“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
–Matthew 7:7-8
In Acts 12 we read that Peter was in prison and that Herod had gotten so much good publicity from the execution of the apostle James that he intended to do the same thing to Peter. Meanwhile, the church prayed. Notice they did not go write negative letters to the editor bad mouthing Herod. They did not post on social media comparing Herod to Hitler. They did not even start a “go fund me” account to create a good bribe to get Peter out. No they did what the church often fails to do, they simply prayed. Many within the church pay good lip service to the idea of prayer. However, over the past several years I have attended many prayer meetings and I typically meet with the same few people. The number of people who attend a time of prayer is painfully small.
Those that are actually dedicated to the practice seem to be in short supply. These men and women chose to pray together until they got an answer from the King of Kings. One of two things were going to be the “amen” to the prayer. One Peter would be set free physically by being let out of prison or Peter would be set free and promoted to Heaven. But the people, the church was dedicated to prayer. This church had to believe that something would happen, so they asked the King. They pleaded with the King. Some I am sure cried out to the King. Set my friend, my brother, maybe if Peter’s wife was there my husband, free. Some might have prayed for Peter to maybe find comfort even in the dark, dank devilish prisons of that era. If so, that prayer too seems to have been answered as Peter was sound asleep when the angel came and rescued him.
Even in the midst of what they really wanted to see they sought the will of God. It is likely that this same group of people had gathered earlier in the week to pray for apostle James and that obviously did not work out the way they had hoped. But they were seeking the will of God. We often can not understand why God answers one prayer and seems to ignore others. We pray to connect with God and get to know Him. When James died the members of the church could have given up hope or dismissed the power of prayer. Instead, they gathered and prayed for Peter. I am resolved to pray even more fervently when God does not seem to give me the answer that I desire. He is sovereign. He is my God. He is in charge, I am not. I can not order Him to do anything.
Jesus had told a parable about a woman who pleaded with a dishonest judge and commended her for not giving up. He was teaching us to resolve to pray constantly. I have a list of people in a black book that I pray for about 100 a day. I seek their salvation. I seek their healing. I seek their growth in Christ. I seek for the King to meet them where they are at and lead them into His Kingdom. I may or may not see the results with my own eyes. Some of these have expressed a deep hatred for Jesus. They hurt and they blame God. I used to be like that, so I get it. I knock on the door of the King constantly for them all but I long for the long shots to be saved with the most excitement.
When Peter arrived at the house and knocked on the door where they were gathered they could not believe what they were seeing and hearing. The God that they loved, the God that had promised to hear their prayers had come through. Peter asked them to calm down a bit or he might be rearrested. He told them the story and went on his way, a free man.
My friends I dare you to commit to prayer. Jesus asked his apostles to tarry one hour in the garden and they could not do so. Would you resolve to pray for 100 people in our community to come to Christ. Be bold, be daring. Pray for people in the newspaper that you read about in the county arrest section. Read the articles and write down the names of those interviewed, the people they are discussing and the writers. My friends when we do this, it pleases the King.
