Acts | 1:1-11 | 1:12-26 | 2:1-13 | 2:14-36 | 2:37-47 | 3:1-10 | 3:11-26 | 4:1-12 | 4:13-22 | 4:23-37 | 5:1-11 | 5:12-26 | More Coming Soon |


These small group Bible studies of Acts 4 contain commentary, discussion questions, and practical application.  Visit our library of inductive Bible studies for more in depth inductive studies on this and other books of the Bible you can use in your small group.

Acts 4:23-37 Bible Study Guide – Prayers for Boldness and Christian Community

Outline

I. Praying for boldness (23-31)
II. Sharing everything in common (32z-37)

I. Praying for boldness (23-30)

Discussion Questions

• Who are the “they” in verse 23?
• How did people respond to their release?
• What can we learn from this about having a lifestyle of prayer?
• Is your prayer life confined to certain times of the day or situations or is it spontaneous?
• In what types of situations should you spontaneously pray?
• How important is it to lift up your voices “together” (24) with other believers in prayer?
• How did they praise God in their prayer?
• What can we see about their knowledge of Scripture (25-26)?
• What had they learned about God’s sovereignty and plan regarding Jesus’ death (27-28)?
• What petition did they make to the Lord?
• Who did they ascribe the miracles they had witnessed to?
• How did God answer their prayer?
• Does God always answer prayer this quickly? Why or why not?
• What can we learn from this passage about the source of boldness?
• Can you share about a time when you witnessed great boldness in the life of a believer? How did this impact you?

Cross-References

An example of spontaneous prayer – Nehemiah 2:4 – Then the king said to me, “What are you requesting?” So I prayed to the God of heaven.

James 5:13 – Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise.

Hebrews 13:15 – Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name.

Psalms 115:1 – Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!

2 Timothy 1:9 – Who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began.

Acts 2:23 – This Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.

Ephesians 3:12 – In whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him.

2 Corinthians 3:12 – Since we have such a hope, we are very bold.

Verse by Verse Commentary

1. They had a loving and supportive community –

When Peter and John were released, they went straight to their friends to share about what had happened. These friends likely included the other disciples as well as other followers of Jesus.

They had been rejected by their religious and political leaders. By extension, this meant that their people and nation had turned their back on them. Peter and John were soon to be persona non grata, unwelcome by the traditional Jews.

This rejection could have hurt badly. The Jews were already ostracized by many other nations who looked down on them as backward and out of touch. Now even their own people were rejecting them. Jesus said that He did not come to bring peace, but a sword (Matthew 10:34-36).

However, they were not alone. They may have lost one family, but they gained another.

Mark 10:29-30 – Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life.

Peter and John were not alone. Jesus’ promise was fulfilled in their lives. A large and supportive community was praying for them. These dear brothers and sisters came around to celebrate their release and continue to petition the Lord on their behalf.

From the beginning, God did not design us to be alone (Genesis 2:18). The church was established by God as a community of brothers and sisters who are on the same team working together toward a common goal. We are fellow pilgrims making our way to the Celestial City. On the way, we are to encourage and help one another.

Hebrews 10:24-25 – And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

Application – Are you connected with other believers? Are you sharing life together? When you face struggles, do you go to them for encouragement and prayer? Do you likewise encourage them? Do you share testimonies with them of God’s goodness in your life?

People seem to be becoming more isolated than ever before. Screens and COVID accelerated this trend. Brothers and sisters, it is not enough to listen to a sermon online. You should be in active and close fellowship with other believers. Then you can support each other in times of difficulty as they did here in Acts 4.

2. The people responded with spontaneous prayer –

Spontaneous Prayer

“And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God…”

When Peter and John’s friends heard the report, they immediately prayed together. Rightly recognizing the gravity of the situation and God’s grace in freeing them, they went straight to the Lord with praise and further petition.

What a great response! There was no fanfare. No meeting was called. It wasn’t something that had to be scheduled. The people simply started praying. Their hearts were overflowing with gratitude toward God for His goodness in protecting the lives of His servants. The overflowing heart has no choice but to come to God in praise and thanksgiving.

Personal and Corporate Prayer

Here we also observe the practice of corporate prayer as they prayed “together” for this issue.

Jesus emphasized the importance of His follower’s personal prayer life (Matthew 6:6-7). That is very important. If a person does not have a vibrant personal prayer life, his public prayer life may be fake or for show. While the private prayer life is the foundation, the public prayer life is the structure built upon that foundation. If you have a strong foundation, that will manifest itself in being eager to pray with others when the occasion arises.

Example of Spontaneous Prayer

Another example of spontaneous prayer can be seen in Nehemiah.

Nehemiah 2:4 – Then the king said to me, “What are you requesting?” So I prayed to the God of heaven.

Nehemiah had already prayed about this issue. But now in the heat of the moment, he still didn’t rely on his own wisdom. He tossed up one more heartfelt prayer to God. It was probably a very quick, silent prayer. And yet that prayer had power. It had power because it matched Nehemiah’s life of prayer. Our life should be filled both with dedicated times of private prayer and also with those short prayers of help in times of need. If you only ask God for help in times of need and never prayed to Him before, those prayers may lack the same power. God wants to see us rely on Him through prayer consistently, making it a habit rather than only turning to Him in times of intense need.

Application – We should rely on God all the time. No situation is too urgent to offer up a quick prayer of help. Our lives should be saturated with prayer. Our natural response when facing decisions, trials, temptations, or emergencies should be to say, “God help me!”

We should also be sensitive to the needs of other believers around us. If they come to us with struggles, temptations, or pain instead of saying, “I will pray for you,” perhaps we can stop what we are doing and ask, “Can I pray for you right now?”

3. The people recognized God’s sovereignty and purpose in this event and Jesus’ death –

It took the disciples a long time to get it. Jesus talked about His mission and the need to suffer and die as being part of that. But they were confused. In their minds, Jesus was going to be king.

Peter went so far as to rebuke Jesus for saying that He was going to die.

Matthew 16:22 – And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.”

Even after His death, they still expected Him to set up the kingdom.

Acts 1:6 – So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?

But it seems that in this passage they are finally starting to understand that this was part of God’s plan and had to happen.

• In their prayers, they call God the “Sovereign Lord who made heaven and earth and everything in them.” They recognize that God is sovereign. As the author of all things, He is sovereign and has a plan. Before they were focused on their ideas and what they thought should and would happen. Now they seem more resigned to trust that God knows what He is doing.
• In addition, they quoted Old Testament Scriptures which indicated that the people would rage, plot, and stand against the Lord and His anointed (whom they later identified as Jesus). We can see them starting to realize that the Old Testament Scriptures predicted Jesus’ suffering. That means it was part of God’s sovereign plan from the beginning and not a surprise.
• Finally, they acknowledge that Herod, Pilate, and the people were acting in accordance with God’s predestined plan.
o Acts 4:28 – To do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place.
o These were clearly enemies of God. But their sinful actions were used by God to bring about His perfect plan. This plan was not plan B. Rather, it was predestined.

As they prayed, they grew in understanding and awe of God. Prayer is not primarily a means of changing God. It is rather a means of changing us.

Reflect – How did recognizing God’s sovereignty affect how they responded to the situation?

It gave them peace, comfort, and strength. The things that were happening to them were not random and arbitrary. Rather they were allowed by a loving God would use these things for God.

In addition, they were encouraged to pray for boldness to face the persecutions that were going to come their way.

4. They prayed for boldness –

Reflect – If you were in their situation, what would you have prayed for? What did they not pray for that most people in their position would?

I likely would have prayed that God would spare me from the persecution and protect me and my family.

However, they did not pray for personal safety. Certainly, it would not have been wrong to do that. However, that wasn’t their focus. Their concern was for God’s kingdom to expand.

Here is their prayer request.

Acts 4:29-30 – And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.

Instead of thinking about their own lives, safety, and well-being, the believers were concerned about their testimony and the growth of the church. They prayed against fear which would keep them from speaking out the truth.

It is reminiscent of King Solomon’s prayer. He didn’t ask for personal riches or long life but for wisdom to lead his people well. His prayer was focused on the well-being of others.