Pray – Expect An Answer

Acts 12:1-17

Today’s passage is about the story of Peter being released from prison for the second time. Herod had put James to death and now had imprisoned Peter. Notice the comment in 12:5 that “prayer for him was being made fervently by the church to God.” Although Herod had assigned four guards to watch him each shift, probably because of the previous escape, an angel led Peter out of the prison without any hindrance. Peter realized that God was doing a work in his life (v. 11).

Peter went to the house where his friends were gathered praying and knocked on the door. A servant-girl who knew him answered the door but in her excitement didn’t let him in. She told the others he was there but they didn’t believe (v. 15). When they finally realized it was him, they were amazed.

We shouldn’t be critical, because we are still amazed when God answers our prayers, especially when it seems really difficult. Our church has recently seen God answer prayer on behalf of a young man who was told by doctors he couldn’t have a kidney transplant because of a heart problem. A later examination revealed the heart problem had been completely healed and even the doctors said it was a miracle. He has now successfully had a transplant.

The point I want to make is that when we pray we should expect God to answer. We should be amazed at who He is, His willingness to listen to us, and to love us. God reveals many times in the Bible the answer to the prayers of His people. We do need to be alert that God may not answer in the way we expect. Sometimes His answer may be “wait” and sometimes it may be “no”, but we should be confident that He knows what is best for us and He wants to accomplish His best in our lives.

Prayer is a critical part of the Christian life. Through it you can draw very close to God as you watch Him work in your life. We are given many instructions about prayer in Scripture and are exhorted often to pray. I trust that you will make it an integral part of your life.