“When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God. “Sovereign Lord,” they said, “you made the heavens and the earth and the sea, and everything in them.” Acts 4:24

Last week we began looking at seven marks of a praying church that we find in Acts 4. The first one was that in a praying church people recognize the supreme importance of prayer, and therefore there is a spontaneous desire.

Secondly we see in verse 24 (above) that in a church devoted to prayer, our eyes are turned to the Lord in faith and expectancy. When Peter and John were released from prison and had been told by the chief priests not to preach anymore, all the believers turned their eyes away from man and from their problems, to the Lord who could solve every problem, and who is in control of every situation.  This was the same attitude the Psalmist had when he said,  Yes, my soul, find rest in 

God; my hope comes from him (Ps. 62:5). We need to remember that no matter what problem faces us, it is God who matters, not the meetings, the preacher, man or money. These should always be secondary. The eyes of a praying church are upon God who is:

1. The sovereign Lord (verses 24,28). God is the all-powerful creator and sustainer, the One who knows the end from the beginning and who has His great plan of action which no-one can hinder.

2. The self-revealing Lord. Verse 25 tells us that God has spoken, and verses 26-27 tell us that He has spoken not only through the prophets and in His word, but primarily in His Son (Hebrews 1:1).

3. The all-seeing Lord (verse 29). God sees everything and waits to intervene and accomplish His will in answer to the prayers of His people.

            Thirdly, in a praying church there is an overwhelming desire to obey the Lord’s commission to evangelize the world. That is His heart.  That should be our heart.  Notice how they prayed in verse 29! They didn’t pray, ‘Please Lord, keep us safe.’ Or, Please protect Peter and John.’ Or, ‘Lord, please don’t let it happen again!’ Rather, they prayed, Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. ‘Lord, help us to get on with the job of proclaiming the gospel!’ 

In a praying church this will be the overwhelming desire of the members. Let us pray that God would put this desire into our hearts, that a continual effort will be made, not to organize, but to evangelize. We need to pray, then act upon those prayers, that we would grow through conversion growth – people coming to know the Lord!