Daily Bread Acts 12
Daily Bread Acts 12
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."
16But Peter kept on knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished. 17Peter motioned with his hand for them to be quiet and described how the Lord had brought him out of prison. "Tell James and the brothers about this," he said, and then he left for another place.
18In the morning, there was no small commotion among the soldiers as to what had become of Peter. 19After Herod had a thorough search made for him and did not find him, he cross-examined the guards and ordered that they be executed.
Observation:
We see in this chapter the miraculous release of Peter, who was awaiting possible execution in prison. Angels came during the night and led him out of the prison back to the house where the disciples had been earnestly praying for him. This is a totally surreal scene that even Peter thought was a dream.
When he came to his friends, even they didn’t believe it was him, but it says that they had been praying for this to happen. Webster and Wilkinson's Greek Testament explains, "The Greek intimates that it was incessantly kept up, always going on." Thus it was a kind of perpetual prayer meeting that the church organized on behalf of Peter.
When the guards realized that Peter escaped, they tried to figure out what had happened. When the guards couldn’t find him, King Herod was so mad he executed them. Herod was not a very nice guy. This also dispels any idea that the guards would have somehow freed Peter on their own, as they knew this might be the payback for such an action.
Application:
One thing that we see throughout the book of Acts is the commitment to prayer. Not only personally, but also we see corporate prayer, which led to this amazing miracle of Peter’s release. As the saying goes, “When we work, we work, but when we pray God works!”
Although we often say we believe in prayer, I wonder how much time we actually spend in prayer. I wonder how much time I spend in prayer. As a pastor I am called on to pray a lot. But as I look at how much time I spend in prayer for the church and for God’s Spirit to release the 21st Century captives, I am humbled by these 1st Century saints.
We sing the hymn, “Oh the peace we often forfeit because we don’t take it to the Lord in prayer” and that is most certainly true. But after reading Acts 12 today I want to say, “Oh the power we often forfeit, because we do not take it to the Lord in prayer.”
You may not be in a literal prison, but are you in prison to something else in your life that keeps you in bondage? Maybe it is fear, anxiety, busyness, or maybe an addiction, or lust, or greed. Those are all things that keep us in bondage and prevent us from living the abundant life God has for us. Would you pray with me…
God we pray for you to loose the chains that bind us. Send your holy angels to set us free from those things that prevent us from living in your freedom and power every day. Give us the discipline to pray individually and together as the church, so we might see Your mighty hand release us and those around us from captivity. Send Your Holy Spirit and holy angels to fill us with the power of prayer in Jesus’ name, Amen.
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."
16But Peter kept on knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished. 17Peter motioned with his hand for them to be quiet and described how the Lord had brought him out of prison. "Tell James and the brothers about this," he said, and then he left for another place.
18In the morning, there was no small commotion among the soldiers as to what had become of Peter. 19After Herod had a thorough search made for him and did not find him, he cross-examined the guards and ordered that they be executed.
Observation:
We see in this chapter the miraculous release of Peter, who was awaiting possible execution in prison. Angels came during the night and led him out of the prison back to the house where the disciples had been earnestly praying for him. This is a totally surreal scene that even Peter thought was a dream.
When he came to his friends, even they didn’t believe it was him, but it says that they had been praying for this to happen. Webster and Wilkinson's Greek Testament explains, "The Greek intimates that it was incessantly kept up, always going on." Thus it was a kind of perpetual prayer meeting that the church organized on behalf of Peter.
When the guards realized that Peter escaped, they tried to figure out what had happened. When the guards couldn’t find him, King Herod was so mad he executed them. Herod was not a very nice guy. This also dispels any idea that the guards would have somehow freed Peter on their own, as they knew this might be the payback for such an action.
Application:
One thing that we see throughout the book of Acts is the commitment to prayer. Not only personally, but also we see corporate prayer, which led to this amazing miracle of Peter’s release. As the saying goes, “When we work, we work, but when we pray God works!”
Although we often say we believe in prayer, I wonder how much time we actually spend in prayer. I wonder how much time I spend in prayer. As a pastor I am called on to pray a lot. But as I look at how much time I spend in prayer for the church and for God’s Spirit to release the 21st Century captives, I am humbled by these 1st Century saints.
We sing the hymn, “Oh the peace we often forfeit because we don’t take it to the Lord in prayer” and that is most certainly true. But after reading Acts 12 today I want to say, “Oh the power we often forfeit, because we do not take it to the Lord in prayer.”
You may not be in a literal prison, but are you in prison to something else in your life that keeps you in bondage? Maybe it is fear, anxiety, busyness, or maybe an addiction, or lust, or greed. Those are all things that keep us in bondage and prevent us from living the abundant life God has for us. Would you pray with me…
God we pray for you to loose the chains that bind us. Send your holy angels to set us free from those things that prevent us from living in your freedom and power every day. Give us the discipline to pray individually and together as the church, so we might see Your mighty hand release us and those around us from captivity. Send Your Holy Spirit and holy angels to fill us with the power of prayer in Jesus’ name, Amen.
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