I have unashamedly borrowed my title from my pastor’s message Sunday night. When a thought is that good it needs to be shared. I did not take notes, I just loved the title and the scripture lesson and I knew I wanted to write about it. I hope I can do it justice.

In the Book of Acts, the 12^th chapter, Herod the King is a little upset. The Church is flourishing, that is not on his agenda, so he has James, the brother of John, killed. And when he sees that makes him a pretty big guy with the Jews he then has Peter put into prison.

So I love this part, Herod is so afraid of the Church, or of Peter, or of SOMEBODY, that he has “four squads of four soldiers each” guarding Peter. It takes 16 soldiers to keep hold of one measly fisherman who is “fastened with two chains between two soldiers” and even “others stood guard at the prison gate”. Acts 12:6.

But while Peter was in prison, asleep, the Church was praying, the Bible said they were praying “very earnestly”.  Suddenly a light shines in the prison and an angel of the Lord comes to Peter, strikes him on the side, raises him up and says, “Quick! Get up!”  The chains fell off his wrists and the angel told him, “Get dressed and put on your sandals and your coat and follow me.”

Peter leaves the prison, following the angel but all the time he thinks he is having a vision! He didn’t realize it was actually happening. They pass the first and second guard posts and nobody stops them! The Bible doesn’t say why, it doesn’t say if they were seen or not but just says they passed by but the posts were surely guarded. Then they come to the Iron Gate leading to the city and this opened for them ALL BY ITSELF.

Once they walked through the Iron Gate, the angel suddenly leaves Peter and he finally realizes it is all real. “The Lord has sent his angel and save me from Herod and from what the Jewish leaders had planned to do to me!” Acts 12:11. Peter probably thought he was to meet the same fate as that of James! He wasn’t expecting to be delivered and now it has really hit him that a real rescue has taken place.

So Peter goes to the source of the miracle, he heads to the home of Mary, the mother of John Mark, where the prayer meeting was taking place. He knocks and Rhoda comes to open the door. She is so excited when she hears Peter’s voice that instead of opening the door she runs back inside to tell everyone he is there.

But they aren’t convinced. “You’re out of your mind!” they said. But when she keeps insisting, they decide it must be his angel.

Maybe they were praying for him to be bold and strong in the face of adversity or even death. It isn’t that they didn’t have faith to believe for a miracle, but they had just seen James killed for his beliefs and were probably sure Peter was next.

So, poor Peter? He is still out there knocking! Rhoda finally opens the door and they realize that their prayers have not just kept him strong in the face of adversity or ready to face martyrdom, but their prayers produced a miracle!

But Prayer!

Prayer made the difference! They came together, they travailed, they interceded, there was unity, there was power because they prayed!

Are we like that group that gathered for that prayer meeting so long ago? Are we desperate for our prayers to be answered?

What about those that are “chained” among us? Those with addictions, mental illnesses, “issues” that others don’t want to mess with?

Will we “go to bat” for them? Will we care enough to lose sleep over them, even lose a meal or two?

Do we see the power of united prayer? Of the meaning of “…where two or three are gathered in my name there I will be in the midst of them…”? Matthew 18:20.

Will our prayers mean enough that a light from Heaven will shine down and break those chains where they can stand up and not only be free but run past all of those addictions that have them bound?

Matthew Henry says “We that live in a cold, prayerless generation can hardly form an idea of the earnestness of these holy men of old. But if the Lord should bring on the church an awful persecution like this of Herod, the faithful in Christ would learn what soul-felt prayer is.”