6-19-07 #Disciple Bible Study Titled: "But Prayer"

[Disciple]

But Prayer
In Acts 12:1-18 we have a story of a prayer meeting that got it’s answer
while they were praying.

“About that time King Herod laid hands on some from the church to harm them. He had James, the brother of John, executed with a sword. When he saw that this pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter too. (This took place during the feast of Unleavened Bread.) When he had seized him, he put him in prison, handing him over to four squads of soldiers to guard him. Herod planned to bring him out for public trial after the Passover. So Peter was kept in prison...” Ac 12:1-5

God is making darkness for His light to shine into, so that, we will better appreciate it and He will be more glorified. When diamonds are displayed it is done on a black background under bright lights. The black background gives contrast for the light that come through the diamond. God let all the cir***stances build against these early Christians and especially Peter. He shines His grace and goodness on them and they sparkle for His glory. God is still bigger than all the cir***stances even though they are combined in a single event. Things looked bad, the execution of James, the arrest of Peter and under heavy guard, the cruelty of Herod, the hatred of the Jews, but it is simply a matter of God having them where He wants them for His purpose.


Everything was about as bad as it could be—“But.” But someone prayed. “but those in the church were earnestly praying to God for him.” Not just a repeated prayer like “now I lay me down to sleep.” Nor, was it individual or momentary prayer. It was corporate prayer that was earnest. They had important things to be earnest about. So do we, the difference between them and the average church today is that they felt the urgency and they prayed. The average church today is content and unconcerned wile being surrounded with problems of eternal consequences. Luke says they were “earnestly praying.” Literally it could be translated “They were continually stretching themselves out.” This was no doubt some serious praying. This is the kind of praying that is necessary to advance the kingdom of God today.

In Eph 2:16 we have another “but,” the Divine “but” of our salvation that “And although you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you formerly lived according to this world’s present path, according to the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the ruler of the spirit that is now energizing the sons of disobedience, 3 among whom all of us also formerly lived out our lives in the cravings of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath even as the rest… 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of his great love with which he loved us, 5 even though we were dead in transgressions, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you are saved!— 6 and he raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus.” We were lost , dead, hopless, worthless–“but God.” This made all the difference. The “but” of Eph 2 and the “but” of Acts 12 illustrate both the divine and human energies involved in advancing the Kingdom of God.

“On that very night before Herod was going to bring him out for trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, while guards in front of the door were keeping watch over the prison. Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared, and a light shone in the prison cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up, saying, “Get up quickly!” And the chains fell off Peter’s wrists. The angel said to him, “Fasten your belt and put on your sandals.” Peter did so. Then the angel said to him, ‘Put on your cloak and follow me.’ Peter went out and followed him; he did not realize that what was happening through the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision. 10 After they had passed the first and second guards, they came to the iron gate leading into the city. It opened for them by itself, and they went outside and walked down one narrow street, when at once the angel left him. When Peter came to himself, he said, ‘Now I know for certain that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from everything the Jewish people were expecting to happen.’ When Peter realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John Mark, where many people had gathered together and were praying.” Ac 12:6-12

In the Divine order of things prayer is the cir***stantial cause of what is prayed for and realized. God could have delivered Peter without the prayer meeting. But “Through prayer God gives humankind the dignity of limited causality.” Pascal God could fulfill the “Great Commission” without our involvement but He gives us the priviledge of being involved, to give, to pray, and to sacrifice for His glory. God is the first cause and ultimate cause of all things and He includes in His plan instrumental and cir***stantial causes.

“When he knocked at the door of the outer gate, a slave girl named Rhoda answered. When she recognized Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed she did not open the gate, but ran back in and told them that Peter was standing at the gate. But they said to her, “You’ve lost your mind!” But she kept insisting that it was Peter, and they kept saying, “It is his angel!” Now Peter continued knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were greatly astonished. He gave them a signal with his hand to be quiet and then related to them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. He said, “Tell James and the brothers these things,” and then he left and went to another place.” Ac 12:13-17

It seems that it was harder for Peter to get into the prayer meeting that it was for him to get out of jail. I wonder if God feel like it is harder to get His people praying that it is to get His preacher out of jail. The answer was just too good to be true.., “You’ve lost your mind!” they said to Rhoda. There is nothing that encourages the people of God more than God’s answer to prayer, especially when it is their own prayer that He has answered. In our prayer meetings we need to prayer for specific needs and to share the answers to those prayers.

Prayer is at the same time the greatest and most unused resource that Christians have. It ought to be the first recourse and the most used resource we have. There is nothing that we cannot pray about. If it weren’t for times like these we wouldn’t pray at all. It is the trial and suffering that makes us pray. Many of us can testify that we do our best and maybe our only real praying when there is a crisis.

What is the state of our families and of our churches. When David saw the Philistine giant, Goliath, he expressed his concern and his brothers scolded him but he said, “What have I now done? Is there not a cause?” 1 Sam 17:29 There was a cause for David to take action and such is it with us. We can conquer all of our enemies and problems with prevailing prayer. History is replete with situations in which someone prayed. There are great needs today, will you be one that will pray.

God has appointed prayer as his way of dispensing, and our way of obtaining all promised good.


A church is never more like the New Testament church than when it is praying.

He answered prayer–not in the way I sought

Nor in the way that I had thought He ought;

But in His own good way; and I could see

He answered in the fashion best for me.