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They are praying for a governmental 
entity, specifically the Sanhedrin. When they pray, they acknowledge 
the situation, they know that God is a God of justice, and 
they say, look on their threats. But their prayer for the government 
at that point terminates. The prayer primarily is for them. In other words, how are we supposed 
to respond when the pressure comes? How are we supposed to 
function when the difficulties arise? If you ask the Bible, 
how can we pray for civil government? I've reduced it to three R's. 
First, we pray for their redemption. 1 Timothy chapter 2, verses 1 
to 7. You see that God, the Apostle 
Paul, tells Timothy specifically to pray. I entreat you first 
of all, I urge you, that prayers, supplications, intercessions, 
and givings of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all 
who are in authority. In verse 4, he highlights the 
fact that Jesus Christ is a Savior of all men. By that, he doesn't 
mean all men without distinction, but in the context, all men without 
exception, kings, Rulers, civil authority. So it is just and 
legit for the church today to pray for the redemption of our 
government authorities. Secondly, we can pray that God 
restrains them. Solomon, the wise man in Proverbs 
21.1, tells us, in tune with God's sovereignty, that the Lord 
holds the heart of the king in his hand, and that he directs 
that heart the way he does the rivers of water. So Lord God, 
restrain them. We don't want the variant communism. Please keep that from us. That 
is a legit expression of biblical praying on the part of the people 
of God. When I was younger, they taught 
us of the horrors of communism. We forgot those lessons. Communism 
is anti-Christ. It is in absolute opposition 
and contradiction to the Lord of glory, the most virulent, 
Anti-communists ought to be people of God in churches, because commies 
don't provoke or incite true religion. They clamp down on 
it. So restraint is a perfectly legitimate 
prayer for civil government. And then there's the third R, 
which is remove them. Remove them. Psalm 74 verse 11. Asaph prays that Yahweh withdraw 
his hand from his bosom and destroy the enemies of Israel. Again, 
that's the kind of praying we kind of shrink back from because 
we're filled with love in the New Covenant as if God in the 
Old Covenant wasn't filled with love. Love is opposed to wretchedness, 
to wickedness, and to evil. 1 Corinthians 13 tells us love 
rejoices in what? Truth. Not lies, not deceit, 
not deception and falsehood. It rejoices in truth. So God 
Most High can either redeem, restrain, or remove. That is 
a specific petition that the church has legitimacy to pray 
with reference to their civil authority. Now back to our text. They understand the opposition, 
they see the rage of their enemies, they understand the nature of 
the battle, and let us see how they pray. So, when we pray for 
redemption, restraint, or removal, let's not neglect to pray for 
ourselves on how we're supposed to conduct ourselves in the midst 
of oppression and persecution. Notice, verse 29, now, Lord, 
look on their threats. Great place for them to invoke 
the removal clause at that point. But they don't, and I'm admitting 
that, and I'm acknowledging that. But there's other places in the 
Bible where men do invoke the removal clause. But here, it's 
now, Lord, look at their threats and grant to your servants. See, 
here's the rub, brethren. Whatever happens from out there, 
whatever happens within here, whatever happens in God's big 
world, there's always our response to it. There's always our reaction 
to it. There's always the way we think 
through it, the way we strategize about it, the way we conduct 
ourselves in the midst of it. And I think it's biblically right 
to ask God to make us proper vehicles