Peter was in what seemed to be the most hopeless of situations. James, the brother of John, had been executed. Upon seeing how happy this made the Jews, Herod had Peter arrested, most likely planning to execute him, too. But Herod, not wanting to anger the Jews, planned to wait until after Passover to do this evil deed. So he had Peter placed in the most secure location possible. Chained with two chains, guarded by at least four men, possibly more, there seemed to be little hope that Peter would be released. In fact, Peter most likely saw his situation as totally hopeless. There was no way out. Right after Passover, Peter would be executed. Done deal.
But Herod had not taken into consideration the power of God, or the power of prayer. Many, many prayers were being offered for Peter’s release. And Peter was freed, in a miraculous and spectacular fashion.
What is your current situation? Is it as seemingly hopeless as Peter’s? Are you bound by the chains of sin or surrounded by enemies or devastating circumstances with no “earthly” way out? If so, remember Peter. Remember what the power of prayer did for him. There is a way out, through Jesus. There is no situation that the world can devise that cannot be escaped through Him. There is no power on earth strong enough to withstand what God can do if we’ll just ask Him. Your escape from your hopeless situation may not be as spectacular as Peter’s, and it may not be what you expect… but it will come. Praise God for His grace and salvation, both in eternity and right here on earth.
The first time I read this story years ago, I laughed. When I read it again today, I laughed. Why? Because it presents one of the most comical situations recounted in God’s Word. Comedy comes out of revealing human nature as it really is. And this situation with Peter is a case in point.
Peter was in prison. He’d been put there by Herod who most likely planned to execute him. Herod wanted to make sure Peter stayed put until be could be executed, so he had Peter chained - not with just one chain, but with two. Then Herod placed two soldiers on either side of him and sentries at the entrance to the prison. There’s no way anybody could get past all that, right? But Herod wasn’t planning on God’s intervention. Herod probably didn’t believe in angels… nor did Herod understand the power of prayer.
But the whole church was praying for Peter’s release. That’s a powerful thing, when an entire body of believers is praying for the same thing. So God sent an angel to release Peter from prison. At first, Peter thought he was having a vision. Even he, this great man of faith, had a hard time realizing how powerful God really is. But the chains fell away, and Peter was escorted past the guards – apparently invisible, the gate opened "by itself," and Peter was a free man!
The comical part of this story comes when Peter arrives at the home of Mary where everyone is in the upper room praying for Peter’s release. Peter calls out. The servant girl, Rhoda, hears Peter’s voice… but instead of opening the door to let him in, she gets so excited, she runs upstairs to tell everyone that Peter’s been freed. There’s poor Peter, standing outside in the cold, wishing somebody would just open the door and let him in. When Rhoda rushes into the room to tell everyone Peter is free, she’s told to be quiet, because they’re praying for Peter’s release! Their prayer had been answered, but they didn’t believe it!
How common and how typical their reaction is. How many times do you and I pray, receive an answer, and yet don’t believe the answer we receive? How many times are we surprised when God answers our prayers?
Remember this, God answers prayer… every prayer. Sometimes, He says “Yes.” Sometimes He says, “No.” And sometimes, He says, “Wait.” So, the next time He answers one of your prayers, don’t be surprised… be thankful!
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.
James and John were two of the original disciples. At one point, these two had approached Jesus and asked to sit at His right hand and left hand when He came into His kingdom. (Mark 10:35-45 NIV) Their request sounded like a good idea at the time. They could see that Jesus was a great man. They also realized that He was the Son of God. What could be more glorious or more noble than to sit at His right and left when He came into His full glory? What better place to be than at the side of their Master? But Jesus told them that they didn’t realize what they were asking. They didn’t realize what it would require them to "drink of the same cup" as Jesus. Being granted their request did not hold promise for a wonderful, trouble-free existence. Instead, in order to drink of the same cup as Jesus, they would have to suffer and die, just as Jesus would. And, as for sitting at His right and His left, that honor was not one that Jesus had the authority to grant.
Just like James and John, you and I do not have the big picture. We have only that small, limited amount of the picture that we can see right at this moment. We have no way of knowing or understanding exactly what is in store for us in the next few moments, much less the next days or years. And, many times, when we pray, we make requests that have consequences we don’t truly comprehend at the moment we ask for them. The most common of these is praying for patience.
Many times in life, we find ourselves in situations that require much more patience than we can seem to muster. The natural reaction to this type of situation is to pray for patience. What we don’t foresee is that instead of taking a spiritual hypodermic needle and injecting patience into us, God begins to teach us patience by giving us one experience after another that requires greater and greater patience until we finally learn patience.
It is the same with everything that we pray for. God will grant our requests if we’re praying within His will, but He may grant them in ways that we don’t or can’t foresee. So remember, when you pray, make sure you really want what you’re asking for… and be prepared for what will be required of you when God grants your request.