"PRAYER ushered in such a powerful dynamic to the community of believers that those who RESISTED this, this reality of the Messiah, that they became increasingly hostile to the believers.

And that hostility developed into PERSECUTION, and violence against the followers of Jesus, so that with the passage of a few weeks or months --

People were forced to leave their homes, they were forced to leave their jobs, they were forced to leave their communities, all their familiar surroundings, because of their loyalty to Jesus Christ.

PRAYER played a part in all of that upheaval.

Did it remove all the challenges within this new community?

No, prayer DID NOT remove all the challenges.

In fact, it created NEW CHALLENGES within the community!

But PRAYER provided WISDOM and LEADERSHIP to the leaders.

And prayer provided an atmosphere of flexibility, and cooperation on the part of the community.

What happens when the Church prays?

Well, in this particular instance, this experience of the early church of Acts, there is an undeniable PRESENCE of the HOLY SPIRIT in their midst!

There are people are coming forward who are willing to give their lives under the saving lordship of Jesus Christ.

There is a sense of mystery, and anticipation, and awe, and wonder in the community.

What is God going to do NEXT?

There is a hunger for God's word.

There is an impact upon the surrounding community outside the believers.

And that impact elicited a HOSTILE response.

That's what happens when the church prays.

There's unpredictibility, there's GROWTH, there's RISK, there's CHANGE, there's VULNERABILITY, there's DANGER!

Now I know that many here are familiar with the content of those first 6 to 8 chapters of Acts, and I know that in the sweep of history, what God does at various points in His timeline that the happenings in this early church -- it was at a point in time, it was a unique time, that God chose to exhibit the Genesis of His Church in some very unique manners --

BUT,

He had to have people who were available for Him to partner with.

And what amazing things happened -

When they PARTNERED with GOD.

Is God dependent upon our prayers?

No He is not, He is sovereign. God is all powerful.

He can do what He wants to do, when He wants to do it, and how He chooses to do it.

BUT

He has intentionally, and intelligently factored in our FREE WILL to influence HOW He exercises His power, and WHEN He exercises that power."

Bob's BACKGROUND and COMMENTARY: In 1985 and 1986 I was learning to be a little less dependent on numerology and Daniel's Beasts, but mostly my message to my own and Pastor Cate's churches was a medical message......... After all, I was a Loma Linda graduate, and a doctor...... Not a trained preacher.

Then, in the fall of 1997, something ominous happened, which shook up all of us who took seriously the "Time of Trouble" prophecies of Ellen G. White.... The Pope of Rome, John Paul II, toured the United States of America. .....I went to New Orleans to see with my own eyes this wonderful but threatening fulfillment of 40 years of indoctrination by my parents. ...And those who updated this early training with more religious terrorism as new opportunities presented themselves.

But, just in case this did not bring on terrible persecution of Sabbath- keepers immediately, I also detoured to Baton Rouge and watched in awe as six or seven thousand people in Jimmy Swaggart's Family Church swayed that emmense building with their praying and singing.

Pastor Cates went with me on one of several trips to hear Jimmy Swaggart, just before his sinful interest in a prostitute in New Orleans severely limited Swaggart's ministry.

Meanwhile, my own wife had left me, and I was deep in legal difficulties with both a divorce and malpractice suit.///////// But my increasingly "Pentecostal" religious experiences were providing me with hope and courage for the future.