Prayer in the face of persecution

Acts 7:54 When they heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him. ⁵⁵ But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. ⁵⁶ "Look," he said, "I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God." ⁵⁷ At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, ⁵⁸ dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul. ⁵⁹ While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." ⁶⁰ Then he fell on his knees and cried out, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." When he had said this, he fell asleep.

Have you ever felt a little picked on?  Maybe some kids at school are harassing you because they don’t like your clothing choices or hair style? Or maybe you feel mistreated because your employer takes you for granted, piling more papers upon your desk when you’re already swamped? If you are the parent of a teen, maybe you are going through a very hard time dealing with your child’s puberty hormones which can cause him to be unpredictably moody?

Even more serious than those aggravations is outright persecution. Your softball coach benching you because you choose to come to church instead of his practice scheduled for a Sunday morning. Your co-workers needling you because you behave at the bar, curbing your language, correcting theirs and knowing when enough to drink is enough. Your family unhappy with you because you choose to speak out against your cousin living with her boyfriend. Your son angry with you because you constantly remind him of his confirmation vows of attending church.

Dark and heavy days are something we all encounter now and then. During such periods, it’s easy to feel like the weight of the world is upon your shoulders, and that just about everyone is against you, or simply does not understand. In some cases mood, hormones or stress cause you to feel attacked. In other situations, there is very real persecution that you’re dealing with. But harassment, irritations, frustrations, and outright persecution should not cause you to cower in fear, to shut down and shut everybody else out. Rather, at times like these, you need to pray. There is help. There is hope. You have the Lord. If you are feel like your load is too heavy to bear, hand in over to the Lord, and He will be swift to carry your burdens for you. He promises, “Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). In the face of persecution, speak to God in prayer.

A brief review of Acts 6 and 7: “[The disciples] chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit … [for the] daily distribution of food … [to] widows. Stephen, a man full of God’s grace and power, did great wonders and miraculous signs among the people. Opposition arose, however. They seized Stephen and brought him before the Sanhedrin. They produced false witnesses. Then the high priest asked him, ‘Are these charges true?’ To this he replied: ‘Brothers and fathers, listen to me!” The next two and half pages of my Bible provide the manuscript for Stephen’s speech to the Sanhedrin. He recalls God’s faithful witnessing to the Israelites throughout the Old Testament in the patriarchs and prophets, reminding these Israelite religious leaders that a consistent response on the part of the Jewish people, historically and in Stephen’s day, was rejection. “You are just like your fathers: You always resist the Holy Spirit! And now you have betrayed and murdered …the Righteous One” (Acts 6 and 7 various verses).

This call to repentance made its mark. “When they heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him.” The fury in their bones felt like it was cutting them up inside, and the rage they needed to vent came out in the gritting of their teeth. Stephen’s words hit home all right, but instead of sinking into reflective, repentant hearts, the words bounced off hard hearts, dangerously deflecting back at Stephen like deadly bullets.

In contrast to these men who were so full of themselves, the Bible says, “But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.” Does something sound strange there? We’re accustomed to our Christian creeds confessing that Jesus is seated at the right hand of God. Now, He’s standing. So which is it? It’s both. Both descriptive expressions picture Jesus in a position of power. Here, Jesus stands up for Stephen as He has always stood up for His followers. Stephen isn’t filled with rage because Jesus stands up for believers in His High Priestly prayer that “they may have the full measure of my joy within them” (John 17:13). Stephen doesn’t look fearfully at his assailants but looks up to heaven in confidence because Jesus stands up for believers when He prays to His Father: “My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one” (John 17:15). Stephen doesn’t see a threat but an opportunity because Jesus stands up for believers in His words to the Father, “I have sent them into the world” (John 17:18).

Jesus stands for something – for someone. You. Stephen. Any of His believers. He stands up for you and like a High Priest prays for you, interceding in heaven above, representing your cause, and gaining for you all of God’s forgiveness and strength. It was a strength Stephen needed. “’Look,’ he said, ‘I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.’ They covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, dragged him out of the city and began to stone him.”

This was not just an irritation or annoyance. This was outright persecution. With stones. Stones that broke bones and skulls.

At his trial before the Sanhedrin Jesus had told perhaps some of these same men, “From now on the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the mighty God” (Luke 22:69). Stephen sees that promise fulfilled, and I wonder if any of these men see it, too. Seeing it, or hearing it from Stephen, put them over the edge and they lost it.

But Stephen was made stronger than their stones by the almighty Jesus who broke through the stone tomb at His resurrection. Stephen was made stronger than their stones by the almighty Jesus who had ascended into heaven with all power and authority as the cornerstone of the Church. Stronger than a tomb, stronger than Rome or Israel, stronger than the Sanhedrin or the rage of hell itself, Jesus stood up and made Stephen and his witness stronger than stone, too. “On this rock I will build my church,” Jesus once promised about such a witness (Matthew 16:18). Look to the ascended and almighty Jesus, who is stronger than the hardest of hearts in your hearers, our weakest attempts to share the faith, and the fiercest enemies whose persecution we fear. “[God’s] incomparably great power for us who believe … is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion” (Ephesians 1:19-21).

As Stephen is being persecuted – dragged out of the city walls and pummeled with stones, what does he do? He prays. He prays that he might go to heaven, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” Then he prays for his persecutors, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.”

Amazing! He prays in the face of persecution!

Stephen has the distinction of being the first Christian martyr. Illegally arrested, tried and convicted by enemies of the Christian Church, he was dragged outside the city of Jerusalem and pummeled with stones until he died. Wouldn’t you like to be like Stephen? You can! Through prayer.

But most of us struggle with prayer. We forget to pray, and when we remember, we hurry through prayers with hollow words. Our minds drift; our thoughts scatter like a covey of quail. Why is this? Prayer requires minimal effort. No location is prescribed. No particular clothing is required. No title or office is stipulated. Jesus even promises to perfect our prayers as our High Priest. Yet you’d think we were wrestling a greased pig.

Speaking of pigs, Satan seeks to interrupt our prayers. Our battle with prayer is not entirely our fault. The devil knows the Bible, too – He knows Jesus invites us to pray; He commands us to pray; then He Himself prays for us. And the devil has seen the effects of these prayers – an angel opening Peter’s prison cell, Peter bringing Tabitha back to life, the revival in Jerusalem, etc. He knows what happens when we pray. “The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds” (2 Corinthians 10:4).

Satan is not troubled when I write sermons or our teachers teach their Christ-Light lessons, but his knobby knees tremble when a little child prays. He knows: “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” (Matthew 7:7). Satan does not stutter or stumble when you walk through church doors or attend voters meetings. But the walls of hell shake when one person with an honest heart and faithful confession says, “My God, how great thou art!” Demons keep on doing whatever they’re doing when you volunteer in the classroom or attend your child’s sporting events, but they scurry away screaming when you pray because they know, “The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective” (James 5:16). Satan keeps you and me from prayer. He tries to position himself between us and God. But he scampers like a spooked dog when we bow our heads, fold our hands and move our lips and our hearts in prayer.

Let’s pray, first. Concerned about your future with recalls, job security and the economy? Talk to God. Are you working on straightening out your family life? Take it to the Lord in prayer. Are you tired of all the name-calling, the bullying, the racism and division? So is God. And He would love for you to talk to Him about it.

Let’s pray, most. Did God call us to preach without ceasing? Or teach without ceasing? Or have committee meetings without ceasing? Or sing without ceasing? No, but He did call us to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17).

Did Jesus declare: My house shall be called a house of study? Fellowship? Music? A house of activities? No, but He did say, “My house will be called a house of prayer” (Mark 11:17).

God guarantees results: “If two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven” (Matthew 18:19). God is moved by the humble, prayerful heart.

There was a machine repairman who had an unusual knack for correctly diagnosing where the trouble was in faulty factory equipment. And he could fix it quickly. His co-workers noticed that he normally left the lunchroom 10 minutes early. One day someone followed him to see what he did before the others started working again. The repairman didn't touch a wrench or a screwdriver. Instead, while everyone else was gone and there was no sound of conversation, he stood in the middle of the large room, closed his eyes, and listened to the machinery. His ear caught every subtle sound, every click, every change in pitch or vibration. He could identify the first signs of a problem before it became apparent to the others. It's as if he knew each machine personally.

That’s how God knows us. God knows us personally and intimately. He monitors our thoughts and feelings all the time. And when we need help, He is listening. He stands ready to intercede and intervene. God hears us when we call on Him. He hears the shouts and the groans of our hearts. He knows when we are “broken” or “out of tune.” He knows when we are annoyed and aggravated, and He knows when we are pushed too far and persecuted. And when we call on Him, he knows exactly what we need.

Wouldn’t you like to be a Stephen – strong enough to stand firm when persecuted? You can be. Because you have the same living Lord he had. Make use of the Lord’s power. Pray in the face of persecution. Amen.