The prayer meeting was in full swing. Many of the leading lights of the Way had gathered there. It was not a general prayer session called to glorify God and invoke His blessings . It had a very specific ASK (ask, seek, knock) element: to make supplications to God and pray for Peter’s life to be spared. It was in fact the only point in the agenda
Already James had been killed. The idea of harassing and eventually eliminating the followers of Jesus was gaining momentum. The orthodox Jews were pleased. And the ruling Romans saw this as an uncomplicated measure to make themselves less hated in the subordinate state.
Even as the prayer was reaching fever pitch with ‘speaking in Tongues’ , interpretations and prophesying, Peter was miraculously brought out of the prison by an angel sent from God. By this time most everyone was in spiritual ecstasy and quite divorced from the physical reality. Hardly any ear to the ground.
Knock, knock.
No one stirred. Sounds of PTLs and Hallelujas were rising from every corner of the room.
Peter: Knock, knock,” Mary, Mark”.
More of the same inside the room. Little Rodha’s ears perked up.
(credit:walking together ministries)
“It sounds like uncle Peter’s voice” she whispered.
The more experienced adults hushed her down.
Simon Peter?
Utter nonsense.
The prayer continued: “Lord we thank you because you are a prayer hearing God and prayer answering God. We plead with you for the release of our brother Simon. We stand united in agreement that even now that you are able to act and are indeed acting to bring him to safety. We know not how but we affirm together that You are a God of miracles”
Peter:“Mary…Mark…It’s me ..Simon”
Rodha (joyfully): It is uncle Peter.
Prayer warriors: It sounds like Peter alright …may be his angel. You must be out of your mind to insist it is Simon. Come here, you lassie and kneel down with us and join in the prayer.
Heavenly hosts (looking down on Peter on one side of the door and the prayer warriors with their eyes tightly closed and voices raised in supplication on the other): Aha…what delicious irony!
Raving Rodha (joyfully and pleadingly):” Please..please …let’s open the door”.
Heavenly hosts (encouraging Rodha): Go for it …girl!
Prayer warriors (reluctantly, irked at the insistent interruption to their fervent prayer): Okay, okay. Let’s see who it is.
Unlock the bar, bring it down, undo the bolt, turn the handle, swing the door open.
Lo and behold…..Simon Peter….. in flesh and blood!
(credit:goodsalt.com)
If you are praying fervently for something, the answer may already have arrived at the door; BUT YOU MUST OPEN THE DOOR!!
The prayer and supplication meeting turns into a thanksgiving session.
Rodha whose name finds mention but once in the Bible was quickly done with prayer. She was ready to look for the answer . This brings to mind the story of prophet Elijah and king Ahab. The prophet foretold rainstorm, bowed and prayed, and immediately looked for answer by sending out his servant to confirm the event. It took seven outings by the servant before the rain started to fall ( 1 Kings 18:41-45) but the point here is, once you have prayed, the answer may tarry but it never fails. Once the elevator button is pushed, it does little good to push it again and again. The car will not come any sooner for multiple registrations!(As with all analogies, we cannot push this one too far, because there are certainly situations which call for ceaseless prayer.)
To be fair to the prayer warriors, they had prayed similarly in respect of James when he was arrested by Herod and cast into prison. Nothing happened. Heavens responded with deafening silence. James was put to death. No doubt this event was weighing heavily in their hearts as they had gathered to pray for Peter. So while they were going through the motions of a prayer meeting, their faith was faltering. They were not at all sure that God will answer their prayer favourably. Some might even have doubted the power of God, why there might have been some who wondered if He was somewhere up there and was listening to their cry.
This brings us to the rather vexing question of why God answers some prayers positively and seemingly turns a deaf ear to others. We can look at some possible reasons, but a definitive, comprehensive answer must await eternity!
We start with prayer. But for this step to be taken we must acknowledge that there is a higher power – like God -to whom supplications may be made. We need to be in an attitude of surrender with the realization that the matter on hand is beyond our ken.
Then again it is no good if ‘we are barking up the wrong tree’ to use another analogy. We need to make sure we are addressing the right God and not invoking false gods. The character of God’s omnipotence tells us that there can only be one God. This aspect is brought out most clearly in the story of Elijah versus the prophets of Baal related to us in 1 Kings 18:20-39
As we have already noted, the very fact that we undertake prayer reveals that we acknowledge our powerlessness, our frailty, our weakness, our inability. The Bible says Elijah was a man subject to like passions as we are (James 5:17) – very much human. Yet God wrought miracles through him.
The difference is Faith, for it is impossible to please God without faith (Hebrews 11:6). But even a prayer of faith might not bring results. The mournful plea of David comes to mind when he fasted and prayed for the life of his first baby through Bathsheba (2 Samuel 12:16-18)
Oh, we have inadvertently touched upon Fasting which is a strong weapon in the hands of a prayer warrior.
But while all these are essential steps, even then, the results are not guaranteed. Somewhere along the way there ought to be Thanksgiving as well (Philippians 4:6-7)
With all these – Humbling ourselves, Praying to the Lord of lords, Fasting and Thanksgiving, are we home?
Not always…unless the outcome is one that brings glory to God. But what is the glory of God? It is not one that necessarily leads to a triumphant song and an exultant dance. It can manifest itself in Peace, peace that passeth understanding (Ibid). This is tricky, for we need to guard ourselves from the temptation of glorifying ourselves in the guise of honouring God. Given situations where it may not be possible to readily discern what brings glory to God it is easy to go wrong.
And in some cases, the integrity and faithfulness of the person making the plea plays a part; but this may not be a decisive factor either, for God can act in any situation, where the mind is contrite and the heart broken (Psalms 51:17). We cannot bind him to a set of rules and a proven procedure. If that were the case the thief on the left side of Jesus at Calvary would have been just as lost as the other on the right side. But it is good to remember that “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much (James 5:16)
And finally, the application must accord with the sovereign will of God
For instance we may question why God acted differently in the case of James and Peter. Why did He allow one to perish and the other to live? Wouldn’t the preservation of James’s life resulted in God’s glory? Why He might have gone on to testify as to God’s loving plan of salvation to everyone, much like Peter did in the house of Cornelius. He could have added one or two more general epistles for the edification of posterity. Why did God allow for him to be taken away so soon?
Why, why, why? The only answer is the ultimate sovereignty of God in every situation. But that shouldn’t stop us from earnest prayer. There are several instances in the Bible which suggest that God is prepared to change His plan of action within the operation of His sovereign Will.
And to Prayer add a little bit of Faith, a simple faith that defies odds.
Raving mad? No way,….certainly not our Rodha please!
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