Acts 12:5
So Peter was kept in the prison, but prayer for him was being made fervently by the church to God.
It is, at times, hard to believe prayer actually works. Haven’t we all prayed for something that never came to pass? Let me ask this. Have you ever prayed and received your answer? Most of us have examples in both directions. My purpose in this devotion is to get both you and me to lean a little more in the direction of believing in the power of prayer.
Speaking of power, today’s verse represents a powerful story. Peter had been arrested and was to be executed. The very night before his execution, an angel appeared in Peter’s cell. Herod employed extensive security measures to guard Peter, using sixteen guards for one prisoner. That fateful night before the scheduled execution there were guards posted inside and outside the prison cell. In fact, there were guards sleeping on either side of Peter. There was no way anyone could free the prisoner. But . . .!
God is the grand exception, isn’t He? When the angel awoke Peter, the shackles fell from Peter’s hands. The angel instructed him to dress and they escaped the prison disappearing into the night. Peter then went to the home of Mark’s mother where the faithful were gathered, praying. So cool!
This story causes faith to arise in me. Does it you? In this case, prayer overcame astounding odds. What is amazing to me is that Peter was asleep. Do you imagine you would sleep much the night before your planned execution? Perhaps Peter expected God to intervene. I don’t know but I find it remarkable that he was peacefully asleep, deeply enough, in fact, that the angel had to nudge him.
Maybe I don’t pray as much as I should. Well, there is no maybe about it. Which of us does, right? Why don’t we pray all the time? I think at the base of this conundrum lies two factors. The first is perhaps obvious. We don’t really, really believe in the power of prayer. Yes, in our minds we do, but our hearts are unconvinced. So, prayer is not the first tool we reach for.
The second reason is more subtle but related to the first. It’s this, we don’t want to be disappointed. Admittedly, we have all prayed without receiving the desired result. Perhaps that unanswered prayer resulted in heartbreak or at least uncomfortable emotions of lack and disappointment. Now, faced with a new situation, it feels risky to put our emotions back out on the table to perhaps be trampled again. No one wants to experience emotional pain. Then along comes a Bible story like this one and the flame of hope flickers into life. We want to believe.
Our ministry has a prayer team, and I will tell you that they are a devoted group of pray-ers. We have seen some miracles through the prayer team’s efforts, and it is always encouraging. We would like to pray for you, if you will allow us. Here I wish to say, it is not an admission of weakness or a lack of faith to ask for prayer although it seems a thread of that belief runs through the body of Christ. In fact, doesn’t it show belief and faith to ask for prayer? I know we can pray for ourselves, and I do, but I feel more confident and powerful praying for others than I do for myself so if you like, I will pray for you and you can pray for me.
I wish you would flood us with prayer requests. The link is: Prayer Requests. Further, are there some among you who would have liked being one of pray-ers that moved heaven on Peter’s behalf? Become a prayer team member! We send out a list of prayers a couple of times a month. We just ask that you connect with God in your heart and pray for each request on the list. It’s that easy. You can use the same link as above or use the contact us form: contact us.
Can prayer move mountains? I believe it can. It seems to have worked quite well for Nathan, as we saw in last Monday’s Word of the Day (click Here). I hope you will be encouraged today to pray more and expect God to answer, and don’t underestimate the power of having the whole crew praying with you. Prayer was instrumental in getting Peter released from prison, so let us pray more and pray for each other more too.
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