30 Days - Day 24

Day 24

Acts 12:12-17

12 So, when he had considered this, he came to the house of Mary, the mother of John whose surname was Mark, where many were gathered together praying. 13 And as Peter knocked at the door of the gate, a girl named Rhoda came to answer. 14 When she recognized Peter’s voice, because of her gladness she did not open the gate, but ran in and announced that Peter stood before the gate. 15 But they said to her, “You are beside yourself!” Yet she kept insisting that it was so. So they said, “It is his angel.”
16 Now Peter continued knocking; and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished. 17 But motioning to them with his hand to keep silent, he declared to them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he said, “Go, tell these things to James and to the brethren.” And he departed and went to another place.

Peter has been in prison and the church has been praying for him constantly. In the morning he is expected to die. But, God hears the prayers of His people and sends His angel to bring Peter safely out of prison. Finding himself beyond the prison walls Peter realizes that he has been freed and after taking a moment to consider, he goes to a place where believers are gathered to pray for him. A place likely well known to Peter and the early believers in Jerusalem.

Coming to the house he knocks at the gate. A young girl comes to the gate and realizes that it is Peter! What they have been praying about has happened! God has answered their prayer, perhaps beyond hope. It is time to rejoice. Their prayer has been answered. God has heard. Start the worship service! But Rhoda is so excited that she, in her thankfulness, forgets to open the door for Peter to let him into the house.

Rhoda runs and tells all the others that are gathered there. Peter is here ... he is at the gate! Our prayers have been answered. She receives a most interesting response. No way! We are praying here for Peters release. No visions have come. No angels. We have no answer yet. We must continue to pray for Peter. The hours are ebbing away. Perhaps they thought she was tired and seeing dreams. Perhaps they thought the grief and fervency of the prayers had finally gotten to her.

How strange that they should be so earnest in their prayers and yet not believe that they have been answered. How strange that one coming and telling them that Peter was at the gate couldn’t stir them. How strange that they would even make up an explanation for the girls strange insistence that Peter had been freed. They had been praying so earnestly and so faithfully, yet they lacked faith that their prayers had really been answered. However, this is was exactly what Jesus warned the disciples about in Luke 18:1-6. It is possible to get so caught up in our pleas that when the answer comes we are amazed. That is exactly what happened here. They had been praying, asking and interceding, but now that the answer had been given they are “astonished”. Peter is actually kept knocking at the door. He is shut out. Open to the danger of discovery that he has escaped, exposed on the street. He is unable to encourage, until finally they open up. Even then they are almost too full of words for Peter to tell them how their prayers have been answered. He actually has to signal them for silence so that he can speak.

It seems so incredible and yet I wonder how often it happens. Are their times that God answers and it seems too amazing to believe ... it seems too good to be true. We have been earnest and persevered, but lacked faith. What if Peter had gotten tired of waiting and went to another place before they opened the gate to him? They might have missed the blessing and encouragement of seeing their prayers answered. They might have missed the opportunity to turn their prayers to praise. How good to know that even such prayers, prayers that lack it faith but persist in perseverance, are heard by a loving Father. He asks us to pray. He exhorts us to faith. He answers our prayers.

Prayer Requests Day 24

1) Our walk and personal relationship/time with God - continued growth, worship, prayer, time in the Word
2) Language - continued progress in language - speech and understanding - wisdom on best ways to continue study and learning
3) Organization and wise use of time and energy. Finding a balance between ministry and family. Wisdom as we rear and care for Christian and Julia. Reaching out to others as a family and being a good family witness
4) For a new family that wants to expose their daughter (2yrs) to English - that they would follow though and we would be able to build a good relationship with them
5) For upcoming trip of Jim's parent's to Slovenia - opportunities with puppets and teaching people to use puppet ministry