Sunday message · 21 Days of Prayer series
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Message Summary
In the first message of the 21 Days of Prayer series, Pastor Phillip Santillan calls the church to 21 days of big, bold prayers, modeled on the early church in Acts 4:12–32. It is less about prayer than about praying for something specific. The previous series, Renew, showed that it takes people being transformed by God to transform the world, so the church’s greatest asset is its people, not its programs or facilities.
Phil sets the scene. Peter and John heal a man lame from birth, Peter preaches to the crowd that gathers, and the number of believers grows to over 5,000 men. Arrested and brought before the council, Peter declares that there is salvation in no one else (Acts 4:12). The leaders are amazed at the boldness of these ordinary, untrained men and recognize they had been with Jesus (Acts 4:13). Ordered to stop speaking about Jesus, Peter and John reply that they cannot stop telling what they have seen and heard, and once released they return to the believers, who pray together (Acts 4:19–24).
Phil admits he would have prayed for protection and urged Peter to tone things down. Instead, the believers begin by recognizing God as sovereign Lord and creator, whose plan was behind everything. Then they ask not for safety but for great boldness in preaching, the very thing that got them arrested. “Have you ever prayed for boldness?” Phil asks, noting that the message of Jesus reached our century because first-century Christians prayed this way.
They also pray for God to stretch out his hand with healing and signs and wonders through the name of Jesus (Acts 4:30). They loved their lost community, Phil says, and wanted it to know God. What if we prayed that way for our secular and church-burned friends? When the believers prayed, the meeting place shook, they were filled with the Holy Spirit and preached boldly, and they shared everything they had (Acts 4:31). That outbreak of generosity was the miracle. The key question, Phil says, is “Where do our prayers need more boldness?”
Since 2013, Clarity has grown from Sunday gatherings into a church that sends people as missionaries into everyday life through missional communities in homes. Both matter, Phil says; most people first came through a Sunday gathering. But schools have limits: most neighbors don’t know the church exists, and some would never try church in a school. If God wants even self-centered, consumeristic people transformed, the church must study its culture and reach them.
It is time, Phil says, to seek a permanent launching pad, which some call a church building. This is not about comfort, validation or size; it is a vision issue. Brooklyn Park alone has over 36,000 people not connected to a community of faith, and he has always prayed not for a big church but for ministry over the long haul. As the band leads a song about boldness, he invites everyone to use the prayer guides, ask how God wants to use them boldly, and pray for clarity.