Prayer as Conversation & Partnership

Prayer as Conversation

Prayer is basically a conversation ... a ‘heart-to-heart’ conversation with God. This is like a conversation with a friend, except this Friend is totally reliable and 100% faithful, which of course is way more than any human friend possibly can be. Thus our conversations with God have a real thankful attitude ... concerning what God has done for us in the past, and knowing that God will work towards best possible outcomes in the future.

We should not be nervous about praying, for God will never be critical of the words we use nor the number of times we hesitate trying to frame our thoughts. God will actually interact with the processing going on in our minds, leading us to new understanding of the various issues and concerns that are being expressed in our prayers. Thus we should not be afraid of periods of silence for this allows God room to do the speaking, and us the listening.

When involved in public prayer, it may be the spoken prayers of others that bring the illumination we are looking for. It may just be God’s Spirit speaking through another that brings the answer we are looking for. In public prayer we can listen to one another and build on the prayers of each other, which, if nothing else, will bring a great feeling of solidarity to the heart of the problem being faced. Let’s be expectant of such new insight!

Our prayer conversations will also be framed in an attitude of faith ... faith that God can work wonders. Often though, God’s response will require us to also take various practical steps of faith ourselves. God chooses to use us as a channel of God’s blessing to others. This is where prayer is not just a conversation but also a partnership.

Prayer as Partnership

Prayer is about connecting with what God wants to do here in the world ... that is why the model prayer says, “Your Kingdom come; Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven”. Prayer is not just a wish-list, it is about engaging in God’s big picture of renewing our neighbourhoods. If we don’t sense God responding to our micro-issues, perhaps we should think about how much of our praying actually embraces the big issues.

Such praying connects us to participating in the bringing about of God’s best. Isaiah chapter 58 lifts up God’s vision of defeating oppression and injustice. This is a vision of seeing the hungry fed, the homeless housed, the naked clothed, and families reunited. But ultimately this is a vision of a partnership of a proactive people embracing the will of God in the everyday life of their neighbourhoods.

As we step out in faith, God will go before us and behind us, and as we call out to God in prayer for help, surely we will be answered. The light that dwells in us will be revealed, and there will be a healing effect unleashed around us. In this way there will be a true representation of God’s presence and desire to re-create. The welfare of our community, and we might add our own personal well-being, depends upon our prayerful and faithful activity toward our neighbours.

We need those streams of living water to refresh parched and fragile places (Isaiah 58:11). There are certain aspects of community that need to be rebuilt, as well as establishing new and firm foundations for the generations to come. As verse 12 suggests, the true seeker of God stands in the “breach”, i.e. in the place of humanity’s brokenness, ready to bring whatever repair and restoration is necessary.

True community life and true Kingdom life require streets to live in where people are free to pursue all the best that life has to give, especially in the spiritual realm. [Note that the text refers to “streets” not individual “houses” if you get my point.] So, as Henri Nouwen writes: Prayer is the way to become and remain a part of Jesus’ mission to draw all people to the intimacy of God’s love.

"Faith in the public eye" - based on Mark 2:1-12

Four guys – one on each corner of a stretcher. Their friend was paralysed. Other people as well were likely to have come along in support of this poor man on the stretcher. We have no idea how he came to be paralysed like that, but we do know that it would mean being in the most desperate of circumstances in the society of the day.

The four ‘stretcher-bearers’ and the other supporters had heard about Jesus, like so many had, as Jesus had been healing and speaking all very publicly. What they had heard about Jesus must have convinced them that this was the answer to their friend’s situation, or at least, it was certainly worth a try. So, when they heard where Jesus was situated, they went, carrying their friend, to try to meet with this Jesus.

But when they saw the crowd, and how difficult the whole thing would be, they gave up and went home! No they didn’t!! This may have been what many would have done, but not these faithful ones.

We see in Jesus’ actions that follow, that these four ‘stretcher-bearers’ and the other supporters were acknowledged for their faith, for we read, “When Jesus saw their faith, [Jesus] said to the paralytic, ‘Son, your sins are forgiven’” (v.5). Whatever they had thought about in terms of Jesus’ identity when they had wanted to bring their friend to him, Jesus made it clear that they had done precisely the right thing ... for they had brought their friend right into the presence of God. And being in the close presence of God, transformation was certain and imminent. When people are brought close to God, change is just about to happen.

Only God could forgive sins – so if Jesus was declaring forgiveness, he was God (unless he was a lunatic). So, Jesus, when challenged, would prove himself. [In these times people believed that it was sin that brought about disability, so for Jesus to later remove the disability was to prove the reality of his forgiveness of sin. Only God could provide the whole package of both spiritual and physical liberation.] For those who could not recognise Jesus for who he really was, Jesus said to the paralysed man ... “stand up, take your mat and go to your home”. Surely the faith of those who had brought him was well-placed – such faith was right there and then publicly vindicated.

These ‘stretcher-bearers’ and helpers had clearly recognised the difficulties and suffering being endured by this paralysed man. They would also understand the limitations that would make seeking help on his own nearly impossible. We don’t know how well any one of them actually knew him, but they certainly acted as his good friend and neighbour. They were likely to have had their eyes and ears open for any opportunity to offer and provide some assistance to this man.

But when they got to the house where Jesus was, what did these compassionate people have to cope with? Huge crowds blocking the entrance, possibly shouting out at them to “wait their turn”. They could have been yelling out “make way, make way, for our paralysed friend” and been totally ignored. Maybe there were some little internal stirrings of doubt coming into their minds about turning back – was this really all worth it? Yet they decisively moved past any such misgivings. They headed for the steps on the side of the building, climbing up to the flat roof above.

Risking all sorts of admonishment they dug through the roof made of thatch and mud, making a large enough opening for the stretcher to fit through. Then they managed to work out a way of lowering their friend down to where Jesus was (probably with the use of rope/s). Now we might think they were rude and destructive, but we might also consider they were committed and resolute. Sometimes the ends do justify the means.

What do we think of their approach???

·        They saw an opportunity to meet a tragic need and went for it (and could not be dissuaded)

·        They provided a great example of friendship, compassion and selflessness (in a very counter-cultural way)

·        They worked together as a team (possibly where any less than four could not have done the job – but where there was four working together, this attracted other helpers to go along with them)

·        They showed that they believed in something great beyond themselves (i.e. living faith)

·        This resulted in a public display of Jesus being able to bring both spiritual and physical freedom (to one on the margins of society)

What sort of activity should our faith lead us to???

Normally Jesus would have responded to the faith of the person themselves, but in this incident it was different. The paralysed man may have himself expressed faith in Jesus in being willing to go along with this bold plan. But it was essentially the faith of the paralysed man’s friends that made the difference. Likewise, it is our faith, on the ground and in the public eye, that can make a difference.

We might not be able to easily recognise the difference our faith makes, but we can know for sure that it does. It could be that it seems that our faith is being ignored or even rejected, and we could let this deter us. Yet the very integrity of this faith, especially as it is connected with our various acts of compassion, kindness and helpfulness, will be noticed by some, and have its (super)natural impact.

What is required of Jesus-followers is to apply their faith to the people needs and issues that are present to us. Effectiveness likely begins through friendship and neighbourliness, and seeing into what areas this leads us.

When the previously paralysed man indeed stood up, picked up his mat and walked away right before all the gathered crowd, we read (in v.12) that everyone was “amazed” and “glorified God”, also saying, “We have never seen anything like this”! As if to say, ‘Wow – something different, new and exciting has come to our humdrum life’! It is when we involve our ‘faith-filled’ selves in the mission of God that such a stir can be created (which leads to all sorts of transformations).

Barriers to Prayer

As Philippians 4:6 reminds us, we should be praying to God. Rather than worrying or procrastinating, and with thanksgiving on our heart (thus being positively expectant of good responses), we should let our requests be made known to God. But is it always as easy as this?

Introductory Questions

What gets in the way of your praying?

Why is your prayer life (at times) unsatisfying or seemingly ineffective?

Why do we find it so hard to pray?

Why do we lose interest so quickly?

Why does prayer sometimes seem pointless?

Might there be barriers, possibly of our own making, that are disrupting our prayer??

Our prayer life could be compared to our car – if all the parts (that make up the car) are not in good working order (and if they haven’t been serviced recently), then when we turn on the engine and press the accelerator and try to take off ... we just won’t get the result we want!

Barriers

(1)    Inadequate Faith

To get the most out of prayer, we have to believe that God not only hears our prayers, but that God also can act in response to our prayers. We read in Acts 12, that even though the church community were praying fervently to God for Peter, when Peter arrived at their front door, they found it very difficult to believe that Peter had been enabled to escape. While God still honoured their commitment to pray, there remains the lesson about our level of expectation. If we don’t have high expectations concerning the outcome of our prayers, then it is less likely that we will pray, and also less likely that we will stick with the task of praying.

What do we do about inadequate faith? We should continually remind ourselves about how God has been faithful to us and to others in the past. We should listen to the witness of the Scriptures about how God has positively and creatively interacted with humanity. We can read books and hear stories about God’s remarkable activity within lives and communities. And we can be courageous, leave our comfort zones, and follow God’s leading into new areas of service or ministry or witness; finding God to be with us always just as it was promised.

Another aspect of ‘inadequate faith’ would be the very passive prayer, where we expect God to do everything, and we are not prepared to even dip a toe in the water. Often God’s answer to our prayer can only come as we get on the move, and find that place where God is already active and working. There are certain times where God expects us to not just be pray-ers, but also to be actively part of the solution. This might include those little character adjustments, where we need to take some simple steps forward.

(2)    “Unanswered” Prayer

Many of us can be dissuaded from engaging in prayer because of a sense of previous prayers having gone unanswered. However, in the cold light of day, we may come to realise that our prayers were indeed answered, just in a different way to what we expected, and more to the point, in a different way to what we wanted. The “no” that was actually for our own good and the good of others, was God’s answer, in preference to the “yes” which would have led us down the wrong track. Other answers are still emerging over time ... it’s just that we’ve lost patience. Some positive responses from God are right there to see and embrace, it’s just that they look so much different than we imagined – and we could be simply just looking in the wrong place.

One of the biggest unanswered prayers in history, or so it seemed, was the people of Israel’s call for a Messiah – one that would liberate them from their oppression. The reality is that God answered in the most effective and remarkable of ways by sending Jesus, who not only could liberate one people group but all people groups. This would just require a new way of looking at life, and seeing that the evil that causes oppression comes from deep within, and that it’s what abides within a person that needs to be dealt with if the world is going to be truly set to rights.

Sometimes it can be the resolute refusal of other people to cooperate with good and Godly purposes that can block God’s best work for a time. Sometimes there is just the plain reality that our living environment on earth is subject to all sorts of instability, various diseases, poor human decision-making, and wicked violence – all leading to tragic outcomes. Sometimes we can be overly fixated on relatively small matters while God has to attend to the very biggest of pictures (only really known to God). This reminds us that part of faith is to continue to trust God through times of uncertainty, pain, confusion and disappointment.

(3)    Prayerlessness

Often prayer also takes a back seat when we cannot seem to be still enough for long enough. I think this is the problem that Jesus detected in Martha (Luke 10:38-42). It was not wrong for Martha to be busy in providing hospitality for Jesus and the others, but Jesus had detected that this was something that was so habitual for Martha, that she was in great danger of missing the special moments in life – like taking the opportunity of sitting at Jesus’ feet and enjoying his visit and listening intently to what he had to say (exactly what Martha’s sister Mary did).

Jesus said, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing”. Then if Luke’s readers read on into chapter 11, they will find out more about that one thing! I, for one, have had to learn to think less about my ever-present ‘to-do list’, and more about what God might want to teach me, or how God might want to lead me through a particular day.

In James chapter 4 and verse 2 we read, “You do not have, because you do not ask”. Rather than allowing feelings of despondency to build unhealthily, and rather than continuing to feel bereft of what we need, we should make the time to take the most appropriate course of action – to bring the matter before God in prayer.

(4)    Unconfessed Sin

God wants to forgive us when we sin. Yet God does want us first to reflect and be regretful and sincerely repent (i.e. change our ways). This is called confession – it’s getting something off our chest so that it doesn’t affect us anymore. Confession changes a negative dynamic into a positive release. However non-confession refuses God’s offer of forgiveness, and thus tends toward inhibiting our relationship with God. Isaiah captured this dynamic perfectly when he wrote:

See, the Lord’s hand is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear.

Rather, your iniquities have been barriers between you and your God, 
And your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear (59:1-2).

So, our prayer-life would continue to struggle while we turn a blind eye to our shortcomings or don’t take any remedial action against our bad behaviour. It would be somewhat presumptuous of us to expect answers while knowingly tolerating or ignoring our sinfulness.

The guilt and sometimes shame that we carry can be so very destructive, as we let it hang over us and bear down upon us. This is why James uses such strong and urgent language (in chapter 4) about dealing with any sinfulness – “Cleanse your hands ... purify your hearts (thus encompassing both the outer and inner life); then ... lament, mourn and weep” (v.8-9).

(5)    Relational Conflict

God considers the quality of our relationships with other people to be highly important. Our love for our neighbour shows the integrity and sincerity of our love for God. There is little point praying for certain good outcomes, while we are perverting God’s Kingdom by acting harshly or selfishly toward others. Paul in Romans wrote:

If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all (12:18).

Included here would be our spouses, family members, friends, work colleagues, neighbours, all the people at church; then I’ll take this further to all the people who could potentially be a part of our church community, and even the whole retail, trade and service industries. We can’t control how other people speak or act; but we can control how we respond, and remain responsible for the words we use and the actions we take on all occasions.

Where conflict arises, as much as we can, we should seek restoration and reconciliation. How can we properly look toward God seeking the best for ourselves, while holding ill-feelings toward others! Such efforts toward restoration may take some effort and extended time, but this is what God requires of us. As long as we are doing the best we can in this area, God will not only hear our prayers, but certainly also aid this reconciliation process.

The worst soul-destroying emotion is bitterness – this eats you up inside, and starts to pervert all your relationships. We have to work on such areas as blaming others and holding grudges through seeking new understanding and applying forgiveness. We read in the ‘Lord’s prayer’ how our forgiveness is dependent on our willingness to forgive others (Matthew 6:12). God wants to connect with that other person (who has previously offended us) just as much as he wants to heal our particular hurts.

One rider here – even Paul concedes in the earlier verse from Romans that it may not be possible to find peace with certain others – this has been seen in the area of repeated abuse. Sometimes we will need to separate ourselves from someone for our own protection as they have proven unwilling to change.

(6)    Uncaring Attitudes

In the same way as for relational conflict, we shouldn’t expect much success with prayer while we persist with attitudes that have not become conformed to the Jesus way of compassion and care. If we don’t really care about the plight of others, especially the least fortunate, then prayers focussed on our needs and agendas would seem rather thoughtless, even arrogant. Proverbs 21:13 reads:

If you close your ear to the cry of the poor, you will cry out and not be heard.

It is hypocrisy to cry out to God for our own needs, while at the same time ignoring the needs of another ... need (that even in a small way) we could personally do something about. We should also be moved with concern when there are large-scale international tragedies. This is about embracing feelings of human solidarity – when one person is hurting, the whole human community hurts with them. This is also about accepting that all human beings have been created in the image of God. In the face of all the injustice, cruelty, violence and greed that exists, wanting God to do all the work in the world, while we prefer to remain passive, places ‘blockades’ around our prayers.

We have to note that it is often very tiresome coping with and helping other people, especially those people who seem so very needy. However ‘compassion fatigue’ is something we should never give in to!

(7)    Resistance to Change

This would be resistance to change both on a personal and societal level. We understand the way Jesus wants us to live, and the way the Kingdom of God operates, but we are just not willing, for whatever reason, to adopt the appropriate decision-making and new behaviour patterns. The most common reason we resist, is because we are actually comfortable with the way we are – the status-quo has served me well – and we don’t want the boat we are sailing in to be rocked. Such a person will pray, but, being set in their ways, will then go on to act as if they hadn’t prayed at all.

In James chapter 1, we read about a person who is “double-minded” ... a person who is in ‘two minds’ – this double-minded person, “must not expect to receive anything from the Lord” (James 1:8). A “double-minded” person is quite keen on the notion of belief or faith, and the benefits that this might bring to them; but is unwilling to make this faith central in their lives, allowing other agendas and priorities to be in that central place.

This often plays out as follows (the first part we speak, and the second part we just think):

Ø  Dear God, I would like to be more like Jesus, but not if that means ...

Ø  Dear God, I would like to get to know Frank better, but don’t let him discover too much about me

Ø  Dear God, please bring more people to church, but not Fred or Joan and definitely not anyone who is going to be difficult

Ø  Dear God, I would like to get more involved, but not if it’s going to take up too much of my spare time.

Also, we can tend toward putting conditions on our willingness to follow God’s leading:

Ø  Dear God, I will go there, as long as this won’t happen

Ø  Dear God, I am prepared to do that, as long as you do this for me.

This is all a far cry from the model prayer, “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10)! James 4:3 says, “You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, in order to spend what you get on your pleasures”.

Now is the Time to Pray

So, indeed, let us pray!!!

Now that we have prayed, we can experience the peace of God which surpasses all understanding (Phil.4:7). This peace will guard our hearts and our minds in Christ Jesus. We know that no matter how God answers our prayers and however long this takes to become apparent, we are safe in the knowledge that the risen Jesus walks with us and the Holy Spirit surrounds us – we are under God’s protective custody! Our needs may still be there in the short-term, but now they do not have the same capacity to make us anxious. Thanks be to God!

"The Church at Prayer" - an examination of Acts 12:1-19

Why do we pray???

•         Because we hope that certain situations will change for the better i.e. health, employment, personal relationships, conflicts
•         Because we have deep concerns for others – family members, friends, neighbours, the community and nations of the world
•         Because we are seeking God to be active and bring about change and good outcomes within and around the causes we are involved in
•         Because we are seeking protection from the possible threat of dangerous situations
•         Because we desire that the lost find their home back with God
•         Because we are seeking guidance, wisdom and peace within the multiple choices and confusion we are experiencing; so that we might be able to focus on the highest priorities
•         Because we want to know God better, and understand more of God’s Word and its application to everyday life, and better appreciate God’s mission in the world
•         So that we can put into words some of things we are feeling, i.e. love for God, thankfulness about certain blessings, concern for others, frustration about life, confession of sin, commitment to God’s purposes

Why does God want us to pray???

•         So that we can develop our own relationship with God, focus on God’s love for us, and thereby receive all the resources that God has promised to us (including forgiveness)
•         To get to know ourselves better, as we open ourselves up to a dialogue with God, and reflect (in God’s presence) on the issues going on for us
•         So that we can become more like Jesus, allowing God to reshape our character, including becoming more forgiving, caring and peace-making people, exhibiting the fruits and the gifts of the Holy Spirit
•         So that we can be changed in line with the change we desire to see around us
•         To reassure us that indeed God has our (and the entire human community’s) best interests at heart, and that God will actively work to use us to accomplish God’s own will
•         To give us confidence and greater faith, that will take us beyond fear and timidity toward embracing creative (and sometimes risky) mission
•         So that we will cope better with our particular life circumstances and each new challenge that comes upon us, and also respond better to each new opportunity
•         So we gain a vision of the Kingdom of God (on earth)

My direct interest in the capacity of prayer at this time, is to consider how the church at prayer can make a local community a better place irrespective of that community’s allegiance to God. By “better”, I would mean, more able to support the well-being of its residents, and also closer to those values we would attribute to the Kingdom of God.

In Acts chapter 12 we find the church at prayer in response to a very specific and worrying situation. Their leader Peter had been imprisoned, and besides their natural concern for Peter’s well-being, also on their mind would have been the future of their mission work (considering what a significant role Peter was playing). There was no doubt some confusion concerning why Peter would be in such a situation, given that God had brought him so far and there would be so many more opportunities up ahead. Why had God allowed this to happen?

The situation for Peter and his church community could hardly have been worse. Peter was arrested by Herod because Peter was upsetting the “pax Romana” (the peace of the Roman empire) with this new and spreading message of the good news of Jesus. Peter had even led the whole family of a Roman centurion (named Cornelius) to follow this Jesus. The Jewish leadership were quite happy for Herod to be knocking off these disciples of Jesus, as maybe this would put an end to the growth of this Jesus movement. Peter would be likely executed after the Passover was finished, possibly very publicly as a warning to others. And Peter was being heavily guarded by twice the normal number of soldiers, with no real prospect of release or escape.

So what did Peter’s local church community do ... referring to verse 5 ... “prayed fervently to God for him”. So, they gathered in their various homes, and they lifted up their leader Peter in prayer before God, emptying out their hearts of concern in passionate intercession (it would seem) for his survival. They would have prayed (you would think) for the great resources of God to overwhelm the limited power of Herod, so that Peter would be safely returned to them.

There are four important facets of this phrase in verse 5!?!

The first is that the prayer was collective ... the “church” as a collective gathered together; probably in a number of places, yet made this occasion for prayer a coordinated effort.

The second is the adjective “fervent”. Other words used could be: earnest, intense, heartfelt, passionate, committed, faithful, persistent, ongoing, united ... prayer. Later, after his escape, when Peter arrived at Mary’s house (v.12), it was noted that the many people there were still praying! So we can certainly conclude that God worked the miracle of Peter’s escape while the people were praying for Peter.

The third is the fact that all their prayers, all their words, were directed, not to one another in a bit of a talkfest, but to God. This church community didn’t talk about prayer ... they actually prayed! This shows that they understood where their hope lay, and where Peter’s well-being ultimately depended, and that what they were truly seeking – was for God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. This is because we know, and sometimes have to accept, that the answer to our prayers goes in a different direction than we would have wished.

The fourth is that they had a definite subject to their prayer. They focussed intently on Peter’s situation, and no doubt issues surrounding Peter’s arrest, and prayed continually to God for this and “for him”.

It is very interesting in this narrative, that there is no reference to Peter praying for himself (although one would imagine that he would have), and no real reliance on Peter being obedient in any way to escape his plight – he was just amazingly liberated ... carried out of danger whilst feeling in the midst of a trance or dream. This simply highlights the power of committed and concerted group prayer, in combination with the ever-effective resourcefulness of God, to bring about extraordinary outcomes.

But there is a bit of a twist in this story!!! Can even more be said?

Now we would be thinking that Peter’s church community would have been positively expectant about Peter’s release or liberation having prayed like this. After all, they may well have been aware of the earlier occasion when some disciples were able to miraculously escape their imprisonment (refer 5:17-20). Quite the contrary though! When the maid Rhoda went and reported that Peter was at the gate of Mary’s house they replied, “You are out of your mind” (v.15). When she insisted, they insisted it must be some sort of ghost – which means they were thinking that Peter had already been executed. People of the time believed that a ‘guardian angel’ might represent a deceased person and adopt their voice and physical form.

This had been one of the central places of prayer intercession in response to Peter’s plight, but they still were not ready for such an answer! When they actually identified that it really was Peter, we read that they were “amazed” (v.16). Can we find a reason for this lack of expectation? We would need to ask the question, ‘what were the church community praying fervently for’? That Peter would be able to endure with integrity the suffering before him? That his suffering would be minimal? That Peter would sense the close presence of God in his confinement? These are all good sincere prayer options! Another ... that Herod would at least spare Peter from execution?

Or did this church community just harbour a little doubt in the back of their minds – whether God would or even could intervene? Did the problem seem too big, and any possible resolution too hard? Or were there those who just didn’t know how to pray, even though they had the desire to? Or was it a simple case that they could not contemplate how quickly and decisively God would respond?

Maybe this early church community were just learning what God could do. But once they accepted that it really was Peter alive and amongst them, they heard the full story behind Peter’s liberation (v.17a). This just must have been such a faith-enriching experience. So much so, that it just had to be passed on to the other believers (v.17b). Such believers were probably to be found praying together in other houses. And, so much so was this faith-enriching, that Luke just had to record this event in this book.

Even though the church’s prayers may have been deficient, God still worked wonders ... 100% in the direction of bringing about God’s own most graceful will! So we should get to praying – and even if we don’t have all the words or understanding, even if our faith is somewhat wavering, such prayer unleashes the resources of God in the direction of our concern.

We are free to give God our ideas, while conceding that God knows best, and it is God’s will that we want to see displayed on earth (like it always has been in heaven). It is making and fulfilling the commitment to pray that is the most important thing, which allows us to participate (or partner) in what God wants to do. We can also learn the lesson, that there is no limit to the possibilities of God answering prayer. When we truly focus on (the magnitude of) God in our prayers, the mountains before us start to lose the impact of their size.

One person within the church community did recognise God’s answer to their prayers!?! She must have been highly expectant! Hearing a voice that sounded like Peter’s was enough for Rhoda (v.14), and she was instantly overjoyed. Yet it was still the whole church’s faithful willingness to pray that helped foil a major plot against the future of the Jesus movement (refer 12:24).

Prayer Blessing: Bill Hybels was once faced with preaching to a crowd of over 20,000 in India, with the further complication of needing to use a translator. In the face of all his doubts, fears and anxiety, he prayed the following prayer before going to the platform ...

“I’m praying to the Creator of the world, the King of the universe, the all-powerful, all-knowing, all-faithful God. I’m praying to the God who made the mountains and who can move them if necessary. I’m praying to the God who has always been faithful to me, who has never let me down no matter how frightened I was or how difficult the situation looked. I’m praying to a God who wants to bear fruit through me, and I am going to trust that [God] is going to use me tonight. Not because of who I am, but because of who [God] is. [God] is faithful.”