6The night before Peter was to be put on trial, he was asleep and bound by two chains. A soldier was guarding him on each side, and two other soldiers were guarding the entrance to the jail. 7Suddenly an angel from the Lord appeared, and light flashed around in the cell. The angel poked Peter in the side and woke him up. Then he said, "Quick! Get up!"
The chains fell off his hands, 8and the angel said, "Get dressed and put on your sandals." Peter did what he was told. Then the angel said, "Now put on your coat and follow me." 9Peter left with the angel, but he thought everything was only a dream. 10They went past the two groups of soldiers, and when they came to the iron gate to the city, it opened by itself. They went out and were going along the street, when all at once the angel disappeared.
11Peter now realized what had happened, and he said, "I am certain that the Lord sent his angel to rescue me from Herod and from everything the Jewish leaders planned to do to me." 12Then Peter went to the house of Mary the mother of John whose other name was Mark. Many of the Lord's followers had come together there and were praying.
13Peter knocked on the gate, and a servant named Rhoda came to answer. 14When she heard Peter's voice, she was too excited to open the gate. She ran back into the house and said that Peter was standing there.
15"You are crazy!" everyone told her. But she kept saying that it was Peter. Then they said, "It must be his angel." 16But Peter kept on knocking, until finally they opened the gate. They saw him and were completely amazed. 17Peter motioned for them to keep quiet. Then he told how the Lord had led him out of jail. He also said, "Tell James and the others what has happened." After that, he left and went somewhere else. 18The next morning the soldiers who had been on guard were terribly worried and wondered what had happened to Peter. Herod ordered his own soldiers to search for him, but they could not find him. Then he questioned the guards and had them put to death. After this, Herod left Judea to stay in Caesarea for a while.
So this is what happens when people pray!
The results were so amazing the people praying couldn't even believe it. Of course, that didn't deter God. I think God gets a great deal of pleasure out of demonstrating His power for us. Yet...we act like we're trying to take some pressure off Him by lowering our expectations.
So really...what were those folks praying for? "Lord, grant Peter peace in this time of adversity?" Now there's a safe one. If Peter lacks peace we can always say it's his fault, not God's. Our construct of an omnipotent God is not threatened. On the other hand, "Lord, remove Peter from that prison cell" would be more risky. After all, how often do those things happen?
I notice God did it anyway...and not really "in spite" of those prayers. Prayer of any kind accesses the power of God. However, I'm not unconvinced that the miraculous evidence of God in our lives is somehow related to our ability to imagine the unimaginable in our faith and our prayers.
What are we praying for?
Live boldly out there today...
No comments:
Post a Comment