There's Power In Prayer

Acts 12:1-18

Acts 12:1–19 NLT

1 About that time King Herod Agrippa began to persecute some believers in the church. 2 He had the apostle James (John’s brother) killed with a sword. 3 When Herod saw how much this pleased the Jewish people, he also arrested Peter. (This took place during the Passover celebration.) 4 Then he imprisoned him, placing him under the guard of four squads of four soldiers each. Herod intended to bring Peter out for public trial after the Passover. 5 But while Peter was in prison, the church prayed very earnestly for him. 6 The night before Peter was to be placed on trial, he was asleep, fastened with two chains between two soldiers. Others stood guard at the prison gate. 7 Suddenly, there was a bright light in the cell, and an angel of the Lord stood before Peter. The angel struck him on the side to awaken him and said, “Quick! Get up!” And the chains fell off his wrists. 8 Then the angel told him, “Get dressed and put on your sandals.” And he did. “Now put on your coat and follow me,” the angel ordered. 9 So Peter left the cell, following the angel. But all the time he thought it was a vision. He didn’t realize it was actually happening. 10 They passed the first and second guard posts and came to the iron gate leading to the city, and this opened for them all by itself. So they passed through and started walking down the street, and then the angel suddenly left him. 11 Peter finally came to his senses. “It’s really true!” he said. “The Lord has sent his angel and saved me from Herod and from what the Jewish leaders had planned to do to me!” 12 When he realized this, he went to the home of Mary, the mother of John Mark, where many were gathered for prayer. 13 He knocked at the door in the gate, and a servant girl named Rhoda came to open it. 14 When she recognized Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed that, instead of opening the door, she ran back inside and told everyone, “Peter is standing at the door!” 15 “You’re out of your mind!” they said. When she insisted, they decided, “It must be his angel.” 16 Meanwhile, Peter continued knocking. When they finally opened the door and saw him, they were amazed. 17 He motioned for them to quiet down and told them how the Lord had led him out of prison. “Tell James and the other brothers what happened,” he said. And then he went to another place. 18 At dawn there was a great commotion among the soldiers about what had happened to Peter. 19 Herod Agrippa ordered a thorough search for him. When he couldn’t be found, Herod interrogated the guards and sentenced them to death. Afterward Herod left Judea to stay in Caesarea for a while.

Some Problems Are Too Big for Us in the Natural Realm

Today’s text opens by describing great persecution of the Early Church by King Herod Agrippa. It is worth mentioning that this King Herod is not the same King Herod in Jesus’s day as that man was referred to as Herod the Great. However, Herod Agrippa I was the grandson of Herod the Great and in AD 37 was given the territory of Phillip the tetrarch and in AD 39 added the territories of Galilee and Perea. Then two years later in AD 41 Agrippa added the rest of Judea which essentially meant he was now reigning over almost all of the Jewish territory in just three years. It is also worth mentioning that this is not the same Agrippa that Paul encounters in Acts 25 and 26 but rather that is his son Agrippa II.

It is well known and documented by the first century Jewish historian Josephus that Herod Agrippa I enjoyed a good relationship with the Jewish people and saw the persecution of Christians as an opportunity to further improve his relationship with them.

The Bible confirms this as we just read in that Agrippa was persecuting some in the church. James who was the brother of John and son of Zebedee was the first Disciple to be killed. Jesus referred to John and James as Boanerges meaning sons of Thunder in part because of their boldness. The killing of James and other Christians sent a direct signal to the early church which was that Agrippa was going to side with the Jewish leaders and if they continued to follow Jesus it could cost them their very lives.

Verse 3 tells us that during the Passover celebration he arrested and imprisoned Peter then guarded him with 16 soldiers divided into four groups of four soldiers. In addition to the number of soldiers if any prisoner escaped while under the guard of a Roman soldier he could be punished unto death. Again this shows the serious intent of Agrippa and the Jewish leaders to slow the spread or eliminate all together the growth of the Church.

So here is the early church and their leaders are being arrested, imprisoned and executed. Clearly they are no match for the military power of the Romans so direct combat is not the answer. At this point there are is not anyone in the region or Rome who will speak their case and help them politically. They are a peaceful people and desire only to live like Jesus and fulfill the Great Commission by sharing the Gospel with everyone, teaching and Baptizing those who put their faith in Jesus and to plant and grow churches meaning communities of believers.

And while there are many blessings and many people coming to the faith there is also the constant threat of the government, society and culture and even those within the Christian movement who the devil is using to try and disrupt the plans of God. While the faithfulness of the early Christians empowers them to keep trusting the Lord and moving forward with Kingdom work despite the difficulties we can only imagine in their humanity what they must have been feeling or at times how difficult the situation was. Said simply they wanted to change the world but were living in a situation where the enemies coming against them in the natural realm were seemingly more powerful than they were.

Does any of this sound familiar to you today? Are you dealing with or have you had to deal with situations which in the natural seem completely out of your control. Is your desire to love God and love people and yet there always seems to be something or someone trying to distract you, derail you or demoralize you to the point where in the natural realm your choices seem limited or even hopeless at times.

Listen to this Pastor this morning you are not alone. Your situation is not hopeless. The devil is a liar who is seeking to steal, kill and destroy all that the Lord wants to do in you and through you. But do not give up. Do not grow weary. Do not loose hope because Jesus is Lord of the supernatural realm and the natural realm and He is our source of strength and hope when it seems like the enemies and challenges of this life are overwhelming.

John 16:33 NLT

33 I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”

Brothers and sisters Jesus is telling us directly we will have challenges and pain in this world but that we do not have to fear, we can have His peace and we can have hope because Jesus has overcome the world! And since He is in the Father and we are in Christ that means through Him we are overcomers of this world as well. Hallelujah!

1 John 4:4 NLT

4 But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won a victory over those people, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world.

Victory is yours today so don’t loose heart but keep your eye on the prize which is that Jesus loves you, He is living inside of you and He is preparing a place for us in His kingdom that will never end! Praise Jesus! Hallelujah! Amen!

Believers Should Fervently Pray for One Another

So you may be saying to yourself I do trust God and I do have faith that He will work everything out according to His will but what am I supposed to do when myself or another Christian needs help which we cannot provide in the natural realm?

The answer is simple and direct pray and believe for God to do what only He can do!

Acts 12:5 NLT

5 But while Peter was in prison, the church prayed very earnestly for him.

The word earnestly means with sincere and intense conviction or seriousness. A synonym for earnestly is fervently which means very enthusiastically or passionately.

My point here is that the church did not just say a quick let’s pray for Peter and trust that everyone is going to do it privately. Rather they prayed both privately and as groups of people with seriousness and intense conviction. They prayed for Peter passionately and did not cease praying or giving up hope that if it be His will that the Lord could step in and perform a miracle even against the might Roman Empire.

Hear this Saints if we know a brother or sister in the Lord particularly someone at this church is hurting or facing a great challenge then we should have a heart of compassion for them and pray to the Lord to make a way where there seems to be no way! If you are a person who needs prayer then please do not feel awkward or embarrassed but rather seek both the Lord in your personal prayer life and your church family as well that we may pray for you. Listen I respect privacy and am not suggesting that you need to share all of your personal situations with others though there is nothing wrong with doing so but what I am explaining to you is that you are not alone. God will never leave your or forsake you and the Lord has also given you fellow Christians not only for you to support in their time of need but to support you in your time of need. As many of you know if someone asks me to pray for them if at all possible I like to do it right then and there. Not only does it demonstrate commitment to them as a Pastor but more importantly it demonstrates to people my faith that prayer works and that Jesus hears our prayers and loves us.

1 Peter 5:7 NLT

7 Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.

Just like the example of the church that prayed very earnestly for Peter we too need to pray very earnestly for one another.

Philippians 4:6–7 NLT

6 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

Said simply there are some things in the natural realm that are beyond our control but when we pray to the Lord about everything not only in our own lives but in the lives of others with a spirit of gratitude and worship then we too can have God’s peace knowing and trusting that His will be done which allows us to keep our focus on Jesus and not our challenges or pain.

Jesus is the God of Miracles

Verses 6-18 demonstrate to us the powerful miracles that take place when God’s people earnestly pray and seek His will.

It is the night before Peter’s trial which shows us not to give up because the Lord is right on time.

Peter is chained between two soldiers and the other 14 soldiers are guarding the prison.

Then then a bright light is in the cell and an angel of the Lord stood beside Peter and woke him up telling him to get up. It’s at that moment that the chains fall off his wrists.

Listen when the Lord answers your prayers it doesn’t matter what your chained to whether it be two soldiers, a prison cell, drugs, depression, lust, suicidal thoughts, sexual immorality, anger, sadness or anything else. When the Lord says freedom its freedom and the chains will fall. Amen! The Lord may use an Angel, a person or anything else which he desires to use but always remember it is His power and His grace and His love that sets you free not who or what He uses to fulfill His plans and purposes.

After the chains fall then the Angel instructs Peter to put on his shoes and his coat. After doing so Peter leaves the cell and follows the Angel. But the Bible tells us that Peter doesn’t realize it’s actually happening but rather thinks He is having a vision.

This may seem strange to some of you but I will tell you that the Lord has spiritual gifts for us such as prophecy and visions and many others but we need to seek and ask Him for the gifts He has for us. As followers of Christ we may not all have the exact same spiritual gifts we all do have spiritual gifts from the Lord. However, we need to be open to receiving them and petition the Lord for them than when we are ready He will bless us with them.

Also when operating in the Spirit you may not always be fully aware of what you are experiencing. For example Peter couldn’t tell if he was really escaping or it was a vision and that is because his visions from the Lord are so lifelike.

Personally, the Lord has blessed me at times to have a word for someone or a prayer for someone and most of the time I don’t remember what I said to them because I am just open to the Spirit speaking through me and genuinely try not to interject my own thoughts or opinions but speak what the Lord wants me to speak.

Moving on, after the Angel leads Peter past the first and second guard posts they come to the iron gate leading to the city and it opens for them all by itself. So they pass through and as Peter is walking down the street the Angel leaves him.

It’s at this moment that Peter realizes that he was not having a vision rather the Lord has sent an Angel and saved him from Herod and the Jewish leaders. Jesus literally has performed a miracle for Peter causing an Angel to step out of the supernatural into the natural to do for Peter what he could not do for Himself. All glory to God that He hears our prayers and gives us the help we need just when we need it! Hallelujah!

Next Peter goes to the place where the saints are gathered praying for him. The people were so excited and amazed to see Peter was alive and free.

The Lord is so good to us that many times we will get to witness His mighty hand blessing the lives of those we pray for. While yes it is extremely wonderful to see the Lord’s answered prayers in our own lives I will tell you it is also extremely wonderful to see the Lord’s answered prayers in the lives of others we have been praying for.

Closing

In closing today I just want to encourage each and every one of you that while life may through situations your way which are seemingly hopeless or situations that feel stagnant like they will never be solved that when you put your trust in Jesus you will have hope and joy despite your circumstances.

Furthermore, prayer works. If you need something pray. If a brother or sister in Christ is in trouble then pray. Pray for the saved and the lost. Pray seriously and sincerely. Pray passionately and emotionally. Pray alone and with a group of fellow believers. But please do not give up hope and keep praying because we serve a loving, limitless God who is ready, willing and able to make a way where there seems to be no way.

Prayer

Have a great week and remember that our joy is found in Jesus.