Study in Prayer

February 6                                              

Scripture of the Day:   

Acts 4:23

“On their release, Peter and John went back to their own people and reported all that the chief priests and the elders had said to them.”

When Believers Pray

In Acts chapter 4, we read an account of a company of believers in the Early Church who lifted their voices in united prayer and received an immediate sign their prayers were answered.

Peter and John had healed the cripple man at the gate of the Temple called “Beautiful.” This offended the hierarchy at the Temple and they had Peter and John arrested.

When they were questioned by the Pharisees, and it was determined that nothing could be done against them because the miraculous healing was now public knowledge, they threatened Peter and John and to never teach anymore in the Name of Jesus.

In verse 19 and 20, Peter replied, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge yourselves. As for us, we cannot but speak about the things we have seen and things we have heard.” AMEN!

After they were threatened again, they were released and our scripture today says, they immediately went back to their own company and told them what happened.

It is good to be with friends and like minded believers when you are in trouble and having a hard go of it. It is also good to be around those of like precious faith in troubling times, too. Amen!

If this would happen today (and it is, believe me, it is AND it will become more prevalent in today’s society as well with this cancel culture now running the government)… if Paul and Silas would go running back to most church pastors today, things would be different from the Church in the Book of Acts.

Most churches would form a special committee and research whether Peter and John had, indeed, broken some local ordinance. They may even try to make an appointment with the local officials to work out some kind of arrangement where they could pray for sick folks inside the church and not out in public or some other such thing.

These Pharisees were religious. They just did not accept that Jesus was the Messiah.  These leaders believed in the same God. They believed in the Power of Prayer. They believed God could heal someone miraculously. They just did not believe Jesus was the Messiah. Amen!

The believers in that home church did not pray for the destruction of the Temple or for something bad to happen to the leadership. No. Not at all. They prayed that God would give THEM BOLDNESS! 

Boldness to continue preaching in the Name of Jesus! Amen!

Then, look at what happened. I’ll just mention it here and we will look closer at it tomorrow…

Verse 31: “And when they had prayed… the place was shaken where they were assembled together and they were filled with the Holy Ghost and spoke the Word of God with BOLDNESS.”

Amen!  

Two things I want to point out here and then we will close…

Just like with Paul and Silas – this place was SHAKEN. Amen! No other reports of buildings damaged or any major earthquakes, etc. JUST WHERE THEY WERE PRAYING. Amen!

AND – their prayers were answered!  The Holy Spirit imparted to them BOLDNESS to keep on preaching! Amen! Glory to God!

We need to pray like that too. We need BOLD preachers today! We need BOLD BELIEVER’s today! Amen!

Let’s pray for BOLDNESS to be imparted to us by the Holy Spirit.

Please subscribe to this podcast, leave us a quick 5 star review on Apple Podcasts to help us grow and be sure to visit our website for more information on our ministry: https://podcastersforchrist.com. And while you are at the website, download the free resource I have for you… it is free and is called, Podcasting for Christians. It will bless you – go and download it today.

As we started to share yesterday, Paul and Silas had been beaten and thrust into the inner prison with their feet put in stocks, all for preaching the Gospel. But instead of griping and complaining, they lifted their voices together in united prayer and praises to Jesus and to God. Amen!

What about you?

Would you be praying and praising in those circumstances? When it looked in the natural like your life could be over. If not physically, at least freedom wise?

But look at what happened. As Paul and Silas prayed, in united prayer, lifting their voices so loud all the other prisoners could hear them, God brought a mighty deliverance.

Verse 26 says an earthquake shook the very foundations of the prison and all of the prison doors were opened, physically popped off the hinges. But that was not all, every single shackle has been loosed!  That should not have happened because of an earthquake! But it did! Amen!

As I related  yesterday, I found it interesting that there is no historical references of an earthquake destroying anything in that area at that time. None. Not in the Bible and, as far as I have been able to determine, nothing historically either.

But, praise God, that jailhouse was shaken! Amen!

When the prisoners realized what had happened, you would have thought they would have made a run for the hills as quick as possible. Some had probably been their quite a while and probably had lost all hope of ever being free. Here was their chance. 

That is what the jailer thought, too. That’s why he was going to kill himself. If he allowed the prisoners to escape, it was on him to suffer their punishment. 

But Paul told him to stop because NOBODY had ran away. NONE! Not one person left the prison!  Why?

Because every prisoner in their knew it was from God. They felt the presence of the Holy Spirit and they witnessed the Power of God this Silas and Paul had been talking about. They did not want to leave that presence! Amen! They wanted MORE! Glory to God!

The Jailer knew he had witnessed a miracle. The prisoners knew, too. The results was the entire family of the jailer was saved that very night. And the Phillipian church was formed that night, too. With the jailer as the pastor of those inmates. Glory to God.

That is what happens when you cry out to God in prayer and praise in YOUR midnight hour! Amen!

There are a lot of people today just sitting around doing nothing…waiting on God to do something. Something FOR them. 

They will say, “Well, if God wants me to get out of this mess, He will just have to do it, I guess…”

But that is not true, not in any sense of the Word. Amen.

If it was true, why did Paul and Silas have to sing, out loud? Why didn’t they just say, “Well, Silas, I guess this is where the Lord wants us at right now. That’s why this happened. So let’s just accept our fate and see what else the Lord can do…”

No, they prayed in one accord and sang praises to God! And notice their situation did not change UNTIL they prayed and sang praises to God! Amen! Did you get that! As a result, God moved! Glory to God!

We need that kind of praying going on today. We need to start shaking things up in this nation and around the world. It is time for the TRUE, born again Christians to take their rightful place, publicly and visible for all to see and start praying and singing praises to God! Amen!

You see, a shaking like that would cause some people to come to church! To get born again! And that same shaking will cause some who are not truly committed to the Word to leave the church. Those who don’t want to pray and be shaken, well, they won’t be there long. They are not Spiritually mature enough to stand the shaking, let alone benefit from it. 

But that’s ok. Because when they leave, that sin they carry with them will leave, too.

“Well, brother Bob, we shouldn’t want anyone to leave the church. Maybe it would be best not to be shaken. That way they would stay and hear the Word and maybe get born again…”

Folks, in some churches there are people who have been attending for years, pretending (and possibly BELIEVING) believing they are born again – but aren’t! They will never truly accept their true spiritual state UNLESS a shaking occurs.

Then, they will have no excuses. If they repent and are born again, truly born again, then the shaking did it! Amen!  If they get offended at the shaking and leave – their true spiritual state is revealed.

But, as they leave, the same exact shaking that drove them off will also draw in others INTO the church that never realized their true spiritual condition UNTIL the shaking occurred. Amen!

So, let’s pray for a shaking to take place. We need a shaking in our churches. We need a shaking in our society. We need a shaking in our government. We need a shaking in America. We need a shaking in this world. Amen!

Let’s Pray!

Please subscribe to this podcast, leave us a quick 5 star review on Apple Podcasts to help us grow and be sure to visit our website for more information on our ministry: https://podcastersforchrist.com. And while you are at the website, download the free resource I have for you… it is free and is called, Podcasting for Christians. It will bless you – go and download it today.

You can also WATCH these session on our Facebook Playlist at this link: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtKWeKtmv-BwgkquBTsSh-GznbmuUp_R2

February 4

 Scripture of the Day:   

Acts 21:5

“They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.”

Group Prayer

When I first started to attend Full Gospel services, I was not used to this idea of everyone in the building praying out loud, some in other tongues, some in English, praying at the same time for about 5 minutes or more.  That just seemed weird to me.

Even when I was a Bible School, some instructors would come in and we would do this. I didn’t like it. Not at all.

But, I was at least willing to acknowledge that “I did not know everything” and, after all, I was at Bible school to learn, right? 

I also understood that true Church was meant to be fashioned after the FIRST CHURCH – which was the Church in the Book of Acts. 

In the Bible, it is called the “Law of first mention” and if the Church of Acts was the first church that the Holy Spirit set up after the ascension of Jesus and the Day of Pentecost, it must be how He wants it to operate  (despite man’s best attempts at doing otherwise).

So, I decided to study this out for myself. And when I did, I found this verse and others like it (Acts 2:1; 4:24: 16:25 and others) that showed me there was POWER in the unity of prayer like that! Praise God! I was onto something!

These scriptures referred to “THEY lifted their VOICES…”

This was not one man praying out loud and everyone else remaining silent…

Now, don’t get me wrong. I love my one on one time with the Lord in prayer. I tend to receive Wisdom and Inspiration on matters that I lift to Him in my private prayer time.

But there are times when we need to be united in prayer and everyone “lifting their voice in one accord.” Amen.

Another example is when Paul and Silas were praying while in prison. This scripture also references they were praying, out loud, together, at the same time. Amen! Don’t shout me down when I’m preaching good!  What happened?

An earthquake hit that opened every single door in that prison…but nobody escaped!  That was unheard of – back then and today! Amen!

But what else happened?

The jailers entire family was saved!  And don’t you know the reason none of the prisoners escaped? All of them were born again, too! They didn’t want to leave that prison because, for the first time in their lives – they were TRULY set free! Glory to God!

And, for further proof of that, Paul wrote a letter to the “Church of the Phillipians.” This was the church the jailer founded – with the prison inmates! Glory to God!

What else happened?  I’ll get more into this aspect tomorrow… but I want to zero in on one more thing as an example of the power of a united prayer – out loud in front of everyone – and how God responds…

The Bible says an earthquake occurred that opened the doors to the prison, right?

Did you ever notice there is no record in the Bible of an earthquake shaking anything else except the prison? Right where Paul and Silas were praying? How’s that for answered prayer?

Nobody except those who were praying received that kind of answer to their prayers!  I believe some of the prisoners, hearing Paul and Silas talking and then singing and praising God and praying out loud – I believe some of them joined in as well. This is what brought God on the scene! Amen!

If He did it for them, what does the Bible say, He will do it for you! For God is not a respecter of persons, Amen!  Glory to God.

So – YES – a united group prayer is important. It is effective. It does work. But, as with everything else, DO NOT make this a doctrine or a religious activity. That will never work.  But when the inspiration of the Holy Spirit says to do it – then GO FOR IT! 

Amen!

Let’s Pray!

Please subscribe to this podcast, leave us a quick 5 star review on Apple Podcasts to help us grow and be sure to visit our website for more information on our ministry: https://podcastersforchrist.com. And while you are at the website, download the free resource I have for you… it is free and is called, Podcasting for Christians. It will bless you – go and download it today.

You can also WATCH these session on our Facebook Playlist at this link: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtKWeKtmv-BwgkquBTsSh-GznbmuUp_R2

February 3                   

Scripture of the Day:   

Acts 21:5

“When it was time to leave, we left and continued on our way. All of them, including wives and children, accompanied us out of the city, and there on the beach we knelt to pray.”

United Prayer

There is power in unity. In the natural and in the Spirit. 

In fact, that is where unity in the natural obtains it power!  It is based upon Spiritual principle.

Matthew 18:19 says, “Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.”

When two people agree on earth, in the Spirit or in the natural, their power is multiplied. This can be for the good of the people or, unfortunately, evil can use the same principles for the destruction of the people (like we see happening politically today).

Leviticus 26:8 says, “Five of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand, and your enemies will fall by the sword before you.” 

This clearly illustrates the more people you can win to your cause, the more powerful your cause will become. 

How do you think the Gay Pride and LGBQT or whatever they are going by today was able to destroy the fabric of American life so easily? Because the Democrats were looking for a new voting base and sold the soul of America to the devil in exchange for political power.

That is what happened in the most recent election. Why do you think “suddenly” there is this cancel culture chasing down anyone who even hints the Conservative values are important to the survival of America? It is because evil now reigns in American government. 

There are so many Biblical passages that clearly indicate we are on the precipice of destruction in America. Everything we were founded on is either already destroyed or in the process of being destroyed. Anyone who speaks out against the flood of demonic forces is identified and tried to be silenced.

But, we are to trust in PRAYER. And that is the purpose of this year long series on teachings of prayer. 

It would be too easy for me just to invoke 2 Chronicles 7:14 and say “all will be well with the world.” Because it won’t be. We are too far gone as nation. 

But, I’m not too concerned about it!  

“What? How could you say that, brother Bob?”

Because the Bible is very clear that all these things must come to pass just before the return of Jesus! That means, as we see these things happening, YES we need to resist them. YES, we need to pray for deliverance. YES, we need to come together collectively as believers and try to stop these political forces…

But we need to also keep our prayers going for the soon return of the Lord. He will be the ultimate deliverer for us and for the nation and for the world and for all believers everywhere!

When Jesus comes back, which is going to be very soon, He will be the one who destroys the works of the devil, and his followers who are now in charge, with only ONE WORD from His mouth! Praise God!

Folks, some Biblical scholars who are a lot more studied than I am, have deduced that Jesus could be returning in the fall of 2022 or 2023. There are too many things for me to try and share with you in this short teaching on this very important subject.

But the bottom line is “we are not without hope.” 

We also need to work together, praying in unity, gaining that power that comes from praying and working together in unity – and achieve total victory!

If you want to join me in this, let’s pray right now for Power from on High to be imparted to believers everywhere. Power to resist. Power to overcome. Power to endure and most importantly, Power to pray in UNITY and get even more people to become Born Again before Jesus returns. Amen!

Please subscribe to this podcast, leave us a quick 5 star review on Apple Podcasts to help us grow and be sure to visit our website for more information on our ministry: https://podcastersforchrist.com. And while you are at the website, download the free resource I have for you… it is free and is called, Podcasting for Christians. It will bless you – go and download it today.

You can also WATCH these session on our Facebook Playlist at this link: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtKWeKtmv-BwgkquBTsSh-GznbmuUp_R2

Scripture of the Day:   

Acts 12:12

“When this had dawned on him, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John, also called Mark, where many people had gathered and were praying.”

The Power of Praise (part two)

Yesterday, we talked about how the Power of Praise worked for the people of Judah when they were about to be attacked by the combined armies of four of their enemies. We talked about how, the king, their leader, called for a prayer meeting. I believe our leaders today would fair so much better by acknowledging God and calling for national days of prayer – instead of gathering their advisors, wringing their hands and deciding “they know what’s best” for the country. 

Anyway – they don’t. But God does! Glory to God! Amen!

If we would just walk in the light of the Word and continually be in an attitude of praise and thanksgiving, we would be a witness to other people for the Lord. Amen! People would see our continual gladness of  heart and would desire to experience that joy and gladness for themselves.

They would actually start to seek YOU out and ask, “How do you do that? Why is God answering your prayers all of the time?”

This is just one area in which being baptized by the Holy Spirit will help us. Although a person can have joy and have a thankful heart because of the new birth, being born again – it is the Baptism in the Holy Spirit that helps us to Praise God in times of trouble and to be a powerful witness to the power of God in any situation. Amen!

I remember, now this was many years before I was born again, but a person lived across the street from us back in the little town of New Llano, Louisiana. He was born again and filled with the Holy Spirit. I would talk to him sometimes when we both happened to be outside in the front for whatever reason.

I noticed he had a habit of always saying something like, “Praise God” or “Amen” or “Praise Jesus” when we were talking. It seemed that every time I would say something positive that was happening, maybe, “I finally got my old truck running again,” he would say, “Praise God! That’s awesome…”

I just thought he was a little weird. I’m just being honest here, folks. Remember, I said I was not born again at the time.

But, for him, it had become a habit of giving God praise for all of the little things. Amen! I thought it was weird, simply because I was not in a relationship with the Most High God like he was – through Christ Jesus! Amen!

Now, as I was preparing to teach on this today, I realized I had developed the same, “habit.” Amen! 

Because I received Jesus on January 25th, 1992 in a little empty apartment in Columbus, Georgia at 1135pm ET while in the midst of despair and contemplating suicide – GOD SHOWED UP AND SHOWED OFF in my life! Amen! And my life has never been the same since! Praise God!

That one night changed my life, changed my destiny, forever. I was born again AND Baptized in the Holy Spirit all at the same time! 

It was not long before I realized “I was praising God” like our neighbor was doing! 

That is why I am emphasizing here, over the last several days about praying to God about the little things – well, in addition to praying about the little things, you need to PRAISE HIM about the little things! Amen! Praise the Lord!  (there, right there…did you catch that? I can’t help but Praise Him!)! Amen!  Don’t shout me down when I’m preaching good!

You need to praise God in the little things and in the BIG THINGS! You need to Praise Him when things are going great and when things are looking bad. You need to praise Him in the closet and Praise Him on the roof top! You need to praise Him in the car and Praise Him in the shower! You need to Praise Him church and Praise Him in the Hospital and Praise Him in your job…you need to develop a continual PRAISE from your lips to His ears! Praise you Jesus! AMEN!  Did you catch that? There it was again!

I can’t help to NOT praise Him. I give Him Praise ALL DAY LONG! I can’t help but Praise Him. Praise for Jesus is continually on my lips and Jesus said, “Out of the abundance of the heart – the mouth speaks!” Praise God (there it is again)! 

Anyway – I could go on and on giving praises to Jesus just as an example of what Praise should sound like on a continual basis. Amen!

I want to pray for you to be able to Praise Jesus and Praise God the Father like that, too. Amen!

Until next time, this is Pastor Bob Thibodeau reminding you from 1 Thessalonians 5:17 in the Living Bible to “Always Keep on Praying!”  Be blessed in all that you do!

Please subscribe to this podcast, leave us a quick 5 star review on Apple Podcasts to help us grow and be sure to visit our website for more information on our ministry: https://podcastersforchrist.com. And while you are at the website, download the free resource I have for you… it is free and is called, Podcasting for Christians. It will bless you – go and download it today.

You can also WATCH these session on our Facebook Playlist at this link: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtKWeKtmv-BwgkquBTsSh-GznbmuUp_R2