In Acts 12 we find Herod arresting some church members so that he could persecute them. While we are not told, we can assume that they had not committed any crime.
One of the first to be arrested was James, one of Jesus’ disciples, Herod had him put to death with the sword. Seeing he had the approval of the people he then continued to arrest Peter.
The church was still young, while some – including Stephen – had been martyred for their faith, there were some that thought that followers of Jesus were protected – especially the 12 disciples who had been with him throughout his ministry. Let’s turn back to Matthew 10:16-26 where Jesus tells them to be on guard, that they will be sheep among wolves, that they will be brought before governors and kings, that they will be persecuted.
Herod arrested Peter as soon as he saw the positive reaction to the arrest and death of James. Because Peter had escaped prison before (Acts 5) he assigned 4 guards to watch over him while waiting until after the Passover before passing judgement on him.
While Peter was in prison the church were “earnestly” praying for him – they weren’t just reciting the words, they were on their knees pleading with God, agonising, crying out with heartfelt prayer – a prayer that showed they care for the things God cares for.
We do not know how long Peter was kept locked up – Passover is 8 days so depending on the time of his arrest it may have been a week. We’re told that the night before he was to be brought for trial he was sleeping – maybe he knew when his trial would be, maybe he didn’t – we’re not told – but he was sleeping – it’s hard to sleep when you are anxious about something, so it reads that Peter was taking it in his stride.
Peter was chained to two guards, and there were two more outside. Have you tried to break a chain without anyone noticing? Light flooded the cell and Peter was woken from his sleep by an angel hitting him! There was an urgency in the angels command – “Quick, get up” – as the chains fell off his wrists. The angel continued to instruct Peter in what to do – “put your clothes on, put your shoes on, wrap you cloak round you and follow me.” To be woken from sleep and find yourself freed – while the guards are still in the room – there may have been a moment where Peter froze not knowing what to do. We’re told that Peter wasn’t even sure what was happening was real – I don’t dream often but when I do it feels as if I’m in the place of my dream, perhaps Peter expected to wake up and find himself still chained. As they got to the iron gate it opened and they walked through. The angel walked one street with Peter and then left him. When Peter realised it wasn’t a dream he immediately acknowledged that it was the Lord who had sent his angel to rescue him.
Peter takes time to reflect, to acknowledge and thank God. He then continues to Mary’s house, where a number of church members had gathered to pray. The people in the house didn’t believe the girl who went to the door. They had been praying for Peter’s release and when he arrived at the door they didn’t believe!
Do we pray believing that God will answer? Or do we just pray because it’s the right thing to do?
They had been praying earnestly, groaning, pleading with God for Peter’s life, yet it seems from their reaction that they had not really thought God could do it. Perhaps they were managing their expectations, perhaps they didn’t want to be disappointed if God said no.
Once they let Peter in he explained all that had happened andActsAct told them to tell others.
As the sun rose in the prison Herod would have been furious to discover Peter was gone, he had the guards put to death – giving them the punishment that Peter had escaped.
So what can we take from this passage:
Becoming a Christian, giving your life to Jesus, doesn’t mean you won’t face challenges. It does give you a way to handle those challenges.
We need to be people that pray earnestly – prayer for ourselves but also prayer for others. Peter would, I am sure, have been praying for himself and the church, but he would also have known that the church would be praying for him. Gather people around you that will pray for you – talk to them, share your situation, so that they can pray into your circumstances. Even here, speak to each other during the day, share prayer requests and pray for each other together or on your later.
When you pray, pray believing that God will do it! As Christian’s seeking God, we should be praying according to His will (1 John 5:14-15) – this is important. It is unlikely that praying, “Lord give me 1 million USD”, would result in me receiving 1 million USD! I do not need it. God knows I do not need it. However, if I prayed, “Lord give me enough food for today” then I would expect him to do that. Jesus tells us (Matthew 17:20) if we have faith as small as a mustard seed we can move mountains. Let us press into God – use Jesus’ words on the cross if you are struggling to know what God’s will is – “take this from me, but not my will but yours.”.
That brings me to the final point – we are to testify of what God’s done for us. So when we ask people to pray for us, tell them when God answers. Tell others what God’s done.
Our tesimonies will shine the light of God in this dark world.