Acts - Believing

Read Acts 8 - 14

Today's Devotion - Acts 12:11-15

Context: James, the apostle, has been killed. When Herod saw that the death pleased the Jews, he arrested Peter and put him in prison with the intent to try and kill him after the Passover feast. The night before his trial, Peter was waken and released from his chains by an angel who escorted him out of the prison.

Text: 11Then Peter came to himself and said, "Now I know without a doubt that the Lord sent his angel and rescued me from Herod's clutches and from everything the Jewish people were anticipating."
12When this had dawned on him, he went to the house of Mary the mother of John, also called Mark, where many people had gathered and were praying. 13Peter knocked at the outer entrance, and a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer the door. 14When she recognized Peter's voice, she was so overjoyed she ran back without opening it and exclaimed, "Peter is at the door!"
15"You're out of your mind," they told her. When she kept insisting that it was so, they said, "It must be his angel." (NIV)

taken from http://www.biblegateway.com/

It has been at least a year since Jesus died and rose again. Christians are being persecuted, but we don't have a record of any of the apostles or leaders being hurt (since Stephen was stoned) until now. There has been a great celebration, apparently, that James was killed, and Herod sees Peter's impending death as a way to tie his political agenda more closely to that of the Jews.

The text tells us that the believers were together praying, but what exactly were they praying for? They were so shocked that Peter was released that I imagine they were only praying half-heartedly for his release. Most likely they prayed for Peter, then spent more time praying that they, as Christians, would be spared from death and further persecution. Herod was so bent on a public execution that they presumed it was a done deal.

Have you ever prayed for something even though you really didn't believe God would give you the answer that you prayed for? A minister friend of mine from another church told a story about his prayers for an elderly woman who had fallen very ill. He prayed that God would spare her life if it was his will, then he spent much more effort praying that she would have a peaceful, painless transition to heaven and that her family would receive strength during their time of sadness.

To everyone's surprise, the woman made a miraculous recovery. My friend was reminded that God has the power to do whatever He wants, and that we should never presume His will. He says that he will never minimize his efforts to pray for healing again!

When you pray, do you really believe that God will respond? I know there are many times when he doesn't grant our requests -- even for significant things like healing. However, I wonder what he thinks when we pray as if we don't believe he wants to give us what we request?

If we ABSOLUTELY knew God would answer our prayers for healing, salvation for others, financial help through a tough time, or for a prodigal, would our prayers sound different?