Trusting in Prayer October 30th, 2022
Inspiring God, by your Spirit, open our minds and hearts to receive your Word for today, whether it challenges or comforts us, so that we may live more faithfully as we follow Jesus Christ, your Living Word. Amen.
As we continue our study of God’s word with the twelfth chapter of the book of Acts, we see that it was an intense time for the early church. God was clearly at work, and the church was growing. Thousands had been saved by the grace of God and the church’s influence was spreading. Yet such growth created much concern for the religious establishment in Jerusalem, and their disdain for these early followers of Christ resulted in intense persecution. Again, we see the incredible struggles that the early followers of Christ’s church had.
Up to this point the persecution had mainly come from leaders of the Temple in Jerusalem. It began when the High Priest and Sadducees had Peter and John arrested for teaching the people at the gates of the Temple, proclaiming that
Jesus was the long awaited Messiah for Israel. They were brought before the Council of Elders and forced to defend their actions. Due to the strength of Peter’s defense and the Holy Spirit working through him they got off with the warning not to speak or teach in the name of Jesus anymore. But this was Peter and John’s response, ‘“…Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.’” (Acts 4:19-20) And so, the harassment continued.
A short time after that the apostles were arrested and put in prison, only to be set free during the night by an angel of the Lord. But the next morning Peter and John were found by the Temple police and once more brought before the Council. The high priest said to them, ‘“…We strictly charged you not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man's blood upon us.’” (Acts 5:28) This was Peter and John’s reply, ‘“…We must obey God rather than men.’” (Acts 5:29)
Once again, Peter and John were released with the warning not to speak about Jesus, but we’re told in the Bible that, “…every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching that the Christ is Jesus.” (Acts 5:42) And so, the persecution was destined to continue.
Now in this morning’s reading we saw that the suffering of the church is about to shift from the hands of the religious leaders to those of the Roman overlords, here’s what took place, “About that time Herod the king laid violent hands on some who belonged to the church. He killed James the brother of John with the sword, and when he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also.” This Herod was the grandson of Herod the Great, who was the ruler over Judea at the time of the birth of Jesus and had ordered the death of all of the male children in Bethlehem after hearing from the three Wise Men from the East that the Messiah for Israel had been born there. His uncle was Herod Antipas, who, because of a rash promise made to the daughter of his brother’s wife, had John the Baptist beheaded.
And now, continuing the family’s violent tradition, this Herod has the Apostle James beheaded. James was one of the first disciples and was the brother of John, also a disciple of Jesus and the author of the Gospel of John. We’re not given all the details of why Herod had James murdered, but no doubt, like the Temple leaders, he was beginning to feel threatened by the rapid growth of the Christian church. Yet Herod didn’t really care about the Christians, he only cared about winning the favour of the Jewish people. He knows a lot of people have had trouble trying to rule Israel for the Romans and he wanted their support. And he sees the killing of James as a stepping-stone in appeasing the Jewish population.
We’re told that the Jewish leaders were pleased with what he had done and so, in order to satisfy them even more, Herod had the Apostle Peter thrown in prison. Now it was the time of Passover so he would have been planning to keep Peter locked up and unable to preach until the festival ended and then he would be free to kill him as well. But Herod’s plans were about to go awry.
Despite being locked in prison and being chained to two prison guards, Peter is about to be set free. Here we are told how that happened, “Now when Herod was about to bring him out, on that very night, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries before the door were guarding the prison. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood next to him, and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him, saying, “Get up quickly.” And the chains fell off his hands.” An angel of the Lord appeared to Peter, and without disturbing any of the guards, broke his chains and led him out of the jail. So quickly did that take place that it wasn’t until Peter was alone, out on the streets of Jerusalem, that he came to grips with what had happened. Peter said to himself, “‘Now I am sure that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting.’” Can you imagine the joy Peter felt at this moment? If there had been any doubt or fear, it is now replaced with abundant faith. Peter realized the Lord had delivered him from the hand of Herod and the impending death he faced.
With his freedom regained Peter makes his way to the home of the mother of one of the disciples, John Mark. But getting in that home was going to prove more difficult than it was to get out of prison. This is what took place, “Peter went to the house of Mary, the mother of John whose other name was Mark, where many were gathered together and were praying. And when he knocked at the door of the gateway, a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer. Recognizing Peter's voice, in her joy she did not open the gate but ran in and reported that Peter was standing at the gate. They said to her, “You are out of your mind.” But she kept insisting that it was so, and they kept saying, “It is his angel!” But Peter continued knocking, and when they opened, they saw him and were amazed.”
When Herod had first put Peter in prison, we’re told by Luke that, “earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church.” And here it is, several days later, Peter appears at the door and the members of the church are still praying for his safety. Yet, when told that he is standing outside the gate, they refuse to believe the girl who had gone to answer the knock at the door. She couldn’t convince them that their prayers had been answered. So, it appears that despite all their commitment to praying, they had doubts that God would actually answer those prayers. It took the persistent knocking of Peter to finally get them to realize that it truly was him at the gate. Their faithful prayers had been answered.
And doesn’t that seem to be the case with us many times, as well. It’s one thing to be persistent in prayer, but it’s entirely another to truly believe that God will genuinely answer our prayers. Sometimes it is easy to skip prayer or do it half-heartily, but we should never be too casual or too brief in our prayers. There are times and needs that require continual, fervent prayer! We must be committed to praying for those needs in our lives and the lives of others. There are those who are weak, burdened, sick, and hurting who need our prayers. Those who are still persecuted for their beliefs, those living in war torn countries and those whose families have daily struggles. Sometimes it seems to take so long for our prayers to make a difference but, like the early believers experienced, they definitely can make a difference. We must be a people of prayer!
But we must not only be a people of prayer, but a people of faith who believe God will hear and answer our prayers in his time! In these times, we see so many struggles in the world and in our daily lives, but our faithful prayers help us access God’s love and support. Are you burdened with cares and struggles today? Have you prayed for the Lord to provide deliverance and guidance for your situation? As you prayed, did you believe he would answer your prayer? We can overcome in Christ, but we must have faith. If your heart is filled with doubt and fear, come before the Lord and confess your lack of faith while asking him to provide the faith you need. Come to him by faith, with a heart of repentance for sin, and receive salvation!
While the early church endured much opposition, she prospered through the provision of our Lord. We too, face opposition in our modern culture, but that doesn’t mean we can’t be effective in ministry while growing in our faith. The church has endured for two thousand years, and she will remain until the Lord calls for her. We will face adversity as we serve the Lord, but we do not have to succumb to defeat.
Let us Pray:
Our Heavenly Father, we pray that you will teach us how to pray in days like this. We need to pray for each other, to pray for our friends, to pray about the dangers that overwhelm us as a nation and as a world, as a people. Lord, help us just to open our hearts and be honest before you. For we know that in the mystery of prayer, a mystery that none of us can fathom, something is happening that makes it possible for the Holy Spirit to work in our lives in ways that otherwise would never happen. We pray that we, your church, feel your love and presence through all our prayers. All this we ask in Jesus' name, Amen.