The Name Did It!

In Acts chapter 3, Peter and John encounter a man who had been lame from birth, sitting daily at the temple gate begging for help. Like many people in need, he expected money. But God had something greater in store.

The power was not in Peter or John—it was in the name of Jesus. 

In a world full of imitation power, the authority of Jesus’ name still brings healing, restoration, and transformation.

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Transcript

Press means to apply force. When God said “press,” prayer reaches every single situation. He gave us permission to apply force to every situation that we will go through.

In this podcast, we are going to learn to apply force to what’s applying pressure to us. Greetings, everyone, and welcome to the Press Movement Podcast.

Thank you for joining me back in the book of Acts. I don’t know if I said this last week, but I’ll say it again if I did—Acts is probably one of my favorite books in the Bible.

And as I know I said, it’s because Acts teaches the church how to act. So as we meet up in Acts chapter three, we’re seeing Peter and John post-Pentecost, and they have now had this Holy Ghost experience.

The Bible is going to say a few times now that they are filled with the Holy Ghost. Before, they had done miracles. They had seen the hand of the Lord. They had been used by God.

But something changes when God comes to you to stay. And that’s what the Holy Ghost does. It’s not something to be caught. It’s not something that just comes upon you for a work or an action. It comes to stay.

These men were full of the Holy Ghost, and the Bible records that they were headed to the temple at the ninth hour. They saw a lame man in Acts chapter three who had been lame from birth. As he was begging for alms, Peter and John fastened their eyes upon him.

They said, “Look on us.” And he listened to them. He was expecting to receive something from them, but he didn’t even know what he was about to receive.

In looking at this—because the prayer is in verse six—you see a man who has a need but doesn’t have the wherewithal to request what he truly needs. He is simply used to getting what he has always gotten.

That is the beggar man.

Being lame from birth and being carried to the gate so he could beg—that was his lifestyle. It seems like his daily routine.

When I think of this setting, the gate of the temple would have been a busy place. I would not think that a beggar would say, “Position me in a place where nobody walks.” So you can imagine how used to not being seen he had become.

You can imagine how humble he had to be to keep asking for help. You can imagine that people walked by him often. You can imagine that he’s on the ground or seated because he’s lame, never quite able to catch up with someone.

You can imagine a lot of things because we’ve all seen people who are homeless or people who are in need. Perhaps you’re the one who helped them, but you’ve also seen others who did not. People have always been people.

So in a scenario like I envision—a busy, bustling atmosphere—people are walking by. You can imagine he ran into good people and bad people. But to keep sitting there and needing alms is really humbling.

The fact that he chose to do that at the temple is also interesting to me—hoping to catch those who are devout, hoping to catch those who have compassion.

Sometimes the reason people position themselves at church doors is to get help. I can’t tell you how many times, because of the area we live in, someone has come in and said, “I need something to eat,” or “Can you help me with bus money?” or “Can you help me with this?”

We have to be very wise in the way we respond to them. We don’t always give money per se, but we always try to give to the need.

I remember a woman who stopped by one Saturday afternoon. She was broken. We just happened to be outside—myself, my mom, and a couple of other sisters.

She was trying to walk to the doors, but it was after prayer. We had just been hanging out. Her need was different.

She didn’t need money.

She came to the door broken. She said, “I’ve had so much loss. I’ve had so much pain. I don’t even know what to do.”

It wasn’t a church day. It wasn’t Sunday. It wasn’t Bible class day.

But when people need help, oftentimes they look and say, “Where is the church? Let me go to the church.”

And in that moment, God stepped in in an amazing way. By the time the conversation ended, she was on the ground speaking in tongues, worshiping God, and truly feeling lighter.

That is what the church does—or at least what the church should do.

It shows up.

And it’s not that the church just has money to give.

You see, this man came to the door expecting money. But something had happened at Pentecost. Now the world needed to know that you can raise your expectations of what happens at the church doors.

We have more to give than substance. We have more to give than money.

Peter and John looked at him and said, “Silver and gold have I none.”

I don’t know if the man had faith. I don’t know if he had ever considered that God could heal him. I don’t know what he knew about who God is.

What I do know is that it didn’t matter.

Peter and John had faith. They knew who they represented. They knew God was moving.

You don’t see them stop and pray, “God, if it’s your will,” or say, “Maybe Jesus will heal you,” or testify, “We know a healer.”

They spoke directly to the need and to the God of heaven.

In verse 6 they said:

“Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.”

He took him by the right hand and lifted him up, and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength.

They were walking with God to the extent that they knew, through the Holy Ghost and by the name of Jesus, that this man could walk. They believed it enough to speak to it and stretch forth their hand expecting it to happen.

And I speak to the church of the living God—those who have His name and His experience.

We know they preached baptism in Jesus’ name in Acts chapter 2. We know they received the Holy Ghost with the evidence of tongues in Acts chapter 2. We know that in Acts chapter 1 we were told that experience would bring power.

And now we see them walking in that power.

You cannot separate the experience from what they’re doing now.

So I ask the church today: if you have His name and you have His Holy Ghost, what’s the difference between us and them?

I submit to you that there is none.

If you have that name and that experience, you have power to speak to things that have been broken a long time, as the Holy Ghost leads you, and expect them to be made whole—not because we commanded it, but because of the name of Jesus.

This event sets up the rest of Acts chapters 3 and 4.

Everyone is excited about the man walking. Everyone is talking about the miracle. But the fight begins when we start talking about the name.

They did not want anyone believing in that name.

But that is exactly what Peter and John preached.

They preached the name.

They did not perform this miracle by themselves. They made it all about the name of Jesus.

I recently watched some prayer services where people demonstrated a form of power. They laid hands on people and everyone fell out.

But something felt strange to me.

I believe the people were having genuine reactions, but I kept asking God, “Why does this feel foreign? Why does it not feel like you, though they are doing the same motions?”

Then I realized something: they left out the name.

They were laying hands on people and touching emotional or spiritual nerves, but they were doing it without the name.

To me, that’s like driving without a license.

Everything we do as the church of the living God—the way we walk, the way we talk—is in the name of Jesus.

There are many counterfeiters out there. People with a form of godliness but denying the power thereof.

The enemy has always been an imitator of God, but never His equal.

Even in Exodus, when Moses stood before Pharaoh, the magicians tried to imitate the miracles. When Aaron’s rod became a serpent, they tried to imitate it.

But imitation power has limits.

Knockoff purses may look good at first, but they never last like the real thing.

The devil is the same way.

He imitates—but he does not last.

So I say to you today: the name matters.

And that name spoke to something that had been broken for years and corrected it as if it had never been.

The name of Jesus is what brought the miracle.

The man was excited. The people were amazed. And Peter and John declared that it was done by the name of Jesus.

Stay tuned as we continue next week into Acts chapter 4.

And remember to add the name of Jesus by faith to everything you do.

Follow Him, and He will do exactly what He purposed to do.

Because prayer reaches every single situation.

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Did you know that when you are quiet, your voice is missing to God’s ears?

Some of us wonder:
 How long should I pray about this?
 Why should I pray if God already knows?
 How will I know God is answering?
 What do I do when I feel like God’s not listening?

But God is listening for your voice.

It’s too quiet in this world for the troubles we have.

You have to raise your voice, and God wants to hear from you.

It’s Too Quiet, a book about prayer, is designed to answer your prayer questions and build your faith.

Visit PressToPray.com.