Church On the Move Part 5: When God Moves, His People Pray

When God Moves, His People Pray

Acts 12

“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 met with approval among the Jews, he proceeded to seize Peter also. This happened during the Festival of Unleavened Bread. After arresting him, he put him in prison, handing him over to be guarded by four squads of four soldiers each. Herod intended to bring him out for public trial after thePassover. So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him.”
Acts 12:1-5(NIV)

“The night before Peter was to be placed on trial, he was asleep, fastened with two chainsbetween two soldiers. Others stood guard at the prison gate. Suddenly, there was a bright light in the cell, and an angel of the Lord stood before Peter. The angel struck him on the side to awaken him and said, “Quick! Get up!” And the chains fell off his wrists. Then the angel told him, “Get dressed and put on your sandals.” And he did. “Now put on your coat and follow me,” the angel ordered. So Peter left the cell, following the angel. But all the time he thought it was a vision. He didn’t realize it was actually happening. They passed the first and second guard posts and came to the iron gate leading to the city, and this opened for them all by itself. So they passed through and started walking down the street, and then the angel suddenly left him. Peter finally came to his senses. “It’s really true!” he said. “The Lord has sent his angel and saved me from Herod and from what the Jewish leaders had planned to do to me!”
Acts 12:6-11

“When he realized this, he went to the home of Mary, the mother of John Mark, wheremany were gathered for prayer. He knocked at the door in the gate, and a servant girl named Rhoda came to open it. When she recognized Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed that, instead of opening the door, she ran back inside and told everyone, “Peter is standing at the door!” “You’re out of your mind!” they said. When she insisted, they decided, “It must be his angel.” Meanwhile, Peter continued knocking. When they finally opened the door and saw him, they were amazed. He motioned for them to quiet down and told them how the Lord had led him out of prison.”
Acts 12:12-17

1. Sometimes we limit our prayers, because we think prayer has a limit.

“For to me, living means living for Christ, and dying is even better. But if I live, I cando more fruitful work for Christ. So I really don’t know which is better. I’m torn between two desires: Ilong to go and be with Christ, which would be far better for me. But for your sakes, it is better that I continue to live.”
Philippians 1:21-24

2. God is not limited by our limited prayers.

“If only we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at nocost—also the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic. But now we have lost our appetite; we never see anything but this manna!”
Numbers 11:4-6(NIV)

“Tell the people: ‘Consecrate yourselves in preparation for tomorrow, when youwill eat meat. The Lord heard you when you wailed, “If only we had meat to eat! We were better off in Egypt!” Now the Lord will give you meat, and you will eat it. You will not eat it for just one day, or two days, or five, ten or twenty days, but for a whole month—until it comes out of your nostrils and you loathe it—because you have rejected the Lord, who is among you, and have wailed before him, saying, “Why did we ever leave Egypt?”
Numbers 11:18-20(NIV)

“Is the Lord’s power limited? Now you shall see whether my word will come truefor you or not.”
Numbers 11:23(NRSV)

3. Pray big, bold, believing prayers.

“And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what Godwants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will.”Romans 8:26-27
“Meanwhile, the word of God continued to spread, and there were many new believers.”
Acts 12:24