Acts 12:5 Peter therefore was kept in prison: but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him.
I love the story in Acts 12 about Peter when he was taken by Herod who intended to kill him. Herod had taken James and killed him, and because he saw it pleased the people, he took Peter also. It was very obvious that Herod’s intent was to kill Peter. God had other plans though, and what follows is a story about prayer.
You have the people praying for Peter. Verse 5 says, “Peter therefore was kept in prison.” This was a huge understatement. Peter had been guarded by four quaternions of soldiers. This was sixteen soldiers! Whether this was all at one time or in four shifts, I don’t know, but that is a lot of soldiers.
As it turned out, Herod was right that this “dangerous criminal,” Peter, who was kept by so many soldiers, was a flight risk because God sent an angel to let Peter out. Verse 5 says, “But prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him.” When Peter was miraculously freed from prison, he went to the house where prayer was being made, and the Bible says, “They were astonished.” They found it easier to believe that it was Peter’s angel knocking on the door than that it was Peter himself.
You find a variety of reactions to Peter’s imprisonment from different people. First, you find Peter’s reaction to his imprisonment. Verse 6 says, “And when Herod would have brought him forth, the same night Peter was sleeping between two soldiers.” What was Peter doing? He was sleeping on the very night preceding his possible execution! Why was he sleeping? He may have been tired, but would you have been sleeping the night before your execution? No! I think Peter was sleeping because he knew he was not going to be executed. Christ had told Peter that he would die as an older man and gave him some indication of how he would die. Peter knew this was not the time he was going to die. He had Christ’s word on it.
Second, you have the expectation of the people. Verse 11 says, “And when Peter was come to himself, he said, Now I know of a surety, that the Lord hath sent his angel, and delivered me out of the hand of Herod, and from all the expectation of the people of the Jews.” The people in the area knew Peter was going to be killed. Peter slept. Other people knew Peter was going to die. These are two different reactions to Peter’s imprisonment: the people’s certainty that he would die and Peter’s certainty that he would not.
The third reaction is prayer. The Bible says that Peter went to the house where many were praying. Did they know that God would answer their prayer? People may say, “Faith is not believing God; it is believing that God will.” That may be pithy, clever, and sound pious, but it’s not right. Both can be faith, just different kinds. If you take away all the things I am praying for that I don’t know if God will do, you have taken away all my prayers. Sometimes I know He will, but that is different. Faith can be knowing that God can or knowing that God will.
The fourth reaction is astonishment. In verse 16 Peter is knocking on the gate of their house. The people inside are knocking on Heaven’s door. God answered their door, but they didn’t answer Peter’s gate. Yet, God answered their prayer. When they saw Peter “they were astonished.” They thought it was his angel. If they really were people of faith, would they have been astonished? Not if they had the kind of faith that we all wish to have, but if you don’t have the kind of faith you want to have, then use the faith you’ve got. Pray!
All of this is to say that prayer should be your first response to what happens today. You may feel at peace, but if you are not praying, that is not faith. It is just being careless. If you are worried but praying, it may not be the faith you want to have, but it is the faith you have. Start there. It may be that you would be astonished if God answered your prayer. You don’t have to have prayer figured out in order to know that you should pray. Prayer does change things. Prayer is commanded, and prayer is the way to know how I should pray to strengthen the faith I do have and to be in a right relationship to God. Prayer should be your first reaction to what happens today.