Today’s passage changes its place from Antioch to Jerusalem. Through this event we are taught an important element needed for the church to move forward. That important element is prayer. Today let’s look at 3 aspects of the Jerusalem church’s prayer.
- I. A church of prayer (vs.1-6)
This passage begins with the words, “It was about this time”. This refers to ll: 30. It was about the time that Barnabas and Saul brought the offerings to the Jerusalem church to help those affected by the severe famine. “It was about this time that King Herod arrested some who belonged to the church, intending to persecute them.” (1) The offerings were sent to “the elders” (11:20), but in this passage the elders are not mentioned. Therefore, we can assume that it was a heavy persecution and the elders were included in those who were arrested. This time the persecution was not just by the Jewish leaders, but by King Herod so it was a persecution by the Roman government so it must have been a severe persecution…
This Herod was King Herod Agrippa I, a descendant of the Herod that was in power when Jesus was born. In order to be accepted by the Jews, he persecuted the church. He had James killed. When he saw that pleased the Jews, then he had Peter arrested. Before when Peter was arrested by the Jewish authorities, an angel opened the doors for him to escape. Therefore, when he was arrested by Herod he was kept under heavy guard. He was “guarded by four squads of four soldiers each.” (4) Not only that but according to verse 6 , “Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries stood guard at the entrance.” This was an extremely unusual case in Roman prisons. Besides there were the first guards and the second guards that they must pass before they reach the iron gates leading to the city. Therefore, he was completely guarded. They were making sure that there was no possible way that he could escape. However, for the church, to have Peter and the elders imprisoned was a huge disaster that could even mean the death of the church. In verse 5 it tells us what the church did under these circumstances. “So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him.” They prayed.
The wonderful thing about being a Christian is that even when we are in a situation where there is nothing we can do to make the situation better, we can still pray. We may not be persecuted like the early church was. However, we all experience times of discouragement. However, we can pray. We can pour out our hearts to God.
Isaiah 40:28-31
Matt. 7:7, 8
The early church was really a church of prayer. When there was a problem within the church, they took it as a wonderful chance to pray.
Whether we are facing problems or not, God wants us to pray, to be a church that prays. That type of church will experience the work of God, and will move powerfully forward.
- II. The Lord who delivers us from all our troubles. (vs. 7-11)
The church continued to pray for Peter, but there was no change. They kept praying and then the night before Peter was brought to trial, a miracle happened. It was a miracle that neither Peter nor the Christians ever dreamed would happen. Peter who was so heavily guarded was set free. According to verse 9, Peter “had no idea what the angel was doing was really happening; he thought he was seeing a vision.” He thought it was too unbelievable to be real. It wasn’t until they were completely out of the prison and one street away that the angel left him and “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.’” (11)
We may not actually see an angel, but we all experience times when we realize that all that has happened has been by the leading and care of our Lord Jesus Christ. There are times like when “Peter came to himself” and realized that that the chains falling off of him, him standing up, putting on his clothes, putting on his sandals, putting on his cloak, going outside, each individual act and everything that happened was an answer to prayer, that we too come to ourselves and realize that God was really working as a result of prayer. The key to Christian strength is here. We believe that God is working and count the many things that God is doing, and praise the Lord as we walk the road of life.
When we pray, the Lord’s hand moves. God send thousands of angels and protects us, strengthens us, and guides us. It doesn’t matter how heavy a chain it is, how strong a guard is watching us, or how thick a gate it is. Nothing is impossible with God. God will work in ways that we never dreamed of.
However, there are people who when they hear this who wonder then why James was “put to death with the sword.”(2) The church didn’t just pray for Peter. They prayed for James too. Even so he was killed. They think that God didn’t answer the church’s prayers for James.
God answered their prayers for James too. What we have to remember is that prayer isn’t always answered in the way we want it to be. Prayer is combining our requests and thoughts with the will of God. That is because God is perfect. Not everything that we think of as good is really good. We make decisions from our limited sphere. However God’s will is perfect, and the right way. He makes perfect and the best decisions. He looks at everything properly and then makes decisions. Therefore, following the will of God is the best way to go. The prayers for James were not answered in the way the church prayed, but God worked because His will was performed although we may not understand it fully.
- III. Even so, let’s pray (12-17)
After Peter came to this realization, “he went to the house of Mary,” the mother of Mark. This Mark is the Mark that appears in verse 25 that returned with Barnabas and Saul when they returned to Antioch. He is the Mark who wrote the Gospel named after him. His house was in Jerusalem, and he played a major role in the Jerusalem church. In verse 12 we are told that the Christians were meeting at his house for prayer. The church still didn’t have a building so Mark’s house was used as a place for the church to meet. We must not forget that the church’s strength came partly because such members shared their home to be used for prayer. This time too, when Peter went to Mark’s house, the Christians were meeting together and praying.
From verse 13 there is a humorous story. While everyone was praying, Peter knocked on the door. A “servant girl named Rhoda came to answer the door. When she recognized Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed she ran back without opening it” and told everyone that Peter was there. (13, 14) This was because she was so shocked because even though they had been praying for Peter she didn’t believe that he would actually be knocking on the door.
Even worst were the other Christians. When they heard from Rhoda that Peter was at the door, they said that she must be out of her mind. They were praying for Peter, but they couldn’t believe that Peter could have been released. They didn’t have faith that God had answered their prayer. This means that God does answer our prayers even when we fail to have faith. The important thing is that we pray even when we have no confidence that God is going to answer. The important thing is to pray. When we continue to pray, God works. Let’s believe that God is going to work and continue to pray. Even if now we don’t understand the meaning of the answer, some day we will.