The Lord is awe-inspiring, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him in Acts 12:5,
“So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him.”
Here we see the clash of two wills. King Herod intended to have Peter put to death after he saw how much it pleased the Jews when he had John’s brother, James put to death. James was the first known apostle to have suffered a martyr’s death and Herod intended to do the same with Peter.
But the church did not want Peter put to death and not having the power to stop it themselves they were “earnestly praying to God for him.” They made their appeal to God to spare Peter’s life and as we read the account we see their prayers answered. So startling was this answer to prayer that when Peter showed up at the door where a number of disciples were praying for him they initially assumed the servant girl, Rhoda, who had answered the door, was out of her mind when she told them Peter was at the door.
Much has been said of the expectation we should have when we pray and this account is often used as an example of what it looks like when we don’t have the faith that God will answer our prayers, “when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished.” Acts 12:16. Why should they have been astonished?
I see something else here as well, though, which commends these believers to me. We are told in John 5:14, “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.” These believers were praying according to God’s will. Apparently God was not done with Peter in this life and he was pleased to respond to the believer’s prayers to spare Peter’s life. It is fascinating to me to read the verse in John’s letter. God wants us to participate with him in the actions he takes by us requesting those things that need to be done that are according to God’s own will. The clear implication here is that some things might not happen if we don’t pray for them.
What might have happened if the church had not prayed for Peter? What might happen if I not bring those things to God in prayer that I know are according to God’s will?
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share your theme of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We’d love to hear from you!
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