Praying and Sharing

Acts 4:23–37
» View this passage in NIV (Bible Gateway)

After being threatened, Peter and John returned to the other believers to report what had happened (v. 23). Then they all lifted their voice to God. This is one of the great prayers recorded in the Bible, a good example for us to follow. Their prayer was based on Psalm 2:25-26. Through His Word, God speaks to us, telling us what He wants us to do. True prayeris not telling God what to do but asking Him to do His will in and through us (I John 5:14-15). They didn’t ask for a change in circumstances, but instead asked God to empower them so that they might make the best use of the circumstances as they strived to accomplish God’s predetermined will (Acts 4:28). As their prayer meeting ended, the place in which they were gathered started to shake. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the Word with boldness (v. 31). If more Christians were sharing their faith daily, there would be more urgency for daily prayer.

Some point to these next verses as the origin of communism. I disagree. The giving in the early church was purely voluntary (v. 5:4) and was motivated by love (vv. 32-37). Their unity and generosity attracted others to them. They had an intense sense of responsibility for each other. We shouldn’t get the idea that every believer sold all his goods and brought the money to the apostles. It indicates that some of the members “from time to time” sold various pieces of property and voluntarily gave it to the apostles to be distributed to those in need (v. 34). The distribution was not made equally, but accord­ing to need. The state was not coercing them into giving. They did it out of a heart of love (v. 32). This is Christian charity at its finest. 

While the early Church’s spirit of sacrifice and loving generosity is something for us to seriously consider, it is not something we are required to imitate today. The principles of Christian giving are outlined for us in the epistles (II Cor. 8-9). Nowhere are we instructed to bring our money and lay it at the feet of the leaders of the Church as though they were apostles (v. 35). It is the spirit of their giving that is important to us today and not so much the methods they used.

Application

It has been said that “Nothing lies beyond the reach of prayer except that which lies outside the will of God.” Is there anything in my life that is holding me back from being bolder in my witness for Him?  If so, I need to turn it over to Him today.