I know for sure that the Lord can and will

Acts 12:1-23 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Now about that time Herod the king laid hands on some who belonged to the church in order to mistreat them. ² And he had James the brother of John put to death with a sword. ³ When he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also. Now it was during the days of Unleavened Bread. ⁴ When he had seized him, he put him in prison, delivering him to four squads of soldiers to guard him, intending after the Passover to bring him out before the people. ⁵ So Peter was kept in the prison, but prayer for him was being made fervently by the church to God.

⁶ On the very night when Herod was about to bring him forward, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and guards in front of the door were watching over the prison. ⁷ And behold, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared and a light shone in the cell; and he struck Peter’s side and woke him up, saying, “Get up quickly.” And his chains fell off his hands. ⁸ And the angel said to him, “Gird yourself and put on your sandals.” And he did so. And he said to him, “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me.” ⁹ And he went out and continued to follow, and he did not know that what was being done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision. ¹⁰ When they had passed the first and second guard, they came to the iron gate that leads into the city, which opened for them by itself; and they went out and went along one street, and immediately the angel departed from him. ¹¹ When Peter came to himself, he said, “Now I know for sure that the Lord has sent forth His angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting.”¹² And when he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John who was also called Mark, where many were gathered together and were praying.¹³ When he knocked at the door of the gate, a servant-girl named Rhoda came to answer. ¹⁴ When she recognized Peter’s voice, because of her joy she did not open the gate, but ran in and announced that Peter was standing in front of the gate.¹⁵ They said to her, “You are out of your mind!” But she kept insisting that it was so. They kept saying, “It is his angel.” ¹⁶ But Peter continued knocking; and when they had opened the door, they saw him and were amazed. ¹⁷ But motioning to them with his hand to be silent, he described to them how the Lord had led him out of the prison. And he said, “Report these things to James and the brethren.” Then he left and went to another place.

¹⁸ Now when day came, there was no small disturbance among the soldiers as to what could have become of Peter. ¹⁹ When Herod had searched for him and had not found him, he examined the guards and ordered that they be led away to execution. Then he went down from Judea to Caesarea and was spending time there.

²⁰ Now he was very angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon; and with one accord they came to him, and having won over Blastus the king’s chamberlain, they were asking for peace, because their country was fed by the king’s country. ²¹ On an appointed day Herod, having put on his royal apparel, took his seat on the rostrum and began delivering an address to them. ²² The people kept crying out, “The voice of a god and not of a man!” ²³ And immediately an angel of the Lord struck him because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and died.

In Mark 11:23-24 Jesus says:  “Have faith in God. Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted him. Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you.”   In today’s text we see an account of a time Peter was arrested and it was Herod’s intention to have him killed. The text says:  Peter was kept in the prison, but prayer for him was being made fervently by the church to God. Now I can only imagine what they said and what they prayed that night, the declarations of faith and the promises from God’s word for protection. But did they believe what they asked for would happen or was there doubt in their hearts? The text says:   On the very night when Herod was about to bring him forward, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and guards in front of the door were watching over the prison. And behold, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared and a light shone in the cell; and he struck Peter’s side and woke him up, saying, “Get up quickly.” And his chains fell off his hands. And the angel said to him, “Gird yourself and put on your sandals.” And he did so. And he said to him, “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me.” And he went out and continued to follow, and he did not know that what was being done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision.  Even Peter did not fully believe his prayers were being answered. He thought it was a dream or a vision. The text continues:  When they had passed the first and second guard, they came to the iron gate that leads into the city, which opened for them by itself; and they went out and went along one street, and immediately the angel departed from him. When Peter came to himself, he said, “Now I know for sure that the Lord has sent forth His angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting.” And when he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John who was also called Mark, where many were gathered together and were praying. When he knocked at the door of the gate, a servant-girl named Rhoda came to answer.  When she recognized Peter’s voice, because of her joy she did not open the gate, but ran in and announced that Peter was standing in front of the gate. They said to her, “You are out of your mind!” But she kept insisting that it was so. They kept saying, “It is his angel.”  But Peter continued knocking; and when they had opened the door, they saw him and were amazed.   Even those who were praying fervently were amazed that their prayer was answered.

Isn’t that how we too often are when we pray fervently for something? Particularly when, as in this account, it seems to be the final hour; when the circumstances seem to be beyond hope; we continue to pray but we fear the worst rather than believing what we ask for. A key to our prayers being answered and even to our faith to believe, lies in what Jesus says first: “Have faith in God.”   Our faith, what we believe should not be limited by what we know and understand. It should not be limited to our own abilities. Our faith should be unlimited because it is in the unlimited, infinite, omnipotent God. Jesus says:    “whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted him.”    God created the mountains and all of creation is subject to Him. If our faith is in Him, then why would we doubt that what we ask would happen? Jesus taught us to pray: “Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”    We are to pray that the realities of heaven would be manifested in the circumstances and situations on earth. When we pray fervently we should seek to see and hear and to pray into heaven so that we pray from heaven’s perspective. Hebrews 4:16 says:  Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.   Beyond the answer to our prayers, part of the help we receive at the throne of grace is that we do see from heaven’s perspective. We then can pray in agreement with the will of the Father. Then, having faith in God, as we pray in agreement with His will; with what we have seen and heard in heaven, we can truly believe that we will receive what we ask for.

2 Corinthians 5:7 says:  For we walk by faith, not by sight.  But the faith we walk by needs to be faith in God, not ourselves or the circumstances we see with our natural eyes.   The text says:  Now about that time Herod the king laid hands on some who belonged to the church in order to mistreat them. And he had James the brother of John put to death with a sword. When he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also. Now it was during the days of Unleavened Bread. When he had seized him, he put him in prison, delivering him to four squads of soldiers to guard him, intending after the Passover to bring him out before the people. So Peter was kept in the prison, but prayer for him was being made fervently by the church to God. On the very night when Herod was about to bring him forward, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and guards in front of the door were watching over the prison.   Herod used everything in his power to accomplish his will and satisfy men. Four squads of solidiers was sixteen men. Yet because it was against the will of God, Herod and his men were powerless. In Matthew 17:20, Jesus says something similar to what He says in Mark 11. He says:  “Truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you.”    It is not a great amount of faith that we need to move the mountains that we face. What we need is a small amount of faith in a great and powerful God. We cannot hope to accomplish anything in our own strength, outside of God’s will. But, if we ask believing because we have seen and heard what the situation on earth looks like from the throne of grace, nothing will be impossible to us.

Thank You heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ and precious Holy Spirit; may I always see with eyes of faith, that I might know how to pray. May I pray from the throne of grace, that Your grace would be the answer to my prayers. May my faith, even if it is small, always be in You, the great, omnipotentent God of creation. Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.   Amen.