Purpose: to be the Holy Spirit’s second witness calling God’s people in my care to cooperate with God in order to receive answers to their prayers.
Response: Individuals will ponder Jesus’ question to the man by the pool of Bethesda – "Do you want to get well?" If they do they can come to the altar rail as we sing.
Pattern: An inductive message using biblical narrative to encourage Christians to turn to God in prayer because he will answer them.
Intro: Let’s travel back in time to the early first century in the city of Jerusalem – to a time when the political leaders joined the religious leaders in persecuting the church.
Story context and initial problem (12:1-4)
King Herod was a Jew raised in Rome and appointed by Caesar to rule Israel. He used his command of the Roman army to arrest some that belonged to the church. He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword. (James, John and Peter were Jesus’ best friends while he walked on earth.) When King Herod saw that killing James pleased the Jews, he went on to capture Peter too. Herod put Peter in prison, entrusting him to four squads of four soldiers each. Herod intended to bring him out for public trial after the Feast of Passover was finished.
There was no way for Peter to escape. There was no way for the church to rescue him either. I’m sure the other Christians were very discouraged by the picture they saw.
Have you ever been DISCOURAGED by the picture of your circumstances? Are you facing situations that seem impossible to escape from? Are you wondering if anyone can rescue you?
1. Are you confronted with relationship problems?
2. Are you bound up with financial difficulties?
3. Has a bad habit or addiction locked you into a painful spiral of despair?
4. Could it be that someone you love deeply refuses to even talk about Jesus let alone consider receiving him as Lord and Savior?
If the picture of your circumstances discourages you then you know exactly what those Christians felt like.
Story of prayer meeting (12:5)
So Peter was kept in prison, but what did the church do? I can imagine they called an emergency meeting to discuss the options. All kinds of ides were suggested. “Let’s run before the army comes for us.” “Let’s get a lawyer and sue the government for infringing on our freedom of worship.” “Let’s form a protest march on Main Street and hold a sit-in on the jail house steps.” Finally, some dear old saint says, “Folks, we can’t do anything but pray.” And so the church decided to pray started earnestly pleading with God for Peter.
When was the last time you DECIDED to pray about your situation? Have you caught yourself thinking, “All I can do is pray”?
1. Do you feel like prayer isn’t much but that it’s better than nothing is?
2. As you gaze on the discouraging picture of your circumstances, is praying all that you can do?
3. Do you believe it is enough simply to pray?
If the picture of your circumstances discourages you and all you can do is pray, then you know exactly what those Christians felt like.
Story of God’s answer & the church’s response (12:6-19)
The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries stood guard at the entrance. Peter was sleeping – it sounds like something Jesus would do! Instead of staying awake all night worrying about what might happen to him, Peter trusted God enough to sleep. Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side (that’s how sound asleep he was) to wake him up. "Quick, get up!" he said, and the chains fell off Peter’s wrists.
Then the angel said to him, "Put on your clothes and sandals." And Peter did so. "Wrap your cloak around you and follow me," the angel told him. Peter followed him out of the prison, but he had no idea that what the angel was doing was really happening; he thought he was having a dream. They passed the first set of guards and then the second set. Finally they came to the prison gate leading to the city. It opened for them by itself, and they went through it. When they had walked the length of one street, suddenly the angel left him.
Then Peter really woke up and said, "Wow! The Lord sent his angel and rescued me from King Herod’s clutches. He saved my life!"
Once he realized what had happened, Peter went to the house of Mary the mother of John Mark, where many people had gathered to pray for him. Peter knocked at the entrance to the courtyard in front of the house. A servant girl named Rhoda came to answer the door. When she recognized Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed she ran back without opening it and exclaimed, "Peter is at the door!"
"You’re out of your mind," they told her. “King Herod has him locked up in jail. There’s no way he could be here!” When she kept insisting that it was so, they said, "It must be his angel."
Meanwhile Peter kept on knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished. Peter motioned with his hand for them to be quiet and described how the Lord had brought him out of prison. "Tell James and the brothers about this," he said, and then he left for another place.
Has God surprised you by ANSWERING you with his power?
If the picture of your circumstances discourages you and you have a hard time believing God can actually do something to help you then you know exactly what those Christians felt like.
Conclusion:
Thesis: This is The Bottom line: God will ALWAYS surprise us with answers to prayer -- as long as we cooperate with him. God did not do anything for Peter that Peter could do for himself. Peter had to stand up and get dressed all by himself. But God released him from his chains, opened the cell, kept the soldiers from noticing and opened the prison gate for Peter. Peter had to do the possible and God dealt with the impossible.
This reminds me of a time when Jesus went up to Jerusalem for a religious celebration. And in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate there was a pool, which was called Bethesda. A great number of disabled people used to wait -- the blind, the lame, and the paralyzed. One man who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, "Do you want to get well?"
(WHEN THE MAN ANSWERED, “YES,”) Jesus said to him, "Get up! Pick up your mat and walk." At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and went home on his own two feet (John 5:1-8).
Key Question: How can we cooperate with God?
NEXT STEPS:
First, PRAY and ask God, “What can I do?”
Second, PRAY AGAIN and ask God, “What will YOU do?”
Responding to God:
Bow your heads and close your eyes so you can focus your attention on God’s Holy Spirit. I believe he wants to ask you the same question Jesus asked the man by the pool of Bethesda – "Do you want to get well?"
Think about that for a moment – "Do you want to get well?" Do you want God to surprise you with an answer to your prayers? Do you want him to intervene in the discouraging parts of your life?
If you do, why not come to the altar rail as we sing. Pray and find out what he wants you to do and what he will do for you.
