A Praying Church
by Janice Keats
Soon after Peter ended up in jail his friends immediately assembled together and started praying for him. So, how then did Peter end up in jail? It was a time of great persecution of the church, and Peter was captured and arrested and was placed under the guard of four squads of four soldiers each. Getting out was going to take a miracle.
Well, one night in the dark cell as Peter was sleeping, an angel appeared to him to help with his rescue. The angel explained the plan of escape. At first Peter thought he was seeing a vision but later realized that an angel was leading him. It had to be an angel for the Iron Gate to open all by itself. When he was out, the angel left. Peter then said to himself. “It’s really true.”
Peter first visit was to his friend Mary’s house, where many were gathered in prayer. He knocked on the door and no one answered. He may have wondered what happened to all of his friends. He didn’t know that the servant girl named Rhoda came to the door, and once she heard his voice she became too excited and ran to tell the others instead of letting him in! The others told her that she was out of her mind that she heard Peter’s voice at the door..
But some of them went back to the door while Peter continued to knock. They saw Peter there and they were so amazed. Sounds like an answer to prayer to me! Peter sat with them and explained what had taken place. This event makes me realize that when people express concern from the heart to pray for one another and actually see the results before their eyes, that must bring such relief and thankfulness, especially to those who were concerned enough to pray. This was good news! It was a huge relief to know that Peter was all right. It would indeed cause a group of people to rejoice.
Perhaps we could pray for someone who really needs our prayers too. Perhaps a word of encouragement could make someone’s day. The day after the great escape from prison there was great commotion among the guards in the prison because Peter could not be found. God was victorious! We all need victory in our lives. Let’s pray for each other. Let’s also rejoice in answered prayers!
