Constant Prayer

October 29, 2019

The apostle Peter was in jail. If today a Christian leader were in jail here in the USA, it would be scandalous news, but it happened all the time in the first century, just as it currently occurs in countless places around the world. Jesus told us that following him would land his people in trouble with the world. “If they treat me this way, don’t be surprised if they do the same to you,” he warned. King Herod, puppet oligarch of Palestine, had managed to execute James, the brother of Jesus, and decided to add the coupe de gras by doing the same to Peter. It didn’t turn out quite as he expected.

Acts 12 tells the story. The heart of it is in verse 5: “Peter was kept in prison, but prayer was made without ceasing by the church unto God for him.” Prayer. Without ceasing. By the church. Unto God. For him. This little band of believers had no political clout, no strings they could pull. All they had was prayer. And pray, they did! “By the church.” At various times in Acts, we are told that the believers met “in one accord.” They had their differences, as we learn in the 6th chapter, but when the chips were down, they set those differences aside and prayed. Specifically. They didn’t beat around the bush; they weren’t praying wish-washy prayers of blessing. They prayed for God to work a miracle! They didn’t organize; they didn’t picket the jail; they didn’t petition anyone except God. And those prayers were so powerful, they rattled the gates of the prison and set Peter free.

I’m intrigued by the phrase, “without ceasing.” The word implies strenuous as well as relentless activity. If we are lacking in anything in our prayers, I think it is here. I wonder what that prayer meeting was like. Was everyone speaking at once like they pray in Cuba? Did everyone wait his or her turn as we do here? Were there times of silence? If God were to grade my prayers, I’m afraid I’d get an “F” on the “without ceasing” part. I’ve been asking God to help me with this. 

The amazing part of this story is that their prayers weren’t particularly faith-filled. They apparently weren’t really expecting an answer, for when after being set free by an angel Peter knocked on the door where they were having their prayer meeting, a girl named Rhoda answered the door. She ran back into the house to tell the others, leaving Peter standing outside knocking. No one believed her when she told them he was there. So much for “faith as a mustard seed!” That is encouraging for me. Sometimes when I pray for things, I must confess a lack of faith. I pray the prayers, but don’t really expect much to happen. Faith is important, but if there is any lesson in this story, it’s the importance of just keeping at it. Often, the difference between successful people and failures is not greater talent or opportunity; it’s simply that those who succeed kept going after the others gave up. So I’m going to keep at it till I get it right. Maybe that’s part of what praying without ceasing is. That much, I can do. That much, I will do, and I will thank God in advance for answers that are on their way, just waiting for that one more Amen to send them along.