GOD'S INTERVENTION THROUGH PRAYER

INTRODUCTION

Prayer-it seems like such a simple concept. Yet, there is a problem with prayer. The problem with prayer is that we do not do it. This is not just a problem from those in the pew. One report revealed that only 16% of all pastors are satisfied with their prayer life. A variety of culprits could be revealed. We say that we are too busy. Maybe we do not believe we are spiritual enough. We may think we are not truly walking with God. Of course, the issue could be un-confessed sin. Speaking of sin, the same sin that will keep you from being in God’s Word will also keep you from possessing a powerful and effective prayer life. Also, consider this possibility. On this last Sunday of this challenging year called 2020, maybe you are just so overwhelmed, frustrated and exhausted that you are left unmotivated in the area of prayer. The very thing we ought to be doing (praying) just me be the very thing we are failing to do.

Although they believed in prayer, the early church was often surprised in how God chose to intervene in relation to their prayers. [read text]

Get this picture in your minds. The church that was born out of Pentecost (Acts 2) is praying. The focus of their prayer is to one end. They are praying, “God, please get Peter out of prison.” The next thing you know a little girl is at the door where the church is praying and excitedly announced, “Peter is at the door!” The response of the church is noted (15). The church was so busy praying for something they really did not believe was going to happen to notice God’s answer to prayer that He had already accomplished. It is possible to believe and at the same time not believe what we are praying .

There are two questions concerning prayer that that will diagnose any problem that you will ever be confronted with.

Do you believe in the power of prayer?

Are you at peace with your prayer life?

Most of us would probably answer “YES” to the first question and most of us would probably answer “NO” to the second question. The reality is that most of us struggle not with the theology of prayer, the doctrine of prayer or our own theories concerning prayer. Our problem concerns the practice of prayer.

Our text will address four prayer principles concerning God’s intervention through prayer.

PRAYER PRINCIPLE #1: GOD WILL INTERVENE IN TIMES OF TROUBLE THROUGH PRAYER (12:1-4)

This is Herod Agrippa I, grandson of Herod the Great. When he was four years old, his parents sent him to Rome. He made friends with many of those who would eventually become the rulers of Rome. A couple of those he became friends with were Claudius and Gaius. When these rose to power, they helped raise Herod Agrippa I to power. Herod was a Jew in name only. He was not involved in the religious practices of Judaism. Herod was using Judaism as a means to his political ends.

The Bible says that Herod violently attacked the church (1). We need to understand what was going on during this period of time. There was a “rumor” going around that there was a Galilean peasant that had died. The strange thing about the death of this person was that he supposedly came back to life. This caused great division within the Jewish community. Some came to realize Jesus was the promised Messiah. They received Him and followed Him. As this began to occur increasingly, these Jews were not good Jews anymore. They were now accused of fraternizing with the enemy. Jews were now hanging out with Gentiles. Jews were thinking, “What is this world coming to?” Because of the persecution that broke out against the Christians by the Jewish community, Christianity broke out of its yoke with Judaism.

This unrest and because of trying to appease the Jews, Herod kills James the Apostle (2). Public enemy number one is gone. Herod now turns his attention to public enemy number two, which is now public enemy number one. Peter is going to suffer the same fate as his fellow apostle James. Peter is going to die unless God intervenes (3).

The situation could not have ben worse. Herod Agrippa had the power and authority to do as he desired. There was no amount of protesting that could stop him. He was personal friends with the aristocracy and rulers. James had been killed by his murderous hand and there was no push back because of of it. He had thrown Peter into prison to please the Jews.

Jim Cymbala, in his great book on prayer, states, “If you have been waiting for an answer for prayer along time, remember that long waits often occur right before the biggest mountains come down.”

The point is DON’T GIVE UP! God’s timetable is different than yours (3-4).

It is interesting to note that Herod put Peter into prison during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. The Feast of Unleavened Bread and Passover are closely connected. They are almost synonymous. Passover commemorated the final plague on Egypt when the firstborn of the Egyptians died and the Israelites were spared because of the blood smeared on their doorposts.

The Feast of Unleavened Bread is so named because only unleavened bread was eaten during the seven days immediately following Passover. It reflects back on the fact that the people had no time to put leaven in their bread before their hurried departure from Egypt.

Herod did not want to put Peter on trial and subsequently kill him prematurely because he wanted to ingratiate himself to the Jews. To rid himself of Peter before the end of Passover would have been political suicide. Thus, Peter would be incarcerated for several days.

God intervenes in times of trouble through prayer

GOD INTERVENES WHEN CHURCHES PRAY (12:5)

Peter is in prison waiting to be put to death. Things are bad. Things could not have been worse. However, notice the very next word “but.” Prayer is the great conjunction. Prayer is the great contradiction because prayer contradicts the seemingly obvious. The church had no political power. The church had no financial resources. The leadership of the church was constantly under attack (funny how some things never change). [BUT]

What is it that is going on in your life today that has caused you to almost give up? What is it that has caused you to conclude that there is no help and no hope? Whatever it is, I want to remind you of one word-BUT! When we look around at the situations and problems of this world, we often conclude that there is no solution and there is nothing we can do about it. Be careful! Here is the next dangerous step in the downward spiral in that conclusion. We are in danger of also concluding at this point that there is nothing God can do in our situation either. The mighty contradiction of God is this: He loves the impossible. God can and often does reverse the circumstances of your life in response to your prayer life.

Here is the lesson God wants us to learn. God will not accomplish in your life without prayer what He promises to do because of prayer. That is what James 4:2 clearly states. “You desire and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and wage war. You do not have because you do not ask.”

What does the Bible say? “You do not have because of the culture. You do not have because of a lack of finances. You do not have because of your circumstances. Is that what the Bible says? NO! The Bible says that you have not because you ask not. That is what the Bible says. God specializes in making the impossible possible.

The Bible says that Peter “was kept” in prison but the church “was praying fervently” for him. The Greek word “was praying” is an imperfect verb. This indicates repeated action. They had been praying for Peter up to now and they continued to pray. This was a prayer meeting that most of us have never experienced. They prayed for Peter all day and all night. They prayed in the morning. They prayed in the afternoon. They prayed in the evening. We think we have called down the power of heaven when we pray for a couple of minutes. Then we still do what we want to do and fail to do what the Holy Spirit is desiring that we do. There was an an insistence and persistence to their prayers. This is the principle Jesus taught in Luke 18:1. “Now he told them a parable on the need to pray always and not give up.”

If you are going to serve Jesus in the long haul, you had better develop a spirit of insistence and persistence in your prayer life. God has chosen to work in cooperation with a genuinely praying church. Let me give you what I call the prepositional power of a praying church.

The church was consistently offering prayer to God (confidence in prayer).

The church was consistently offering prayer to God for Peter (the object of intercession in prayer).

Constant prayer was offered to God for Peter by the church (those with a passion for prayer).

The church was praying with passion. The word fervently is the Greek word “ektaino” which literally means, “to stretch out.” This church was stretching out in faith believing in prayer. The church has not effectively prayed until she has stretched out our faith in Christ in prayer. This is the type of prayer God responds to. God intervenes when a church stretches their faith in prayer.

GOD CALMS US WHEN WE PRAY (12:6)

Peter was kept in prison while the church was praying earnestly on his behalf. He is chained with these bonds on his right arm. This is a giant of a man. He would have been much bigger than your pastor. On his left arm, there would be another huge soldier that he is chained to. That is not all. Outside this dungeon of a prison there are two more guards. Every three hours they would change places and a new set of guards would come in. So, every four hours there would be this changing of the guard. Here is what we should notice. Petter is not getting out of there. Barring divine intervention, Peter is going to be tried by a kangaroo court, convicted and sentenced by that same kangaroo court, and ultimately executed. This is the reality of the situation.

Now, notice Peter’s disposition. What is Peter doing in the midst of this? Peter is asleep. There are no sedatives being used her. Peter did not take a Benadryl to help him get there. He didn’t eve take a Melatonin to help him get to sleep. Peter is not worried. He is just hanging out. Do people like Peter get on your nerves? “Peter, why aren’t you worried?” Peter says, “I have nothing to worry about.” Maybe the reason Peter wasn’t worried was because of Acts 5:19. “But an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail during the night, brought them out, and said.” Peter has been through this before. Peter has been the recipient of God’s calming grace in the midst of unsettling circumstances. Maybe we should take note and do the same. God will calm the soul in the midst of our raging circumstances.

PRAYER PRINCIPLE #4: GOD WILL DELIVER BECAUSE OF PRAYER (12:7-11)

This (Holy Bible) is either the Word of god or it is not the Word of God. I choose to believe this is there Word of God. Therefore, there is a direct correlation between verse five and verse seven. There is a direct correlation between a praying church and the God who answers prayer. Peter’s deliverance was a supernatural event as evidenced by the appearing of the angel (7).

The angel gets specific with Peter (8). Peter was stunned. He thought that he was dreaming. One minute he is incarcerated, the next he is free (9). The angel gets Peter safely by his former captors. Once the angel had escorted Peter a secure distance, the angel leaves him (10). Peter looks around and realizes that this was not a dream. This was the divine deliverance of God.

Folks, this is what happens in salvation. You are in chains and you are in bondage. The Spirit of God says, “Get up!” He reveals to you the glory of Jesus and the weight of your sinfulness. It is at this point you have a decision to make. You can do what Peter did and the chains of your sinfulness will fall off. You can get up now and walk with God in faith, even though there is so much you do not understand.

Your other choice is to put faith in yourself. I tried to get him to go to church with me. I attempted to give him the gospel. Yet, all he did was give excuse after excuses. Even after addressing each of his excuses (that is all they were), he remained unmoved. Finally he said to me, “I will come to church when I am good enough.” My last words to him were, You will never be good enough. Billy Graham isn’t good enough, so what makes you think you will ever be good enough?”

He passed away several years ago. Folks, he is my age and he is in eternity somewhere. If this man remained unrepentant and trusting in his own goodness, or lack thereof, he did not make it into heaven. We go with Christ in faith, or we do not go at all. You may never have another opportunity, don’t waste it.

God will intervene through our prayers. He will intervene in times of trouble. God intervenes when the church fervently prays. He will intervene by providing calm to us when we pray. God will even use our praying to divinely deliver us when we pray.

Jesus said that God is like a man behind a door when another man comes knocking persistently at his door and He responds. When we ask and keep on asking, when we seek and keep on seeking, when we knock and keep on knocking, God is teaching us about insistence and intensity in prayer. This type of active praying will lead to an active serving and worshiping life.

We must not give up. We must keep on praying consistently and fervently. You might plant collards today, but you will not eat them tomorrow. However, you will enjoy them one day. It is the same with prayer. Keep on praying. Keep on asking. Keep on seeking and keep on knocking. This is not the time for the same dead praying that the church has been so guilty of. These are not days for hesitancy and timidity. This is time for radical breakout prayer.

Lord Jesus, fill this place with the fire of the Holy Spirit. We pray that all the glory, honor, praise and worship be yours today, Lord Jesus. In whose name we pray. Amen.