Genuine Reliance On Prayer | Weekend Sunday Service | Josiah Smith

A message by Pastor Josiah Smith on Acts 4:21-31

Compass Bible Church South Valley is located in Kuna, Idaho

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Transcript

Jesus’ Clear Marching Orders

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Jesus left some incredibly clear marching orders right before his ascension. The the way that we often summarize those marching orders are found in Matthew twenty-eight, eighteen through twenty, the Great Commission. Those are the final instructions that Jesus gives to his disciples, apostles, and by extension us this morning for what we as a church are supposed to be all about. I don't know how often you spend thinking about what churches are supposed to do, what churches are supposed to commit themselves to. Well, thankfully, we don't have to wonder. We don't have to get together and have brainstorming sessions. Jesus Himself tells us in Matthew 28, and again he reiterates it at the beginning of Acts, right before his ascension, we are to go and make disciples. And of course, in Matthew 28, 18 through 20, he says, Go and make disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that Christ has commanded. So for us as a church, Compass Bible Church South Valley, those are our marching orders. That's why we're here. If you're wondering why we exist as a church or why we spent all the time and effort and energy and resources to see another church planted right here in Cuna, it's it's that reason right there. Because we want to go into all the world and make disciples. And here at Compass, we we summarize the Great Commission in three words reaching, teaching, and training. We want to reach people with the gospel of Jesus Christ. We want to teach people all that Christ has commanded because that's what he instructed us to do. And we want to train them to serve Christ and to go and make disciples themselves. So here at Compass, what are we about? We're about making disciples. We're about reaching, teaching, and training. Now, our eight distinctives, if you look on the back of our bulletin, we have eight distinctives here at Compass. And those distinctives serve to define our specific cultural identity in our pursuit of fulfilling the Great Commission. So again, if you're wondering, what is Compass Bible Church South Valley all about? You will find, in some very clear terms, I hope, in those eight distinctives what we are all about. That's our way of trying to crystallize from our specific vantage point, our context here at Compass South Valley, how we are going to fulfill the Great Commission. We're going to do it by focusing on those eight distinctives. We're going to keep the Bible central. That's the heartbeat of everything we do. We're going to showcase expository preaching because the Bible is central. No one in this room cares about anything I have to say, but hopefully you care a lot about what God has to say in his word. We seek tirelessly to maintain a high view of God. God is holy, holy, holy. And we want to maintain a high view of God. He's not our buddy, he's not our the man upstairs, he's not our spiritual therapist, he's not our heavenly vending machine. God is the creator of heaven and earth. We just read that in Psalm 121. Where does your help come from? Your help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth. And so those eight distinctives, I just mentioned a few, but we work to proclaim a biblical gospel. We're always working to plant new churches. They're sort of meat to the bones of fulfilling the Great

Reaching Teaching Training Defined

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Commission in our specific context. And that's what we're about. We want to make disciples. We want to reach, teach, and train. Now, one distinctive that I want to specifically highlight this morning is our fifth distinctive. We have a genuine reliance on prayer. Since it is true that the orders that Jesus gave his disciples, and again, by extension to us, the marching orders for the church are to go into the world and make disciples. And because that's what we want to be all about, we also recognize that that task, that mission, humanly speaking, is impossible. You can't do it. I can't do it. I cannot, as much as I would love to, I cannot reach into the heart of any person and change it from dead to alive. I can't do that. I can't even see into the heart of a person to know their status before the Lord. There are things in scripture that would give me some idea of their standing before the Lord. But I can't see the heart of man. I can't reach the heart of man, and neither can you. And yet we're called to go into all the world and make disciples. And because we recognize that that task, humanly speaking, is impossible, we are committed here at Compass to having a genuine reliance on prayer. A genuine reliance. Not something that we just have on the back of the bulletin, not something that we just have on our website. We want prayer to really be the heartbeat, one of the heartbeats of how we are seeking to fulfill the Great Commission, how we are seeking to reach, teach, and train, how we are seeking to do everything that we are doing here at Compass. We want to have a genuine reliance on prayer. And here's what I'll say this morning. I hope that if you're a part of this church, I hope that you would say you're here because you recognize the calling on your life to make disciples. I hope that you're a part of this church, not just simply for the community that hopefully it provides, or the free coffee after service that we'll give you, or the fun events that we may have, or the community outreach that we'll do. No, I hope you would say, I'm a part of this church because I know that my Lord has said you need to go and make disciples. And when you go and make disciples, I hope that you realize as we do that together, as we seek to be equipped for the work of ministry together, I hope you realize that if you're not praying, you are doing something in your own strength. And that is doomed to fail. If we as a church, if we don't have a genuine reliance on prayer, we will significantly hinder our effectiveness as a church in fulfilling the great commission. I want you to understand that. If we are not genuinely reliant on prayer, we will hinder, humanly speaking, our effectiveness in fulfilling the Great Commission. Why? Because we cannot save. Salvation belongs to the Lord. Salvation is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes. And I would just put it this way: if you are not committed to prayer, if we as a church are not committed to prayer, what we are committed to is not effectively making disciples of Jesus Christ. I would put it that strongly. Prayer is essential. And you'll see that, by the way, in the book of Acts. When you see them proclaiming the word, proclaiming the gospel, proclaiming the kingdom of God, they are always praying. They are always going to the Lord and asking. They're always seeking help. They're always asking for boldness, always asking for courage because they recognize that if they were going to be effective ministers of the gospel, they couldn't do it by themselves in their own strength. They needed the Lord's help. The good news that we even just read in Psalm 121, where does our help come from? Our help comes from the Lord. And so we're commanded

Genuine Reliance On Prayer

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to go and to ask. So I would hope if you're a part of this church, that you would say, Yeah, I recognize that the calling on my life is to make disciples. That's not just something that I do as the pastor. That's not just something that our staff does here. That is a church-wide endeavor to make disciples. And we recognize as we pursue that, that we can't do it on our own. So we must have a genuine reliance on prayer. I want to show you in the book of Acts the early church and how they sought to fulfill the Great Commission and the role that prayer played in that pursuit. I want to show you again this reality that if we don't do this, if we don't have a genuine reliance on prayer, we will significantly hinder our effectiveness as a church in fulfilling the great commissions. Let's read it together. Let me look, let me read it for us. Acts 4, 23 through 31. Says this when they were released, they went to their friends and reported what the chief priest and elders had said to them. So this is talking about Peter and John. This is right after an incident where the high priests and the elders called them basically to kind of a council and were demanding that they stop talking about Christ. They're demanding that they stop talking about the word. Of course, Peter and John say, hey, you can go kick rocks. They didn't listen to that command. But nevertheless, that's what's going on. So it says, when they were released from custody of this council, they went to their friends, and the assumption here is either the apostles or a local gathering, more likely, and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them. They reported, hey, they told us we can't talk about the gospel. They told us that we can't go and make disciples. They told us we can't do that anymore. Look at the response here. This is amazing, verse 24. 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 and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against his anointed. 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 had prayed, the place in which they gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and continued to speak the word of God with boldness. Do you see what's happening here? There's a confrontation that Peter and John face. Really, the early church in Acts is facing hey, you cannot talk about Christ. You cannot proclaim the word. This is the command from the priest and the elders. But what is the response in the face of opposition? They don't pull up a whiteboard and start brainstorming next steps. They're not doing data spreadsheets, they're not doing risk analysis, they're not doing any of that. Their immediate response, do you see there in verse 24? When they heard it, they lifted their voices together and said. And in the face of opposition, their immediate response is to bring it to the Lord in prayer. Do you see that there? And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together and said, Sovereign Lord. They go on and they pray, they seek the Lord, they seek the one who can do something in the face of opposition. And I would say the same thing is true for you today. Even 2,000 years later, you recognize

Acts 4 Prayer Under Opposition

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that you are going to face opposition in your pursuit to making disciples. You're going to face opposition of all kinds from all different angles, of all kinds of sorts, in your pursuit of seeking to be obedient to the commands of Christ, to go and make disciples. And your response, much like the early church here in Acts 4, should be one of prayer. Point number one, pray in response to opposition to gospel ministry. Pray in response to opposition to gospel ministry. Now I want to I want to make this as practical as I possibly can. The opposition that they're facing here, Peter and John and the church and the other apostles, the opposition that they're facing here is external. In some sense, it's political. It's organized, there's a council, there's these different components that are very different from your experience here this morning. Now, by God's grace, we live in a country with religious freedom. And of course, there's always the possibility, there's always the chance in the future that someday that will be taken away. So someday there might be a reality or externally there will be some council that convenes against you and says, you may not speak about Christ. That could happen at some point in the future. But I can all but guarantee you this Monday morning, tomorrow morning, when you wake up, that's not going to be your reality. Your reality is not going to be a convened council of political leaders or those with renown and authority saying to you, putting their finger in their chest, making threats and saying, you cannot speak about Christ. That won't be your reality tomorrow morning. It could be at some point in the future. That's never outside of the realm of possibility. But tomorrow morning, let's put some feet to the ground on this. Tomorrow morning, when you wake up, what are the opponents that you were going to face? Because in Acts chapter 4, their opponents were external. Of course, they we recognize that Paul talks about they do not wrestle wrestle with flesh and blood, but against the powers, the principalities, right? But we recognize that their opponents, they took the form of the priest, they took the form of the elders. That's verse 23. They reported what the chief priest and the elders had said to them. So it was external, it was organized, it was a council. Now, what's your opposition going to be? Rather than external, more likely than not, tomorrow morning when you get out of bed, your opponents will be internal. Your opponents are going to be the things that you battle with in your own heart. So I want to give you four opponents. I just was thinking through these. I want to give you four opponents. Again, when you wake up tomorrow, and if you if you have, hopefully in your heart, a resolution to make disciples, you need to recognize that when you get out of bed tomorrow, you are going to face opponents. I want to give you four just to think about and to think through. Here's the first one. You will face the opponent of fear of man. When you get up tomorrow and you think to yourself, and hopefully you do, God has placed a calling on my life to make disciples, to reach, teach, and train, to go into all the world and make disciples. That's not just something that the apostles did. That's not just something the elders of churches do. That is something that we all are called to do. And tomorrow morning, if you think about that and you're praying about that, you need to recognize you will immediately face the opponent of fear of man. You're going to run against the brick wall of what will they say? What will they think? What's going to happen? What will I lose? What sort of social status or social situation will I put myself in? For the introverts in the room, you're going to think to yourself, I don't want to talk to anyone, much less about the gospel of Jesus Christ. That's a fear of man. That's an opponent that you will tomorrow morning, when you wake up, that's what you're going to face. I can't talk about the gospel. I can't tell someone that they're they're lost in their sin. I can't tell someone that they're dead and their trespasses and sins and that and they don't turn to Christ. They're on this path and this trajectory towards hell. I can't tell that to somebody. What will happen? And the fear and the anxiety and the uncertainty and even sometimes the excuses of I don't know what to say, or what if they ask me a question I don't know the answer to? Or whatever the case may be. That's a real opponent that you're gonna wake up tomorrow and you're

Four Inner Obstacles To Mission

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going to face fear of man. Now, if you flip to the next chapter in Acts chapter 5, they continue to face opposition, they continue even to face persecution, they get questioned again by the high priest. Acts 5 29, a famous verse in Acts. Perhaps you're familiar with it. But Peter and the apostles answered upon further inquisition, we must obey God rather than man. We must fear God rather than man. And they recognize that above anyone's perspective, anyone's opinion, or even anyone's opposition to them, their obedience, their final allegiance was to the Lord. So again, I just want to make this practical. Tomorrow, when you wake up, if you think about sharing the gospel with someone else, this is the opponent that you will face. And perhaps this is the opponent, the very opponent that keeps you from fulfilling the Great Commission, from doing what God has told you to do in His word, to go and make disciples. This is a very real thing. The fear of man. Here's another opponent that I think you'll face tomorrow morning: spiritual apathy or indifference. If we're being honest, we often don't have enough compassion for those who are lost. Jesus, when he's looking out onto the crowd, he is filled with compassion. He's filled with love because he looks and he recognizes they're like sheep without a shepherd. They're lost, they're wandering. And yet he was filled with great compassion. I think of even what Paul talks about in Romans 9, where he said, I wish that I myself were accursed for the sake of my kinsmen. He was filled with agony because he recognized that there were other Israelites that were not followers of Christ, that have rejected their Messiah. And he was painstakingly agonizing over that reality. He was filled with compassion. And so often, you and I, our hearts are cold to the plight of sinners on their way to destruction. And so spiritual apathy, indifference, and what that'll look like, to be honest, rather than a thought coming into your head of, oh, I need to share the gospel. Well, I don't care. I don't think that'll more often than not actually happen. I don't think that's what you'll actually think. I just think you won't think about it. I don't think it'll come to your mind at all. I think you'll wake up tomorrow morning and fear of man won't be there because obedience to Christ to make disciples won't be there. The thought of it, the prayer of it, the pursuit of it is going to be completely absent. And that's because of spiritual apathy and indifference. If we really understood the destination of where the people around us were going, if we really truly cared about their soul and where they're going to spend eternity, then that compassion, that love, here's how Paul puts it in 2 Corinthians 5.14 the love of Christ would compel us. It would compel us to plead with them to be reconciled to their savior. So this is an opponent that you're going to face tomorrow morning. You're going to face fear of man. I don't know. I don't want to say the wrong thing. I don't want to look a certain way. I don't want people to treat me a certain way or view me in a certain way, or spiritual apathy or indifference. We just don't think about it. It's not something we care about. It's not something that we work towards or strategize to accomplish. Spiritual apathy and indifference will keep you from fulfilling the Great Commission. Here's another opponent that you might face tomorrow morning: lack of missional clarity. Lack of missional clarity. Now, there's all kinds of opinions out there about what churches should be, what churches should do, how they should look. There's all kinds of opinions. You can go to 10 different churches and perhaps hear 10 different things about what we should be doing as a church. But what does Jesus say? Who cares what I say? What does Jesus say in Matthew 28, 18 through 20? He says, Go and make disciples. It's that simple. That's what he says. Baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them all that Christ has commanded. That is what we are to be doing as a church. And if we lack missional clarity of what we're here to do and why we're here to do it, we're going to wander aimlessly. If you don't have a target that you're aiming at, there's no progress, there's no goal, there's no pursuit, there's no aim that you can actually accomplish. You need to have fixed in your heart, if you're a part of Compass Bible Church South Valley, I want you to recognize we're here to make disciples. That's why we're here. I hope you have good community. I hope you grow in the Lord. I hope all of these things. There's so many things that I want to accomplish in and through this church. But if you're asking, what are we doing? What are we about? What are we trying to accomplish? We're trying to fulfill the Great Commission. That's what we're here to do. And if you don't have that missional clarity, you'll sort of wander aimlessly. We need to recognize what God has told us to do as a church. And we need to be willing to pursue it. Here's a fourth opponent that you'll face unbelief. Fear of man, spiritual apathy, lack of missional clarity, and unbelief. And what I mean by that, let's make this very practical. What I mean by that is there are people in your life that you have a hard time believing will actually get saved. There are people in your life. There are coworkers, there are family members, perhaps people that you run into at the supermarket. You think to yourself there's just no way. And that's something that I wrestle with. There's some people in my life that I have often wrestled with that reality. I think about their life. I think about all of the things that would have to happen for them to follow Christ. Because their life as it is right now would be completely blown up, which I think is a good thing. But I'm thinking about from their perspective, their whole life would be blown up if they submitted the knee to Christ. And in my heart, sometimes I go, is the gospel can they respond? Can they believe? And unbelief has in the past led me to not be obedient to share the gospel of Christ. Because I struggle. I recognize, I look at these people. You hopefully sympathize with this. You recognize this in your own heart. Your family member that's really frustrating. They're set in their ways. There's no more, there's no more stubborn than your stubborn family member, right? And you think to yourself, I've told them, we've talked about it, nothing's ever changing, nothing's gonna happen, and unbelief can take root in your heart. And as a result of that, your heart can grow cold and you can cease proclaiming the word of God to the people that need it the most. These are the opponents, these are just a few. I'm giving you four. But I want you to think about tomorrow morning. Again, the the likelihood of you being stood in front of a council tomorrow with a command coming down from on high that you can't talk about Christ is likely zero. But the likelihood that you wake up tomorrow and you have fear of man, you have spiritual apathy, you have unbelief in your heart, that's very high. And you need to recognize that the church here in Acts, in Acts chapter 4, when they were faced with opponents, their immediate response was to pray. So here's my encouragement to you that's just a list that I gave you fear of man, spiritual apathy, lack of missional clarity, unbelief. I want you to make your own list. What keeps you from actually fulfilling the Great Commission? Put it on a list and pray through it. And fear of man is something that keeps you. I'm afraid. I have anxiety. Put it on a list and say, Lord, I'm afraid. Would you help me? Would you give me the courage? Put unbelief on the list if that's you and say, Lord, when I think about this person, when I think about this situation that they're in, this lifestyle that they've given themselves to, I I have a hard time believing that they'll ever respond to the gospel. Would you help my unbelief? Would you help me? Would you grow me in that? Turn your opponents into a prayer list that you consistently bring before the Lord. That's the response that we see here. When they heard it, they lifted their voice together to God. That was their response. Again, tomorrow when you wake up and you think about the Great Commission, and I hope that you do, you need to recognize that those opponents inside your own heart and your own mind, put them on a prayer list and bring them to the Lord. That's a way that you can see progress in that and watch as the Lord answers those prayers and gives you the strength to overcome those opponents.

Confidence Rooted In Sovereignty

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Let's keep going in verse 24. When they heard it, they lifted their voice together to God and said, Now I want you to notice what they pray. Because I'll tell you what, we don't pray like this today. Look at verse 24 Sovereign Lord, the first words that they pray, 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 and 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. And this sounds familiar. This is a quotation from Psalm 2. It goes on in verse 27. For truly in this city they were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place. How did the early church pray? When they responded to opposition with prayer, what are they praying? What are they acknowledging in their prayer? The very first thing that they acknowledge is the sovereignty of God. Do you see that there in the text? Sovereign Lord, verse 24, who made the heaven and the earth. Even it's reiterated in different language in verse 28, to do whatever your hand, sovereign Lord, and your plan, sovereign Lord, had predestined to take place. Their prayer is filled with an acknowledgement of God's sovereignty. That's their prayer, that's their cry. And they're clinging to the sovereignty of God in the midst of their opposition to keep moving forward and to fulfill the great commission that God had commanded them to fulfill. And we should have a similar response today. Point number two, pray for confidence that's rooted in God's sovereignty. Pray for our confidence to keep moving forward, to make disciples, to reach, teach, and train that's rooted in God's sovereignty. And here's what I would say: your willingness to step out in faith, your willingness to have that conversation, your willingness to share the gospel, even with a stranger, your willingness to step out in faith and prayerfully engage in the work of making disciples will be directly correlated to your belief in the sovereignty of God. It will be directly correlated. That's what we see here. Their prayer for boldness, their prayer for courage is correlated to their belief, their firm belief in the sovereignty of God, sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them. God is the creator of all things, he reigns over all things, and it's that reality that undergirds their pursuits to keep moving forward, to share and proclaim the word. It's precisely because God is sovereign that you can be confident as you share the message of Christ. It's because God is sovereign that in those situations where you think to yourself, there's no way, it's because God is sovereign that you continue to faithfully share. Because no matter the circumstance, no matter the belief system, no matter how stubborn, no matter how dark the situation may be, God's sovereignty can topple it all. The gospel is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes. And the sovereignty of God gives you the confidence and the courage to go into that situation and to say, even if I feel like I'm not making any progress, even if I feel like I'm throwing things into the wind, God is sovereign and God can overcome any obstacle, earth, any earthly obstacle that is thrown his way. And so I'm going to keep moving forward. It's because God is sovereign that you can be confident in sharing the message of Christ. Now, here's the first uh the unfortunate thing with the church today. Well, I won't ask you to raise your hands, but how many of you have been in a small group before where the sovereignty of God was cause for conflict? Where we're we're arguing about what does it mean and how does it work and who gets saved how and when do they get saved? And it was it our choice, was it God's choice? You know what I'm saying. There's few conversations, theologically speaking, that get people red in the face more than the sovereignty of God. And I think that's unfortunate because for the early church, do you see this in Acts 4? For the early church, the sovereignty of God was not a point of conflict, it was a point of encouragement, it was a point of confidence. It was one of the things that undergirded their willingness to go and make disciples. It wasn't something that they sat in circles and yelled at each other about, it was something that they clung to in the midst of opposition because they wanted to keep moving forward. Again, look at it with me, 20 verse 24. 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. And he quotes Psalm 2. He talks about, they reiterate it briefly, what happens to Jesus. He's crucified and on trial by Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, to do whatever your hand and whatever your plan had predestined to take place. They're praying and they're clinging to the sovereignty of God. It's a comfort to them. It's not a point of conflict. And you need to recognize that the sovereignty of God will give you confidence in your evangelism. Because again, it's not up to you. It's not about how effective you are, it's not about how eloquent you are. I think of always think of the words of Paul in 1 Corinthians chapter 3. I did not come to you with lofty speech or wisdom, with words of eloquence. I came with fear and much trembling, Paul says, so that your faith may not rest on the wisdom of men, but in the power of God, is what Paul says. That's what we're talking about. The sovereignty of God. It's because God is sovereign that you can have great confidence in your pursuit of making disciples. Don't make the mistake of turning something that is meant to be for your good, for your encouragement, for your confidence into a theological

Boldness To Speak God’s Word

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debate. This is what undergirded the early church. When they heard it, they cried out immediately in prayer, Sovereign Lord, you're in control, Lord. Help us to keep moving forward. Let's continue reading in verse 29. It says, And now, Lord, look upon their threats. The high priest and the elders, this council that's convened, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hands to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus. And when they had 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 all boldness. The early church, as they were seeking to make disciples, they were seeking to fulfill the Great Commission, being God's witnesses to Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. Their response, of course, was one of prayer. They're praying and clinging and getting confidence in the sovereignty of God. And the request specifically in this passage is one of boldness. God give us boldness, grant us boldness. You see that verse 29? And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness. That's a prayer that we ought to pray. Point number three, pray for the boldness to speak the word of God. What's fascinating to me about this prayer is that they aren't praying for a removal of the opposition. Did you see that? Or did you not see that? They didn't pray for God to topple this council, they prayed for boldness in the midst of the opposition. That's their prayer. And anytime you see the church in Acts asking for boldness, I would encourage you this week, just do a word search of the word bold in Acts. And you're gonna see in every single instance, the boldness that's being requested is always connected to sharing the word, sharing about the kingdom of God, sharing about the gospel of the kingdom of God. That's what they're asking for boldness to do. Give us boldness to share the word, to talk about the kingdom, to talk about the gospel of the kingdom. That was their consistent refrain. Lord, would you help us? Would you grant to us sovereign Lord, the one who made all things, the one who made heaven and earth and the sea and everything in them, the recognition of God's sovereignty. If you created all of these things, you can certainly grant us boldness in the midst of this opposition. And that's a prayer that we ought to pray. Again, it's unlikely that tomorrow you'll wake up with a council convened against you. But it is likely that you will wake up and be troubled by opponents, fear of man, apathy, indifference, all of those different opponents and more. And so you should have on your prayer list, God, give me boldness. Give me just a confidence in your sovereignty, give me a confidence in your word. Help me to remember that it's not about me, it's not even about my presentation. The gospel is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes. And all along the way, as a church, as we band together to see those who are lost, ransomed by the blood of Christ through the proclamation of the gospel. Our commitment here at Compass is to have a genuine reliance on prayer. Because we recognize that from an earthly perspective, we cannot do it. It's impossible. And so we go to the Lord and we ask in faith, in prayer, would you give us the boldness that we need to see people one to Christ?

Prayer Nights And Closing Prayer

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And that's why, just as a practical step in that direction, we have monthly prayer nights that we just started back in June, not still in June, but a couple weeks ago. Back in a couple weeks ago. And we have another one coming up in July. I would love for you to be there. I would love for you to see prayer as a vital part of what this church is all about. Because that was a vital part of what the early church was all about. If you look at their ministry, if you look at the book of Acts and what they're doing, what they're committing themselves to, prayer is always central. They face opposition, they pray. 3,000 are added to them that day, they pray. With success, they pray. With failure, they pray. Discouragement, they pray. Encouragement, they pray. That's what they did. They prayed and they prayed and then they prayed again. And that's what we need to be about as a church. We need to go to the Lord. We need to ask in the name of the Father, that in the name of the Son, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. Let me pray for us. God, thank you for your word. Would you help us to be prayerfully dependent on you, to have a genuine reliance on prayer? Would you help us, God, to actually fulfill the Great Commission, to see those who are lost in their sin? God, fill our hearts with compassion and love. May the love of Christ compel us. Would we pray for boldness? Would we recognize your sovereignty? Would that give us great stability, great encouragement just to keep moving forward no matter what comes, to keep being faithful? Help us with that, I pray, in Jesus' name. Amen.