God Hears and Answers

photo credit:Oli Haukur

"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 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 four squads of four solders each (that’s 16 soldiers for one person…crazy!!!! ~my comment). 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". Acts 12:1-5

If you continue to read chapter 12, you will learn that the angel of the Lord appeared and Peter was able to follow Him out of the prison. Ok, so your initial thought may be "How cool is that?!" The Lord reassured once again that He is much bigger and stronger than any man. This can be particularly reassuring to us as Christian during tough times knowing that God has our back. However, when I read this passage, what the Lord impressed on my heart was the power of a prayer.

If we all earnestly prayed for one another, can you only imagine the power of a prayer that we would witness?!?!?!?! The church who earnestly was prayering for Peter was able to witness a miracle, when Peter walked out of prison while 16 people were guarding him. On that note, my reader asked me if it would be possible to have a section on this blog dedicated to prayer requests. I thought that was a fantastic idea to have the honor and privilege to pray for one another. We may not know each other’s circumstances and that’s ok, because God does! So each Sunday you will see “God Hears and Answers” post, where you can leave your prayer request or praise report in the comment section. There are many hurting people all around us, who would appreciate us praying for them. You may be hurting too and need a word of encouragement or a prayer. So let’s commit to care for one another and earnestly lifting each other up to our Heavenly Father to whom nothing is impossible.