Prayer That Works

Setting - Prophets came to Antioch and Agabus prophesied that there would be a large famine. The church at Antioch took up an offering and sent it to the churches in Judea with Saul and Barnabas.

Read Acts 12:1-19 and Pray

As a Church...

How Should We Pray?

Pray Fervently

Acts 12:5 NASB95

So Peter was kept in the prison, but prayer for him was being made fervently by the church to God.

Herod and the Jews planned to kill Peter and stop the Church, but the Church prayed.

How many times have people plotted against us and failed because of prayer?

Those who go camping know that before you pack up and leave you have to make sure that your campfire is totally extinguished or the wind might restart the fire. Our prayers for this church are like cupping your hand over a hot coal and blowing on it until you see a flame.

With enough air and patience you will end up with a roaring campfire, and with enough fervent prayer you will end up with a healthy church.

Pray Frequently

Acts 12:12 NASB95

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.

There are two instances of the church praying in this passage alone.

Philippians 4:6 NASB95

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

Prayer isn’t just for Sunday mornings. God wants us to share all of our concerns and our praise with Him throughout every day.

God often waits to deliver when all other hope is lost so that our hope is in Him alone. When we pray fervently and frequently. we are showing God that we trust Him.

As a church…

Why Should We Pray?

Our God is not like other gods. One distinction of Israelite prayer is an emphasis on the acts of God and not only His attributes. His nature is proven by His works in human history. He is a living God that answers prayers!

God is Just

Psalm 89:13–15 NASB95

You have a strong arm; Your hand is mighty, Your right hand is exalted. Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; Lovingkindness and truth go before You. How blessed are the people who know the joyful sound! O Lord, they walk in the light of Your countenance.

God will make everything right in the end.

Luke 18:1–8 NASB95

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?”

God will not reject us if we repent.

Luke 18:9–14 NASB95

And He also told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed others with contempt: “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. “The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. ‘I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’ “But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’ “I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

God is Loving

While the Egyptians, Akkadians, and Sumerians focused their prayers on persuading the gods to help them through ritual and sacrifice, the God of Israel cared about His people and desired to save them and bless them.

Luke 11:5–13 NASB95

Then He said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend, and goes to him at midnight and says to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves; for a friend of mine has come to me from a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; and from inside he answers and says, ‘Do not bother me; the door has already been shut and my children and I are in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.’ “I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will get up and give him as much as he needs. “So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. “For everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it will be opened. “Now suppose one of you fathers is asked by his son for a fish; he will not give him a snake instead of a fish, will he? “Or if he is asked for an egg, he will not give him a scorpion, will he? “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?”

God is not like the evil father or the friend who won’t get out of bed to help you. He doesn’t answer your prayers because you annoy Him. He answers your prayers because He loves you!

Matthew 6:7–8 NASB95

“And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words. “So do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.

Matthew 6:25–34 NASB95

“For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? “Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? “And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life? “And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. “But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! “Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ “For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. “So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

God is Sovereign

Acts 12:6 NASB95

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.

Peter was sleeping because He trusted God.

Psalm 33:8–11 NASB95

Let all the earth fear the Lord; Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him. For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast. The Lord nullifies the counsel of the nations; He frustrates the plans of the peoples. The counsel of the Lord stands forever, The plans of His heart from generation to generation.

Peter was not afraid of Herod or the Jews because he knew that nothing could happen to him apart from God’s sovereign plan.

Acts 12:13–16 NASB95

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.

We should not be surprised when God answers big prayers because nothing is too hard for Him.

CONCLUSION

Let us pray fervently and frequently because we have a just, loving, and sovereign God who hears and answers.

Benediction | Ephesians 3:14-21

Ephesians 3:14–21 NASB95

For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.