They saw him and were amazed.

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.

Nearly every church says that prayer is vital and that it is powerful. Often though the church today is like the church in today’s text. It 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.   They were praying fervently, but what was their expectation?  Were they praying believing for a miraculous deliverance? Did they hope for the best, but expect the worst, as we often do? When Peter was delivered by the angel of God and appeared at the place they were gathered, the text says:  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.   How often are we amazed that God actually answered our prayer? 

In Mark 11:22-24 Jesus says:  “Have faith in God.  Forassuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.  Therefore I say to you,whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.”   So, faith in God, believing without doubt is vital to our prayers being answered.  There is more to our prayers though than just believing. It is not simply that as it is said, we can name it and claim it. 1 Thesalonians 5:16-18 says:   Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.   James 5:16 says:  Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.  Luke 18:1-8 says:  Now He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart, saying, “In a certain city there was a judge who did not fear God and did not respect man. There was a widow in that city, and she kept coming to him, saying, ‘Give me legal protection from my opponent.’For a while he was unwilling; but afterward he said to himself, ‘Even though I do not fear God nor respect man,yet because this widow bothers me, I will give her legal protection, otherwise by continually coming she will wear me out.’” And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge said; now, will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry to Him day and night, and will He delay long over them? I tell you that He will bring about justice for them quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?”   Here’s the thing about our persistent prayers to God. It is not that we wear Him out as the woman in the parable. God is sovereign. We cannot manipulate Him to our will through our persistence. Jesus said though that we are to have faith in God. Our persistent prayer then is focused on Him, not on our will. 2 Corinthians 5:7 says:  We walk by faith, not by sight.   When we pray persistently, with faith in God, we begin to see things from His perspective. We become aligned with His will, so our prayers also become aligned with Him and His will. Psalm 37:3-5 says:  Trust in the Lord and do good; Dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness.  Delight yourself in the Lord; And He will give you the desires of your heart.  Commit your way to the Lord, Trust also in Him, and He will do it. The most important thing that changes through our persistent prayer; our constant abiding and delighting in Him, is ourselves. We become like the one we focus on. When we focus on the circumstance or the problem, we become full of doubt, unbelief and fear. When we focus on God and become aligned with Him, we can believe we will receive what we ask, because we ask what He wants. Our desires are the same as His.

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ; precious Holy Spirit, may I truly walk by faith and not by sight. May I persistently pray, abide and delight in You so that the desires of my heart are aligned with Your heart. May Your kingdom come and Your will be done, in and through my life.  Amen.