Acts 12-14

November 18

Acts 12-14

As the church grew, so did persecution of the church. Herod had James the brother of John put to death and arrested Peter with plans of killing him also. While Peter was being held in prison, the church prayed. The night before Peter was to be brought before Herod, God sent an angel to free him. The angel released Peter from chains, and led him out of prison. Peter went to the house where the church was meeting and praying and the people were amazed that Peter had been freed. Peter told them the story of his narrow escape and went to somewhere safe for a period of time.

There are two lessons we can learn from this story. First, pray without ceasing. God hears our prayers. He does not always answer them the way we expect or even perhaps the way we ask, but He answers prayers. The second lesson is that God’s timing is not our timing. There is saying that God is rarely early, but never late. I imagine Peter was wondering how late God was going to be in releasing him from prison. The church prayed, God heard, but it was not until the night before Peter was to be executed that God sent and angel to deliver him. Don’t give up, keep praying, and trust God.    

Though the church was praying, they were amazed that Peter had been released. The reason they were amazed is they were praying for something that seemed impossible. It is good for us to seek God to help in our impossible situations. When we only ask for what we can do on our own, we never see the miracles. It is alright to ask for the impossible, but we also need to know that sometimes God answers; “no.” Not because He does not love us or want what is best for us, but because He does want what is best for us and His best is not always what we see as the best.