Little Faith

 February 8, 2023

I must confess that today it’s hard to stop, read, and pray. It’s a beautiful sunny day; something we don’t often get in a WNY winter. Or summer, for that matter. Staying indoors to write is a real test.

If you’ve ever felt guilty about praying desperately about something, but without much confidence that God was listening, or if you’ve ever been on the receiving end of a cruel accusation that if you had had more faith, God would have healed your loved one, Acts 12 is for you!

Acts 12 is both a challenge and an encouragement to prayer. Peter is in prison chained between two guards, awaiting his execution. Verse 5 gives us the response of his Christian friends to this dilemma: “Constant prayer was made to God by the church for him.” It’s this constant part that challenges me. A crisis comes and we pray intensely for a few days, perhaps a week or two, but when the immediacy of it is past, so are our prayers. Constant, or continual is rarely something we can claim in our prayers.

The encouragement part comes in verse 15. An angel has freed Peter; he walks home and knocks at the door. Inside, his friends—all Christians—are praying for him just like verse 5 indicated. Rhoda, a servant girl, answers the door. She doesn’t actually open it; after all, Herod has imprisoned Peter. Who knows whether he has sent more soldiers to ferret out any Christians they might find so he can imprison and kill a few more? Rhoda however, recognizes Peter’s voice and runs back to the room where the others are praying. “Peter’s here!” she excitedly exclaims. Their response?

“You’re Imagining things.” When she persists, they tell her she must have seen Peter’s ghost. Whether they were serious or making fun of her is hard to say, but give her credit—she refuses to give up. They finally go to the door and, lo and behold, Peter is standing outside! It’s really a bit comical; I can imagine impetuous Peter, pacing at the door, nervously looking over his shoulder for soldiers, and getting more impatient by the minute. 

Do you see the irony? They refused to believe God had answered their prayers! It can hardly be claimed that they were exercising much faith, which means there is hope for my prayers and your prayers. While Jesus chided his disciples for their little faith, it’s not the only factor in answered prayer. Sometimes when our faith is small, God delights in reminding us that he is big, and not limited by our shortcomings. After all, it’s in the Bible!