Acts 12
Acts 12 sits in the middle of troubling times for the church. Herod is persecuting the church, he kills James, the brother of John, and he seizes Peter and throws him in jail. In a short span, two crucial members of the church have been taken. But the church kept their faith and prayed to the Lord, and he delivered. Peter was miraculously freed by an angel in the night, and he made his way to the house of Mary. They couldn’t believe it! Peter was free, and soon after Herod was struck down by the Lord.
There are many aspects to digest in this chapter. I think the first that spoke to me was the faith of the church members in times of trouble. The church was not new to persecution, they had already experienced the death of Stephen, and the Jews had been contesting them from the beginning. They knew what to do when trouble came, they lifted their voices up to the Lord. Luke describes their prayer as “earnest” which means it had sincere and intense conviction.
This draws a beautiful picture for us as believers concerning our prayer life. While I hope none of our friends are thrown in prison anytime soon, we all have our problems that trouble us and even our faith. How good are we at lifting those concerns up to the Lord? Acts 12 makes it clear that a proper response to our troubles is to immediately give it to the Lord, full of sincerity and conviction.
One of the best parts of this chapter is God’s immediacy in his resolution for the church. He hears the prayers of the people, and he saves Peter. Even the church wasn’t expecting such a quick resolution, as evidenced by their shock when Peter was at the door. They even thought it must have been his angel. God shows his power to his people, and at the same time gives a great example of how much power is in prayer. God can work in ways that we could never expect, and we should pray knowing that!
Life is full of bumps and turns, and it is difficult to navigate them on our own. When you are in the midst of your deepest struggles, are you earnestly lifting your prayers up to the Lord and giving your worries to him? If so, do you truly believe that he has the power to deliver you and supply you with what you need to move forward? Acts 12 gives us a brilliant example of why we should do and believe both of these things, and I pray that myself and fellow believers would never forget the wonderful power that is in prayer.