David Bahn – Reflections

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Acts 12:11-17

Then Peter came to himself and said, “Now I know without a doubt that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from Herod’s clutches and from everything the Jewish people were hoping would happen.”

¹² When this had dawned on him, he went to the house of Mary the mother of John, also called Mark, where many people had gathered and were praying. ¹³ Peter knocked at the outer entrance, and a servant named Rhoda came to answer the door. ¹⁴ When she recognized Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed she ran back without opening it and exclaimed, “Peter is at the door!”

¹⁵ “You’re out of your mind,” they told her. When she kept insisting that it was so, they said, “It must be his angel.”

¹⁶ But Peter kept on knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished. ¹⁷ Peter motioned with his hand for them to be quiet and described how the Lord had brought him out of prison. “Tell James and the other brothers and sisters about this,” he said, and then he left for another place.

I pray a lot. I’m not bragging. It’s just what I do when I’m resting, reflecting on life, or thinking of others. Since retiring from full time ministry, it seems I have more margin for this. I use the Lord’s Prayer, the Kyrie (Lord, have mercy), the Agnus Dei (Lamb of God), and specific prayers from the heart for various people. This does not make me any sort of super Christian. I don’t gain extra grace or favor with God for doing this. It’s just what I do. And I don’t think I’m really all that good at it.

The amazing, remarkable, and noteworthy part of this all belongs to God. He is the One who listens when we pray. He is the One who promises to answer our prayers. He is the One who commands us to pray. He promises to listen and answer our prayers. Once in a while I see those answers. I’m guessing most times I wait for his answers.

I’m wondering if that’s how the people at Mary’s house felt as they were praying for Peter. He had been thrown into prison. Herod had unleashed a vicious attack on the disciples, killing James, the brother of John. Then he had set his sights on Peter. So the disciples set to praying. Earnestly. Luke tells us: “Peter was kept in prison, but earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church.” (Acts 12:5).

There are times for earnest prayer; focused, clear, specific, serious, committed, dedicated, and persistent prayer. This was one of those times. There will be others. And God will intervene directly. In response to their prayers Peter is released. It was so remarkable and such a direct answer, the disciples could hardly believe it.

Sometimes our prayers are answered in bold letters. It’s obvious and clear that God has acted. We hardly need faith to see it. But even then – when things line up with our requests – we can be tempted to see a matter of coincidence rather than a clear answer to prayer.

That may be that such immediate, direct, and obvious answers to prayer are rare. How many times have we prayed for a loved one, over a period of months before seeing God’s answer? Mature Christians have learned how true are the words of C.S. Lewis: “I pray because I can’t help myself. I pray because I’m helpless. I pray because the need flows out of me all the time, waking and sleeping. It doesn’t change God. It changes me.”

But sometimes – not often but sometimes – our prayers do change things and God acts in a manner he otherwise would not have, had we not prayed. This seems to have been one of those occasions. We cannot get into the mind of God to discern how his omniscience impacts his answers to our prayers. But we can pray urgently, fervently, persistently, faithfully, and humbly. And while never telling God what to do, we can rejoice when our will aligns with his will for our good and blessing. And when we see that happening we can praise God for his grace, goodness, faithfulness, and love.