Articles
The Sovereign and All Loving God
If you were threatened by prominent members of your community to cease preaching God’s truth, would you stop? After healing a beggar, the apostles, Peter and John were arrested and brought before the Jewish elders and high priests to testify about what they had done (Acts 4:1-22). They explained that the credit for the healing should be given to Jesus Christ, because it was by His power that the man was cured. Ultimately, the council of elders couldn’t deny the notable deed that was performed by John and Peter, so they threatened them to stop preaching about Jesus and His resurrection. John and Peter’s response to the council was, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard” (Acts 4:19-20).
John and Peter refused to listen to the Jewish council because they understood God’s sovereignty. After their release, John and Peter told their brethren what had taken place. All of them gathered together, lifted their heads to God, and prayed for boldness (Acts 4:23-31). A section of their prayer came from the first two verses of Psalm 2. This Psalm describes how God will bless those who take refuge in Him, but will bring destruction to His enemies. Therefore, those who do not want to be destroyed by God’s almighty wrath, should serve Him with fear and trembling (Psalm 2:11). John, Peter, and their brethren were Christians who exemplified serving God with fear. When they were threatened to be jailed (or worse) if they continued to preach about the gospel, their response was to turn to God in prayer.
Do you know that as a child of God you can ask anything from your Heavenly Father? 1 John 5:14-15 explains that we can ask anything of the Lord that is in accordance with His word and He will hear us. Jesus gave us a perfect example of a prayer when He prayed the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6:9-13[1]. He also taught us that we should even be praying for our enemies. This is because He lovingly did this for us when He prayed on the cross, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34 ESV). Jesus died for you to be able to petition God in prayer. What requests will you make to your sovereign Lord while you pray?
[1] The Lord’s prayer (KJV): Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.
