Peter was in a crisis. The church responded appropriately – they pray!
• Yet when the news was told that “Peter is at the door!” their response was, “You’re out of your mind.”
• The servant girl insisted but they resisted, and gave the excuse, “It must be his angel.”
• You see, they even tried to explain away God’s answer. Why? Because they did not expect a miracle.
You pray, but you don’t really expect God to answer in that way.
• Protect him, yes. Keep him safe, yes. But to free him from a highly secured prison with round-the-clock guards, that’s unthinkable.
• You pray, and expect God to do what is humanly possible. You pray, and expect God to do what you expect.
• “You are out of your mind” to say the answer is at the door when we are still praying.
You have that experience? I have, when I was a young Christian.
• You pray but in your mind you’re already saying, “It is quite impossible.”
• You pray for revival, and then tell yourself, “It won’t happen here.”
• It’s very difficult, you say. You go by what is comprehensible, understandable.
• You believe what you see, more than what God can do.
This is the irony. We pray and hope that God to do great things, and yet we are not really expecting Him to.
• We know that God can do the impossible but we don’t believe it is probable.
• Our prayers are earnest, but we expect little from God, so we ask for small things. We just expect Him to help us cope.
(1) Pray and expect great things from God!
External change is inevitable, but internal change is a choice.
• Make the choice to trust God in your adversity.
• The church did the right thing – seek Him!
Have you asked? Have you asked God for a miracle?
• James says, “When he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.” (James 1:6-8)
• When you doubt, you are actually believe the opposite. When you say, “I doubt it will happen” you are in actual fact believing that it cannot be done; you are expressing faith in the negative.
• I may know how God will act but I do not doubt. There is a world of difference between not knowing what God will do and doubting what God can do.
Therefore nothing is too much to ask. Mary was told by the angel, “For nothing is impossible with God.” (Luke 1:37)
• You limit God by how you think. You will not pray for what you have already determined in your mind as impossible.
• You will not pray for healing if you believe that God wants you to remain sick.
The church apparently did not pray for Peter’s release; they are not expecting it.
• We do not know what they pray about, but likely not for a miracle. They probably for his safety, for his health, for his protection, for a fair trial…
• They do have faith but their faith is limited to what they see as probable. To have Peter freed in such a miraculous way was not in their list of possibilities.
• Our faith is MORE rooted in earthly circumstances, than in the greatness of God.
(2) Have faith in the positive, because God is good.
Not that we will not have challenges and problems, trials and pain; but that all things will work together for good, to them that love God (Rom 8:28).
Throughout the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, God has always done the unexpected.
• He can open the sea, stop the river, halt the sun, and raise the dead.
• When Jesus touches the sick, the crippled, the leper, the blind, the demon-possessed, and even the dead, something happens. He leaves His marks at every turn – the sick healed, the blind see, the lame walk, and sinners saved.
Yet we have more faith in the negative than in what God can do.
• We tend to believe more in the bad happening rather than the good.
• We expect the turnout to be bad, we expect the people to feel bored, we expect the situation to remain status quo, and we don’t expect anything to change.
• We have faith in Murphy’s Law that "If anything can go wrong, it will go wrong!"
It seems easier for most people to believe this than believe God.
• You hear people saying, “You see, I told you so, this will happen.”
• People don’t say that about the good things in life.
It takes faith to believe God is good and He is going to do wonders.
• The disciples failed to drive out the demon and asked WHY? Jesus says, “Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, `Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." (Matt 17:20)
• It takes faith to trust Him and obey Him.
• That is why Hebrews 11 made special mention of those people who have such faith. They got their names on the Honour List because of their faith in God.
• Faith is such a rare commodity. Jesus says many times, “Have faith, do not be afraid.”
It takes faith to believe that God will send a revival. It takes faith to believe that your friend will be saved. It takes faith to believe that the pews will be filled up one day.
• It’s so easy to believe that everything will remain status quo. You don’t need faith for that. You don’t need faith to believe that nothing will change for the good. Satan will guarantee you that.
• But it takes faith to believe that God can do wonders and perform miracles.
• Will you believe Him? If we pray, “Your kingdom come; Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” (Matt 6:10), then we must believe that it will happen.
Pray and expect great things from God.
Have faith in the positive, because God is good.
If God is always with you, then expect Him to show up and surprise you, if you care to believe Him.
• Pray for great things, and attempt great things for God.
• Ministry will never be boring or a routine for you, because the Holy Spirit will act and touch lives. Expect a miracle.
The book of Acts is all about God doing the unexpected –
• disciples being filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues,
• a crippled man healed, danced and praised God in the Temple,
• Peter met an eunuch in the desert and saved him,
• Saul fell by a bright light and converted on the road,
• Cornelius and Peter both seeing visions and being introduced to each other by the Spirit of God,
• the Holy Spirit coming upon the Gentiles, and
• Now Peter walking out of the prison, despite the chains, secured gates and 4 guards.
Hasn’t God showed us enough? Surprisingly, up to this point, the church still has a hard time expecting God to act in miraculous ways.
• Having seen so much, they are still learning to expect God to come through.
• Isn’t that true in our lives too? Having seen God’s work in history, in the past 40 years in this church, having heard testimonies from believers, are we are still in need of reminders today, that God can do wonders?
• Can we believe Him? Do you think He can do a miracle again?
OUR GOD IS A GOD OF SURPRISES.
Melvin once shared about the faith of Moses when he was standing at the brink of Red Sea – Exo 14:13-14.
• The people were sandwiched between the Red Sea and the pursuing army, and complained to Moses for the big mistake in bringing them out.
• Exo 14:13-14 “Moses answered the people, "Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. 14 The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still."
These are very difficult words to say. It is prophetic.
• Moses, at this point, did not know how God will get them through. All he knows is that He will.
• The author of Hebrews describes it this way, when he writes about the men of faith. Heb 11:27 “By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered because he saw Him who is invisible.”
Just like Prophet Elisha when the Syrian army surrounded the city of Dothan (2 Kgs 6:14-18).
• They were seeking to kill him and the servant was afraid. He saw only what man can see. Elisha saw the Lord’s horses and chariots of fire surrounding him.
• Moses saw Him who is invisible. Elisha saw that which is invisible. We need to see, with eyes of faith, Him who is invisible.
The reason you expect little in your prayers is because you fail to see the invisible God behind your prayers.
(3) Believe in the Unseen Power of Prayer
Look at the way author Luke puts it. Verse 5 says, “So Peter was kept in prison, BUT the church was earnestly praying to God for him.”
• He painted the clash of two powers in one line – (1) the power that binds you - political power, the authority of Herod; the physical obstacle, the prison bars. This is the power that puts you into bondage. It also typifies the forces of darkness – the power of Satan to destroy the works of God.
• Then there is (2) the spiritual power at work – the earnest prayer of the people. It is the authority and power you have when you pray. This is the power generated from John Mark’s house.
This power won. The prayer power breaks down the bars of men and works of Satan. He binds but God gives freedom.
• On the one side we see a defiant man, bent on using his power to destroy God’s plan. On the other side, we have Christians praying down God’s power.
• One is more public, more observable. The other, happening in John Mark’s house, very often unseen and not as obvious.
• But we see the power it exerts. Herod has his authority and power. But there is also the authority and power of prayer that God has given us, which is much greater, “beyond what we ask or imagine.” (Eph 3:20)
The story is told of a small town in which there were no liquor stores. Eventually, however, a nightclub was built right on Main Street.
Members of one of the churches in the area were so disturbed that they conducted several all-night prayer meetings, and asked the Lord to burn down that den of iniquity. Lightning struck the pub a short time later, and it was completely destroyed by fire. The owner, knowing how the church people had prayed, sued them for the damages. His attorney claimed that their prayers had caused the loss.
The congregation, on the other hand, hired a lawyer and fought the charges.
After much deliberation the judge declared, "It’s the opinion of this court that wherever the guilt may lie, the pub owner is the one who really believes in prayer while the church members do not!"
Do you believe enough to start praying?
• I want you to pray. I want you to pray passionately. I want you to pray expecting God to do amazing, miraculous things—things you can scarcely imagine.
• God can do it. He will do it. Pray for His kingdom. Pray for this church. Pray for revival.
• Pray and expect great things from God. Pray and see that His will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
• Have faith in what God can and will do. Believe in the unseen power of prayer.
