Acts 12: Fervent Prayer

When I was writing about the Book of Acts, I did not write anything specific about Acts 12. Here are some thoughts I had as I was rereading this portion of Acts this week.

Most of Acts 12 gives us an account of a miracle involving Peter. Herod Agrippa I, the grandson of the Herod the Great who ruled at the birth of Jesus, was now ruling in Jerusalem. He was supposedly a “zealous practicer of Jewish rites and a religious patriot (Ryrie Study Notes).” In Acts 12 he was busy rounding up the believers still in Jerusalem “in order to mistreat them (vs. 1).” “And he had James the brother of John put to death with a sword (vs. 2).” The mistreatment seemed to please the Jews so he also had Peter arrested and thrown in jail.

Peter was chained to guards and other guards were blocking the doorway. Just before he was to be brought to Herod for judgment, the miracle happened. An angel came and broke the chains, opened the doors and escorted Peter out of the prison. Once free, Peter realized just what God had done by sending an angel to rescue him. Peter went to a specific house where he had probably been many times. We can assume he knew people would be there praying.

In verse 5, we have a description of what was going on in that house: “So Peter was kept in the prison, but prayer for him was being made fervently by the church to God.” This is a challenge to me. Is my prayer “fervent?” Is the prayer being made in my church “fervent?” According to Merriam-webster.com, fervent is defined as: “exhibiting or marked by great intensity of feeling: zealous.” Great intensity. Can my prayer life be described as having great intensity? I think I’ve rarely been in a situation where I would describe the prayer as being fervent.

At an Easter Sunday service at my church recently, the Pastor was explaining the gospel message tracing Jesus’ role from Genesis to Revelation. There was an opportunity for people to come forward if they had made a decision to follow Christ during the last year or if they were making first time decisions right then. This was a cause for fervent prayer. Throughout the services, there were people praying – individually and in small groups. I think I experienced fervent prayer as I was part of one of those small groups. However, it was relatively short-lived compared to the all-night praying of the early church for Peter’s situation.

I also wonder if we prayer fervently for those in our world today who are imprisoned for the sake of the gospel. I’m convicted by my lack of knowledge of such people around the world. I know there are some, possibly many, but I just don’t know any specifics about them or their situations. I do, however, have first hand experience with situations in Haiti involving social unrest, poverty, health concerns, and educational issues. I can be fervently praying for the people I met and those who are on the front lines trying to minister in those difficult situations. I need to do more of that. I think we also should all do some research into which and where people are imprisoned or under persecution for proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ.

I think there’s a place for fervent prayer in our world today. Maybe even more so as the time of Christ’s return is closer everyday. Am I, are you, praying angels into situations where believers need divine help? I’m going to start doing more of that kind of praying.