The story in Acts 12:1-17 illustrates how God works in response to the prayers of his people. Though all appeared hopeless for Peter, the body of believers did all that they could for him – they prayed. What made the prayers of these first century Christians so effective? Their secret is found in verse 5.
- Acts 12:5 So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him.
Here we see three basic steps these Christians took in response to what appeared to be a hopeless situation:
1. They directed their prayer to God. Ironically, many times our prayers often contain little thought of God himself. We fill our mind with thoughts about our own needs instead of our heavenly Father. But Jesus himself encouraged us to respectfully consider whom we are praying to when he gave us the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6:9-13. Realizing who it is you are praying to will help you to take your eyes off of your own dilemma and to place them on the Almighty God, and it will also help you to align your will or desire with His.
2. They prayed earnestly. These Christians offered constant, fervent prayer on Peter’s behalf. Another way to translate this verse is, “They prayed with agony.” It is the same phrase used to describe the way Jesus prayed in the garden of Gethsemane (Matthew 26:36-46). Their prayers had intensity. Many of our prayers have no power because they have little or no heart in them. If we put so little heart into our prayers, we cannot expect God to put much heart into answering them.
3. They prayed as a Body. There is power in united prayer. Jesus said in Matthew 18:19, “truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.” If two or more people who share the same God-given burden are sure of God’s will and are in agreement with the Spirit of God and one another as they pray – they will see dynamic results.
We may not be able to all come together as a body right now due to the ongoing pandemic but we can still pray as a body. This coming Wednesday I’m asking all of our members to set aside one hour , from 6-7 p.m., to pray. We will email an updated prayer list Wednesday afternoon and I’m asking that each family devote that one hour to praying for those on our prayer list, praying that this pandemic would soon come to an end, praying for the church, the community, the state, and the nation, as well as our leaders and all those who have been affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
Someone once said, “Satan trembles when he sees the weakest saint on his knees.” If you are in a bleak situation today, consider how God worked through the prayers of those early Christians in Acts 12. Don’t give up! If we follow these principles, we will see results done God’s way and in God’s timing.
Praying everyone is staying safe and healthy and looking forward to the time when we can all come together again.
In Christ,
Gary T.