Productivity of prayer.
This weekend we are going to examine the topic of prayer. You may have heard of or learned the acronym A.C.T.S. before, meant to help us remember how prayer is many things, including: Adoration (praise), Confession, Thanksgiving, and Supplication (asking for things).
Prayer is also part of a relationship with God. That relationship develops and grows as we hear God’s voice and respond in prayer with our voice and our thoughts. We hear his voice every time we read or listen to his Word in the Bible. Prayer, then, becomes an avenue for us to respond to him with our questions, our thoughts, our doubts, our desires, and our attitudes.
This weekend, we will examine two things that are accomplished via prayer as we listen to his voice from Acts 12:
Prayer will teach you that God is sovereign (and you are not).
Prayer will enable you to see your own heart as God sees it.
God, the Grand Designer, had a plan for Peter to be a significant leader in the New Testament church, but in Acts 12, the opening verses cause us to wonder about that plan.
It was about this time that King Herod arrested some who belonged to the church, intending to persecute them. He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword. When he saw that this met with approval among the Jews, he proceeded to seize Peter also. // Acts 12:1-3
Persecution became very real for the believers. James, the brother of John, was put to death—killed by the executioner’s blade. The Jews so strongly approved of this action that Herod thought it might be good to try the same thing with Peter: he wanted to put Peter to death also. Life happens and the disciples pray.
After arresting [Peter], [Herod] put him in prison, handing him over to be guarded by four squads of four soldiers each. Herod intended to bring him out for public trial after the Passover. So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him. // Acts 12:4-5
Here is point number one: Prayer will teach you that God is sovereign. This text tells us there are circumstances that were out of the disciples’ control. They recognized the importance of turning to God because nothing is beyond God’s control.
The disciples prayed earnestly. That word, “earnestly” conveys the idea of pulling on a rope or grabbing someone’s hand and keeping the tension tight. It communicates that you will not let go but will pull and tug strenuously. How does this work? God already knows what is going to happen but he often waits for his people to tug and pull on his hand as they engage him via prayer. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful because the righteous person tugs and pulls on the powerful, loving hand of the sovereign God. May our prayer life be taut and flexed, imploring our Heavenly Father to lovingly apply his vast power for the sake of his children. Prayer will teach us that God is sovereign and we have the ability to ask amazing things from him (Ephesians 3:20-21).
Point two: Prayer will enable you to see your own heart as God sees it. The believers were engaging God in prayer. They deeply cared about Peter, so they prayed earnestly for him. But the text also tells us that their hearts were reluctant to believe God’s miraculous provision when Peter was miraculously freed from prison (v.6-12).
Peter knocked at the outer entrance, and a servant named Rhoda came to answer the door. When she recognized Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed she ran back without opening it and exclaimed, “Peter is at the door!”
“You’re out of your mind,” they told her. When she kept insisting that it was so, they said, “It must be his angel.”
But Peter kept on knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished. // Acts 12:13-16
Prayer will enable you to see your own heart as God sees it. God knew their doubts about Peter’s release from prison. Did they know? Prayer is an opportunity for the believer’s heart to express a current level of belief. They were fervently praying for Peter to be released but when he was released, they couldn't believe it. Their hearts were quick to doubt.
What does prayer show us about our hearts? Are we quick to doubt? Are we quick to shun the miraculous? Are we aroused by Jesus’ sovereignty but dismissive of his personal care for our little corner of the world? How a person prays, and their belief in the answer to that prayer, can expose varied tensions between belief and skepticism.
Are we more inclined to assume that we have used up our spiritual clout and that any other prayers we bring to God will be disregarded? God calls us to pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17). He wants us to pray because prayer is about relationships. God loves us and God cares about us so let’s tug on his hand and ask for the small and mundane, but let’s also ask for the grand and magnificent. Do we trust both his sovereignty and his personal attentiveness to us? Prayer helps to draw that out.
God bless you this week as you further test the waters of prayer and your relationship with Jesus.
Peace!
Pastor Al