Great Power Comes When the Church Prays Together!

12 It was about this time that King Herod arrested some who belonged to the church, intending to persecute them. 2 He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword. 3 When he saw that this met with approval among the Jews, he proceeded to seize Peter also. This happened during the Festival of Unleavened Bread. 4 After arresting him, he 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. 5 So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him. 6 The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries stood guard at the entrance. 7 Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up. “Quick, get up!” he said, and the chains fell off Peter’s wrists.

This King Herod is the grandson of Herod the Great, who was the king in Jesus' day and tried to execute him as a baby.  Apparently his violent nature was inherited by his grandson who arrested some of the believers.  And without warning we hear that John's brother James was executed.  Just like that he was killed by the sword, most likely by beheading.  This was the first apostle who became a martyr for Jesus.  Remember Peter, James and John were part of Jesus' inner circle of three disciples.   Apparently the people were pleased by this which only increased Herod's bloodthirst.  Because it was the Passover Herod kept Peter locked up with 16 men, until he could try him publicly after the festival. He was probably hoping he could do to Peter what he did to James.  

Importantly the passage says, "But the church was earnestly praying for him."  The word for "earnestly" is the same word used when Jesus prayed in the Garden the night before his crucifixion.  Remember the passage in John says, "He was sweating drops like blood."  So the church was on its hands and knees imploring God to rescue their leader Peter. And sure enough an angel came into his cell the night before his trial and struck his wrists and told him to get up.  Peter's chains came off and he and the angel walked out of the prison cell untouched. Later, we read that when Herod cross examined the prison guards and found them at fault, he executed them.  Nice guy!

We see the power of public prayer.  While many people pray on their own it doesn't seem like the church meets any more for prayer together.  They used to call it a "prayer meeting".  Obviously it worked pretty well on behalf of Peter.  There is power in any prayer, but I there seems a special power at work when believers gather in prayer and earnestly cry out to God.  I wonder how much more damage we could do to the evil one, if we were to pray more often together.  The church prayed and cried out for Peter and the results were unbelievable.