Message: “What Happens When God’s People Pray?” from Dr. Rick Mandl

Hey church family. The last couple of daily devotionals I’ve sent your way have dealt with the subject of prayer, and specifically about the importance of faith as it relates to the prayers that we offer. But anytime you discuss those two things in tandem – faith and prayer – it begs the question . . . Do I have enough faith to see my prayers answered?

To address that question I want to share with you a story from what happened during a prayer meeting in the early church. You can read all about it – and I would encourage you to do that – in Acts chapter 12. By the time we get to Acts chapter 12 – Persecution had broken out against the young church. Acts 12:1-4 (NLT) tells us, “About that time King Herod Agrippa began to persecute some believers in the church. He had the apostle James (John’s brother) killed with a sword. When Herod saw how much this pleased the Jewish people, he also arrested Peter. (This took place during the Passover celebration.)”

Verse 4 provides us with some of the details regarding Peter’s imprisonment. It says . . . “Then (King Herod Agrippa) imprisoned (Peter), placing him under the guard of four squads of four soldiers each. Herod intended to bring Peter out for public trial after the Passover.” Don’t miss that. Peter is in prison, and 16 soldiers. . . Four squads of four soldiers have been assigned to guard him, just to make sure that he stays in prison.

But the story continues and tells us . . . “But while Peter was in prison, the church prayed very earnestly for him” (Acts 12:5). The verses that follow, tell us how God responded to that prayer. We read...

"The night before Peter was to be placed on trial, he was asleep, fastened with two chains between two soldiers. Others stood guard at the prison gate.

Suddenly, there was a bright light in the cell, and an angel of the Lord stood before Peter. The angel struck him on the side to awaken him and said, “Quick! Get up!” And the chains fell off his wrists.

Then the angel told him, “Get dressed and put on your sandals.” And he did. “Now put on your coat and follow me,” the angel ordered.

So Peter left the cell, following the angel. But all the time he thought it was a vision. He didn’t realize it was actually happening.

They passed the first and second guard posts and came to the iron gate leading to the city, and this opened for them all by itself. So they passed through and started walking down the street, and then the angel suddenly left him.

Peter finally came to his senses. “It’s really true!” he said.

“The Lord has sent his angel and saved me from Herod and from what the Jewish leaders had planned to do to me!”  Acts 12:6-11

Stop there for a moment. Peter had been in prison. The church had been praying earnestly for his release. Peter, no doubt, from his prison cell, had also been praying for his release. And yet, when God sends an answer to that prayer, does Peter believe it? Does Peter receive it? No, he thinks he must be having a vision, or a dream, or something else. It’s not until he’s outside the prison, on the street, that he realizes that what had happened to him, had really happened to him.

Not exactly a demonstration of mountain-moving faith. But the story gets even better. “When (Peter) realized this, he went to the home of Mary, the mother of John Mark, where many were gathered for prayer. He knocked at the door in the gate, and a servant girl named Rhoda came to open it.  When she recognized Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed that, instead of opening the door, she ran back inside and told everyone, “Peter is standing at the door!”  Acts 12:12-14

What was the response of those in that prayer meeting? Did they jump up out of their seats saying, “Praise God for answered prayer?” Not exactly. What they said to that servant girl upon hearing that news was . . . “You’re out of your mind!” they said. When she insisted, they decided, “It must be his angel.” Meanwhile, Peter continued knocking. When they finally opened the door and saw him, they were amazed. He motioned for them to quiet down and told them how the Lord had led him out of prison. “Tell James and the other brothers what happened,” he said. And then he went to another place. // How much faith does it take to see answers to prayer?

Based on this story, you’d have to conclude that the answer to that question is “Not a whole lot.” When the church prayed . . . And God sent an answer in the form of an angel, to release Peter from prison. . . Peter didn’t believe it was really happening to him. When the church prayed for Peter’s release, and Peter showed up at their door, the people praying didn’t believe it had really happened. And yet it had.

And the take-away for you and me is that even a little bit of faith in a big big God, can produce big big results. Maybe for us the limiting factor in our prayers, is not the size of our faith, but rather the fact that we’re not praying. When it came to the subject of prayer, James wrote. . . “You don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it” (James 4:2).

When it comes to prayer, one thing you can count on is that God will not answer those prayers that are not prayed. May he be teaching you and me to grow as people of prayer – Amen