. So while he is going through this entire speech and going through the history of Israel and
all of that stuff, he is pointing out not just how they are rejecting what he has to say, but how
they've rejected pretty much anyone that God has put in front of them to deliver the word. And
so it is not just, you're not just rejecting me, but you all have a history of rejecting the ones who
God has put in front of you to speak.
And in that moment, he's not just coming for what they're doing, he's coming for what their
fathers did. And he's not just coming for the fact that they are rejecting the Holy Ghost and how
they're rejecting Christ. They crucified the Messiah.
But he starts to also come for what they believe in that how he speaks earlier in the chapter
about how God is not confined to the temple and how he can be accessed outside of the
temple. And you came for one of their foundational beliefs that you reach God by going to the
temple. And so he comes for their entire belief system.
He comes for them just basically saying how they rejected God and how they're continuing to
reject those sent by God. And it ends with him being stoned because they listen to him go on
for like 52 verses. Man, I think by the end they were just sick of it.
So they cried out and they started screaming, covering their ears, and they started stoning him.
And biting him. And biting him.
Which is so weird. Which is gross. There's so much to this story.
Yeah. They couldn't take it anymore. And they dragged him out of the city and proceeded to kill
this man.
I don't understand why teeth had to be involved at all. I've just never been that mad. So
confused.
I've never been so mad at someone that I felt the need to bite him. No. But I do think, I think
this verse, this story opens up a very real conversation of how people in general do not like to
be told about themselves.
It is the way that they went about it was very over the top. But I think since the dawn of time, no
one has ever really liked to hear anything bad about themselves. As long as you are singing
their praises, throwing them a parade, they're fine.
But the moment you shine a light on something that maybe they didn't want a light shined on,
or the moment you start speaking about something that they didn't want discussed, it becomes
problematic. The way that they acted was very crazy and outlandish. But it's not outside of the
norm for people to be agitated and upset when you start talking to them about them.
Or anything they don't like. Like today, I would say homosexuality. If you say that is wrong, oh,
you might as well prepare to get lynched.
Because people don't want you to say, I love you and I'm not saying this because I hate you. I'm
saying this because I don't want you to go to hell. Right.
Oh, what? You're not using, the church has to be wise. We have to show love. Now, mind you,
the Bible does say Stephen was full of wisdom.
Yeah. Full of the Holy Ghost. So it wasn't unwise that he told them the truth.
Right. But when they confronted him, I love gangsters for Jesus. Not just gangsters in general,
but gangsters for Jesus.
People who stand up for what they believe. And actually, I tend to respect all people who stand
up for what they believe, actually. Yeah.
But I love the ones who do it for Jesus, especially. And he was in this place, disputing in the
synagogue. So he's on their turf.
Right. And they want to start this conversation knowing that he has demonstrated faith, power,
miracles, signs, wonders. And just because he's getting ganged up on, does not mean
Stephen's about to back down.
Does not mean he's going to sit down, yeah. He's not going to back down from you. Like you
said, he went from the prophet to now.
Basically saying, you're messed up. Your daddy's messed up. Your granddaddy was messed up.
Y'all are all messed up and you're still messing up now. He said, I fully acknowledge that y'all
are probably going to kill me after this. And I'm going to say it anyway.
Y'all are all messed up. In the moment, I think I read this several times and I thought it's so
funny that in a moment where it was almost like you have this last chance to back down and
say, I didn't mean that. He stood on business and he said what he said.
And he didn't back down from what he said. He actually kind of made it worse. And like I said
before, he didn't just come for what their fathers did or what they were doing.
He came for what they believed and he made it clear to them, what you believe is indeed
incorrect now. And it's just the cause of Christ. It has to be worth it to you.
And I thought it's just, but that's why I said it made me very, it kind of made me chuckle
because I was like, people have never liked to hear anything about themselves. Even when it's
someone that's close to you, you still don't want people shining a light on who you are, what it
is, your imperfections and things that you need to fix. It takes a very mature ear and a mature
heart to say, I hear what you're saying and I'll do what I can.
And I'll make every effort to fix it. Or it takes a very mature head to receive that. It almost made
me think what would have happened if even one of them was like, well, maybe he is telling the
truth and maybe we should sit and listen rather than automatically assuming that what we've
always believed is correct.
No, I agree with you. And I also think it takes a mature saint to say, I'm going to tell the truth,
whether you like it or not, because truth is what I speak. Right.
And I, by mature saint, include the fact that they couldn't find anything wrong with this man.
You just hated his message. Right.
He was full of faith, full of the Holy Ghost. He lived so well. I don't think I'm allowed to get to
this part without jumping in, but the Bible lets you know that they had to find some people to
lie on him and make false accusations so that they could go ahead and kill him.
Like he literally was so good that he didn't do anything wrong. Yeah. And so it's in chapter six,
verse 11, they've suborned men, which said, we have heard him speak blasphemous words
against Moses, sinning against God.
So they tried to lie on him and say, no, he's really acting like he's all religious and his religion is
fake. And is that not the same arguments today that they want to try to come for what you
believe and make it sound like you're just a hypocrite? And I am fully aware for every listener
out there. I've been raised in church.
I am fully aware. There are a ton of hypocrites all around us, but my answer and solution to that
has always been, I won't be one of them. So that's what that is.
I'm just not going to join them. And so if only in my life, I can prove I'm not one, then so let it
be. But I know I'm not the only one, but I've always wanted to live the kind of life.
And Stephen did set this goal for me that they'd have to lie to get me. And some of them tried
it. So there's that.
I definitely have been there. So yeah. But looking at this, like I said, Stephen is literally my
favorite person in the Bible, outside of Jesus and maybe Nehemiah.
They are on a neck and neck. But I love Stephen for the very reasons you pointed out. He's
standing on business, as they say.
He's 10 toes behind this thing. He is not moving, even in the face of death. And I think what you
see in his message, and this is the part that I hope we as church people learn too, that the
message is still loving, even though they don't feel loved by it.
Because you get to see in his response, as they are stoning him and gnashing him with teeth
and all that. And I'll let you take it from there. But you get to see in his response, he loved them.
He was not wishing ill upon them by telling them the truth. And I think you start to see that as
we get to his prayer. So I'll turn that back over to you for you to get to that.
And when they heard these things, they were cut to the heart and they gnashed on him with
their teeth. That is 54. 55 is, but he being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up steadfastly into
heaven, saw the glory of God and Jesus standing on the right hand of God.
And he said, behold, I see the heavens opened and the son of man standing on the right hand
of God. Then they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and ran upon him with one
accord and cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their clothes at
the young man's feet, whose name was Saul.
And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And he
knelt down and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he said
this, he fell asleep.
I think it's so funny how or how so cool how you mentioned that outside of Stephen, one of
your favorite people in the Bible is Jesus because their deaths are so similar. But one of the last
things that Jesus said in his death was lay not this into their charge. And one of the last things
that Stephen said was, you know, asking God to forgive them, to forgive the people who are
killing him.
And they have no just reason to. Again, in the same way, when it came to Jesus dying, he asked
God, you know, lay not this into their charge. They don't know what it is that they're doing.
And so I just thought that was so cool how, you know, until the very end, he was like Jesus.
Yeah, it was love, though. Yeah.
Again, it reiterates he loved the people, even though he was telling them a truth they didn't
want to hear. Yeah. He loved them for his own premeditated murder, which is crazy.
Yeah. Who says they're about to kill me, so I want you to forgive them in advance. And it is true
that scripturally, you don't really see anywhere else where Jesus is standing like that.
Yeah. In heaven. That scripture says a lot to me about the posture Jesus was willing to take on
this whole death.
This is the first martyrdom of the New Testament, meaning the first one to die for Jesus' name
outside of Jesus Christ himself. And you don't see Jesus take that sitting down, literally. And so
it's kind of cool to see Stephen almost make an intercession, we would call this, jumping in the
middle saying, no, no, no, no.
Right. Hold on. Don't lay this one to the charge.
Don't even move. Like, I see you standing. He saw him getting up.
He saw him getting up. But he's like, no, don't even count it. So cool, because like you said,
usually he's depicted as seated on the right hand of God.
He was standing, like he was ready to jump in and save him, which I love that. I just thought
that was so cool. It just kind of makes me feel like, man, like I, it made me think, I wonder how
many times I've made God, you know, want to get up and fight for me.
I love that. And I thought the depiction was so, for lack of a better word, it was sweet. It was,
you know, endearing because it was like, in this moment, you see how much Stephen loves
Jesus, but you see how much Jesus loves him back because he was ready to get in there and
fight on his behalf.
But he, like you said, he made intercession for them and he told him, you know, don't even
charge this to them and let it happen knowing he was about to die. So if you had any final
words, any last encouraging words based on this story, what would you share? I think in terms
of last words, I would say in 2026, we live in a day where people are more volatile than this. And
I think that as believers, we need to be prepared to stand on what we believe and, you know,
say what we mean, mean what we say, but we also have to back it up with how we live.
One of the biggest things in this chapter was that he told the truth in love. And as believers, we
oftentimes have a habit of telling the truth in hate, like you jacked up and it's just harsh, but
there's no love behind it. I think when there's love behind it, you watch your tone.
You watch how you say it because you're not aiming to hurt them. I believe that, you know, I
can't place where the scripture is, but it says, you know, the Bible says he that wins souls is
wise. The way to win souls to the kingdom is by telling them the truth and giving them the
gospel of Jesus Christ and telling them how Jesus can help them in love.
I think that that is one of the most important things that we need to learn. People are not going
to see Jesus through you by you arguing with them on Facebook. It is how you love them into
truth the same way that he loved you into truth.
He didn't beat up on us. We didn't become saved because he slapped us around. He loved us
into truth.
I think that that would be my last word. As a believer, we need to be prepared to stand on truth,
but we need to be prepared to love them in truth and not be so quick to, in harshness or, you
know, in a way to hurt them, point out where they're wrong, but be prepared to love them until
they love them even if they don't see, even if they, you know, still believe that you're wrong. If
they believe that there's no God and if they don't listen to a word you say, still love them
regardless.
Paul would later write to the church of Galatia, am I therefore become your enemy because I
tell you the truth? Like you said, I believe we have to be willing to tell the truth in love, but
sometimes the truth is going to hurt and we're going to have to know we love them when we
said it. Right. And we conveyed the message as lovingly as we could.
But it is time. I agree for the church to totally stand on business. Christianity is still the most
persecuted religion in the world.
And last year it grew in that. And because the United States has a measure of calm, we don't
pay attention to that. But I pray that our calm not lull us into thinking we're safe.
Right. But help us stand and fight for our brothers and sisters, but also brace ourselves for
what's coming to us. Right.
Because there is a truth we'll have to tell and the truth we'll have to stand on. And that means
we have to believe it. And we're even going to have to be required to pray for those who would
try to harm us.
But as Stephen showed us, prayer reaches every single situation. Have a great rest of your day.
Bye.
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Visit us at PressToPray.com or find us on Instagram or Facebook. Did you know that when you
are quiet, your voice is missing to God's ears? I know some of us have prayed and were
wondering how long should I pray about this? Why should I pray if God already knows? How
will I know God is answering? And what do I do when I feel like God's not listening? But God is
listening for your voice. It's too quiet in this world for the troubles we have.
You have to raise your voice and God wants to hear from you. It's Too Quiet, a book about
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