MELVIN M. NEWLAND, MINISTER
RIDGE CHAPEL, KANSAS, OK
(Powerpoints usedc with this message are available at no charge. Just email me at mnewland@sstelco.com and request PP #410.)
TEXT: Acts 12:1-19; Luke 22:42-44
ILL. Pres. Abraham Lincoln, in a National Proclamation of Prayer & Repentance in 1863 wrote, “We have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace, & multiplied & enriched & strengthened us; & have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom & virtue of our own.
"Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming & preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us! It behooves us, then, to humble ourselves before the offended Power, to confess our national sins, & to pray for clemency & forgiveness.”
(The Presidential Prayer Team Website)
ILL. At another time he wrote, “I have been driven many times upon my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go. My own wisdom, & all that is about me, seemed insufficient… One stormy night I tossed on my bed, unable to sleep as I thought of the terrible sufferings of our soldiers... I spent an hour in agonizing prayer.” (The Presidential Prayer Team Website)
ILL. Also, during that time Lincoln met with a group of Christian ministers for a prayer breakfast. Lincoln was a man of deep personal faith. At one point one of the ministers said, "Mr. President, let us pray that God is on our side."
Lincoln’s response showed far greater insight, "No, gentlemen, let us pray that we are on God’s side." (Contributed by Sermon Central)
Someone said, "The purpose of prayer is to draw us close to the heart of God so that our will, our deepest desires, will be those of God & not our own."
Isn't that exactly the example Jesus gave us in the Garden of Gethsemane when He prayed, "Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done"? (Luke 22:42)
A. Now, even as I'm concerned about people who misunderstand the purpose of prayer, I'm also concerned about those who do understand, but who seem to pray with no expectation of God honoring our prayers or acting on our behalf.
It's as if we're engaging in an empty ritual, sometimes with zeal, but with no expectation that anything will happen in response to our prayers.
If so, we're not the first to make that mistake. In Acts 12:1-19 we read about a group of Christians in the early Church who prayed fervently for the apostle Peter. Then when God acted to save Peter, they had a hard time believing that He had really answered their prayers.
Listen to what happened. Acts 12:1-5 tells us, “It was about this time that King Herod arrested some who belonged to the church, intending to persecute them. He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword.
“When he saw that this pleased the Jews, he proceeded to seize Peter also. This happened during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. After arresting him, he put him in prison, handing him over to be guarded by 4 squads of 4 soldiers each.
“Herod intended to bring him out for public trial after the Passover. So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him.”
King Herod was trying to win popularity with the Jews, so he arrested the apostle James & had him executed. That went over so well that he arrested the apostle Peter.
And to make sure that Peter did not escape, he was guarded by 16 soldiers, 4 squads whose watch rotated every 4 hours around the clock. At all times two guards were chained to Peter in his locked cell, & two others stood guard just outside his cell.
From all appearances it was a hopeless situation. The end was near for Peter, & these 16 guards would assure that Herod's bloodthirsty appetite would be satisfied.
I. PRAY EARNESTLY
Now, let's switch scenes for a moment & move from the locked cell holding Peter to the house of John Mark's mother where a group of Christians are praying for Peter.
If you remember, Vs. 5 says, "So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him."
Now I want you to notice something. The Greek word that is translated "earnestly" is a medical term describing stretching of a muscle to its limits. And it is exactly the same word used when Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane.
Luke writes, "And being in anguish, He (that's Jesus) prayed more earnestly, & His sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground" (Luke 22:44).
You see, the Christians who were gathered in that house were not playing with prayer, they were praying! They were praying fervently, earnestly, on Peter's behalf!
But from looking at the rest of the story, I'm convinced that those who were praying for Peter didn't anticipate what actually happened. Let me show you what I mean as we continue on with vs's 6-10.
“The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, & sentries stood guard at the entrance. Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared & a light shone in the cell.
"He struck Peter on the side & woke him up. ‘Quick, get up!’ he said, & the chains fell off Peter's wrists. Then the angel said to him, ‘Put on your clothes & sandals.’ And Peter did so.
‘Wrap your cloak around you & follow me,’ the angel told him. Peter followed him out of the prison, but he had no idea that what the angel was doing was really happening; he thought he was seeing a vision.
“They passed the first & second guards & came to the iron gate leading to the city. It opened for them by itself, & they went through it. When they had walked the length of one street, suddenly the angel left him.”
It was not the skill or craftiness of Peter that got him out of jail - Peter was asleep when the angel came. It wasn't the sympathy of the jailers that enabled Peter to escape - they would later lose their lives over it!
There is no explanation except for the power of God! It was the power of God that sent the angel & loosed the chains! It was the power of God that opened the iron gate! It was all accomplished by the power of God!
Once free, Peter came to his senses & arrived at the same conclusion. Acts 12:11-16 tells us, “Then Peter came to himself & said, ‘Now I know without a doubt that the Lord sent his angel & rescued me from Herod's clutches & from everything the Jewish people were anticipating.’ It was the power of God!
“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 & were praying. Peter knocked at the outer entrance, & a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer the door.
“When she recognized Peter's voice, she was so overjoyed she ran back without opening it & exclaimed, ‘Peter is at the door!’ ‘You're out of your mind,’ they told her.
“When she kept insisting that it was so, they said, ‘It must be his angel.’ But Peter kept on knocking, & when they opened the door & saw him, they were astonished.”
When Peter arrived at Mary's house they were still praying. They had been up all night long praying for Peter.
I don't know what they were praying for. We are not told whether they were praying for Peter to be freed from prison, or for him to remain courageous & bold in His faith, or simply for Herod not to kill Peter, too.
However, I honestly don't think they were praying for Peter's release because they were taken completely by surprise when he showed up at the door. They just didn't believe her when the girl said, "He's here!" They weren't expecting Peter to be at their door.
But he was! Someone has suggested that "God sometimes uses surprises to show us that He is still in charge."
God is able! So when you pray, pray with the expectation that God will answer your prayers according to His will.
II. SEEK TO DISCOVER & UNDERSTAND GOD'S WILL
Secondly, seek to discover & understand God's will about your situation before you begin praying about it. Does God's Word have anything to say that will shed light on it? Are you asking Him to bless something that is obviously not according to His Word?
ILL. Don't be like the little boy who had been sent to his room because he had been bad. A while later he came out & said to his mother, "I've been thinking about what I did & I said a prayer."
"That's fine," she said, "if you ask God He'll help you to be good." "Oh, I didn't ask Him to help me be good," replied the boy. "I asked Him to help you put up with me." (“Our Daily Bread” 6/15)
We can find a good example of what I am talking about from the life of Jesus. Jesus didn't want to die the horrible death that was waiting for Him, but He desired God's will for His life more than He desired His own comfort.
When difficult situations arise in our lives & we seek God's help in prayer, we automatically conclude that it is God's will for us to avoid pain & suffering or even death. We may very well conclude wrongly & miss God's best for us in the situation.
There are times that we may not know what to pray. But when those times arise we need to go to God in prayer, tell Him that we don't know what to pray, but we do desire His best for us, & then be comforted in the fact that God desires what is best for us, too.
ILL. In Alexander Solzhenitsyn's book, "A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich," Ivan endures all the horrors of a Soviet prison camp.
One day he is praying when a fellow prisoner notices him & says with ridicule, "Prayers won't help you get out of here." Opening his eyes, Ivan answers, "I do not pray to get out of prison, but to do the will of God." (“Our Daily Bread” 12-29-1993)
Isn't that great! I'm not praying for a life of ease, but I am praying for the will of God to be done through my life. Once we come to know God's desires, & how we can best be used by God, then we must pray with expectation.
III. BE PERSISTENT
Thirdly, be persistent! When we pray we need to say, "Lord I don't know how, I don't know who You will use to accomplish Your will, but I know that You will act, & I will wait with expectation for Your mighty hand to move! And I will keep on praying."
ILL. I want to conclude with a story that Tony Campolo tells about a time he was asked to speak at a Christian college. Before the service began, eight men had him kneel so they could place their hands on his head & pray for him.
He was glad to have prayer, but each of them prayed a long time. One of the men didn’t even pray for him, he prayed for a neighbor. He said, "Dear Lord, you know Charlie Stoltzfus. He lives in that silver trailer down the road a mile. You know the trailer, Lord, just down the road on the right-hand side."
Tony recalls that he wanted to interrupt & tell him that God already knew where the guy lived & didn’t need directions, but he remained silent. The prayer went on: "Lord, Charlie told me this morning he’s going to leave his wife & three kids. Step in & do something, Lord. Bring that family back together."
The prayer time ended, the Service began, & Tony preached. Things went well. After the service, as he headed home he saw a hitchhiker &, for some reason, felt compelled to pick him up.
Campolo said, "We drove a few minutes in silence & then I said: 'My name is Tony Campolo. What’s yours?’ The man answered, 'My name is Charlie Stoltzfus.’ Campolo turned off the turnpike at the next exit & headed back toward town.
After a few minutes Charlie said, ’Hey mister, where are you taking me?’ Campolo answered, ’I’m taking you home.’ Charlie narrowed his eyes & asked, ’Why?’ Campolo said, ’Because you just left your wife & 3 kids, right?’
Campolo said, "Charlie was shocked, he had never seen me before. He plastered himself against the car door & never took his eyes off me. Then I really did him in as I drove right to his silver trailer.
"When I pulled up, his eyes almost bulged as he asked, ‘How did you know that I lived here?’ I said ’God told me.’ (I believe God did tell me.) When he opened the trailer door his wife exclaimed, ‘You’re back, You’re back’
He whispered in her ear & the more he talked, the bigger her eyes got. I said with real authority, ‘The two of you sit down. I’m going to talk & you two are going to listen.’ That afternoon I led those two people to Jesus Christ." (Contributed by Tim Richards on Sermon Central)
As I quoted near the beginning of this message, “The purpose of prayer is to draw us close to the heart of God so that our will, our deepest desires, will be those of God & not our own.”
Our prayers are not to be empty rituals, with no real expectation that anything will happen, but an earnest desire to seek to know & fulfill God’s Will in everything.
INVITATION
