When Crisis Comes, the Church Earnestly Prays

Introduction

Over the last few weeks in our study in Acts, we’ve seen that the first century church had experienced a time of relative peace. There have been challenges, to be sure, but overall it’s been a time of minimal persecution for the church. But, that is about to change.

It is during times of great trials and tribulations that the church for all times and in all locations must care for one another in practical ways. While it is true that we should always care for one another in practical ways, it is most crucial when our brothers and sisters in Christ are enduring major difficulties in their lives.

Truth-be-told, the only real weapons the church has at it’s disposal are God’s Word, the fellowship of the saints, and prayer. But, these are exceedingly powerful! And the most powerful is prayer!

For example, April and I had an opportunity to meet with Susan Higby the other day. Susan is currently facing what at first was called cancer, but now is being labeled as either an autoimmune disease or potentially cancer. When it was first called cancer, many of us starting praying and, what she told us was she could tell we were praying because she’s felt God’s presence with her throughout this. And when they found no cancer in any of her other organs, she was praising God for the diligent prayers of her church family.

This is what the church does!

This morning we are going to look at one of the greatest narratives about the power of the praying church in the Bible, from Acts 12:1-17.

Body: Acts 12:1-17

Verses 1-5

Context...

Jerusalem church...

Stephen is martyred...

God sent Peter to Cornelius…(salvation for the Gentiles too)

Saul the persecutor has been converted and is now in Antioch...

Yet, all is not well...

Herod Agrippa I...

Grandson of Herod the Great…grew up and was educated in Rome…named king of Israel by Caligula in A.D. 37...

Unpopular with the Jewish people because of mixed heritage (Hebrew & Edomite) and Hellenism...

Tried to cover his Hellenism while in Jerusalem...

He’s attempting to gain popularity by persecuting the religious leader’s enemies, the young Christian church...

James the brother of John (son of Zebedee) is martyred...

James is beheaded...

One of the original apostles and a leader of the Jerusalem church...

Only apostolic death recorded in the NT...

Mark 10:38–39 ESV

Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” And they said to him, “We are able.” And Jesus said to them, “The cup that I drink you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized,

Peter is arrested during the Passover celebration...

The intention is to kill Peter too, but Herod wants to wait until after the Passover celebration in order to not upset the Jews...

Peter is heavily guarded...

4 squads of 4 soldiers watched him on a rotating basis…he was chained to two of them...

The religious leaders probably warned Herod of Peter’s escape recorded in chapter 5...

Key Verse: “…but earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church.”

When a crisis comes into the life of the church, the church earnestly prays.

earnest = ἐκτενῶς

adverb (describes a verb)...in a serious manner...

Other places:

Luke 22:44 ESV

And being in agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.

1 Peter 1:22 ESV

Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart,

Casual and half-hearted prayer isn’t earnest prayer...

Throughout Acts, prayer is the early church’s response to everything...

It should be ours as well...

Verses 6-11

Peter sleeping between two soldiers...

Notice that Peter wasn’t expecting anything but death. We see no depression in Peter or complaining to God.

In fact, Peter slept soundly. I can’t fathom that! But, it reveals a man who has grown from the denier he once was. He’s confident that in life or in death, God’s purposes will be fulfilled in his life.

An angel of the Lord...

Peter doesn’t escape, he is delivered!

God can rescue His people when and how He chooses.

Here we see that Peter is drowsy and disoriented. He needs to be given step by step directions by the angel.

And, he didn’t even realize this was real until after the fact.

Key Verse: “…Now I am sure that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me...”

The Lord will rescue His people when He has more for them to accomplish.

Unlike what some teachers will teach today, this isn’t a promise of God’s deliverance from persecution. God chooses to intervene at times, and doesn’t at other times. There is no magic formula…

The question should always be: why did God save Peter?

Because he still had work for him to do.

Why would God save us from suffering?

Because he has something for us to do…

Verses 12-17

The house of Mary, the mother of John Mark...

House church...

John Mark...

Where many were gathered together praying...

Peter left standing at the gate...

Unbelieving prayer...

“You are out of your mind.”

“It is his angel!”

Guardian angel? Who knows! The role of angels is to be ministering spirits who do what God wants done.

They saw him and were amazed.

Key Verse: “…he described to them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison.”

We should pray expecting that God will hear our prayers and respond according to His purposes.

Ask yourself an honest question: Do I really pray with the confidence that God not only hears my prayers, but answers them?

I’ve struggled with this at times in my life...

I mentioned early that the church only has three weapons when it comes to spiritual warfare and personal crisis: the fellowship of the believers, God’s Word, and prayer.

All are powerful. But, prayer might be the most powerful, because anyone can do it...

In His graciousness, the God who created everything, sustains everything, and understands everything, not only welcomes our prayers, but He answers them.

His answers aren’t always expected, but they are always for our good and His glory.

Challenge

Going over my notes, the last time I preached this text was when we announced Diana Lerma’s cancer diagnosis. We prayed that day, and we set May 28, 2024 as a day of prayer for Diana Lerma. It was important and it was powerful. But, Diana still succumbed to her cancer and passed away. So, some struggle when we pray earnestly for something and yet God doesn’t seem to answer our earnest prayer, at least as we may have hoped. I want to end this passage considering that.

In the Lord’s Prayer Jesus says something important that we too often gloss over. Look at it again:

Matthew 6:10 “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

God’s passionate about His kingdom coming and His will being done. Why? Because it’s what’s absolutely best. God’s kingdom is best for God’s people and His will is best for His people. This doesn’t necessarily mean it’s going to be exactly what we want all the time, it’s what’s going to be best for us.

Some of you know that Elizabeth has an autoimmune disease that we’ve been working with the doctors on for a few years. It is somewhat under-control right now, but it is serious and could become cancer if we aren’t on top of things or if things take a bad turn.

Over the last twelve weeks, she’s had to go down to OHSU to go through infusions. That means needles, sitting still for hours, and having chemicals pumped in and back out of her eleven year old body. And, while she’s there she often has to listen to other children getting their infusions, sometimes screaming out of fear and pain. Additionally, it means routine blood draws and daily medication. You might not know this, but kids don’t like any of that stuff! But, it’s what’s best for her right now. So, she has to endure temporary pain, frustration, and annoyance in order for something better to come out of it.

It is a great illustration of our lives. We often face challenges that bring temporary pain, frustration, annoyance, or any other number of emotional and/or physical trials. And we don’t always understand why we have to experience these things. But, we know this: our God is good and He has a far greater plan for His people. His kingdom come and His will being done is always what’s best for His people, even when it doesn’t feel like it at the time.

And that’s part of expectant prayer. We expect God hears our prayers and will respond, even if we don’t necessarily love the response. We pray believing that His purposes are what really matter because we only ever see what’s right in front of our faces, but God sees the whole picture of our lives and how that fits into his kingdom come and His will be done.

So, we can pray earnestly, knowing that He will rescue His people when He has more for them to accomplish, and therefore we should pray expecting that God will hear our prayers and respond according to His purposes.