Believing Prayer
By Peggy Kleckner
“So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him.”
Acts 12:5
By Peggy Kleckner
“So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him.”
Acts 12:5
The church was praying for Peter. They couldn’t physically free him, but they could pray to the One who could. They probably had their own ideas of how God would answer and none of them included Peter knocking, angel-released, at the door (Acts 12:13)! We read through this account and think, “That’s nice, Peter is free.” But if we take the time to really enter into the situation – WOW! He was chained to two guards, there were sentries at the entrance and an iron gate to get through…but earnest prayer to the One True God freed him from his captivity.
Have you ever been faced with an impossible situation, and then just known in your heart that you were to believe God would answer your earnest prayer? I have. I was sitting on the couch with my husband, when I realized the diamond was missing from my wedding ring. Now, this is no small annoyance for any woman, but our marriage had just survived some very dark waters (by the grace of God!), and this seemed to be just too much to bear. So I prayed, and I called on my family and my friends to pray. I knew that our God is the God of the Impossible. Finding a loose diamond is hard enough when you know where you lost it, but I didn’t even know that! Since a clean home is not where I live, that just added to the impossibility of the situation. So, we hunted and we prayed and I just kept believing that God was going to put that diamond in the palm of my hand. It was almost a week later that my son bent down in the kitchen, picked something up off the floor and placed it in the palm of my hand – yep, my diamond! What a joy to share answered prayer! Not only was my faith stretched and confirmed, but so was the faith of all of those who had joined me in prayer.
Over and over again prayer seems to be the Lord’s lesson to me. No matter the dire circumstances – God says pray. When we see no way out – too many guards and iron gates – He tells us to pray…and trust His sovereignty. He is looking for those who will believe, for those who have the faith to cry out in earnest prayer for Him to act on their behalf.
GOING DEEPER:
1. What impossible situation are you ready to turn over to God?
2. What friends and relatives do you have who are being held captive physically or spiritually? Are you praying for their release?
FURTHERREADING
Ephesians 6:18; 1 Thessalonians 5:17; James 5:13-18; Matthew 21:22
Have you ever been faced with an impossible situation, and then just known in your heart that you were to believe God would answer your earnest prayer? I have. I was sitting on the couch with my husband, when I realized the diamond was missing from my wedding ring. Now, this is no small annoyance for any woman, but our marriage had just survived some very dark waters (by the grace of God!), and this seemed to be just too much to bear. So I prayed, and I called on my family and my friends to pray. I knew that our God is the God of the Impossible. Finding a loose diamond is hard enough when you know where you lost it, but I didn’t even know that! Since a clean home is not where I live, that just added to the impossibility of the situation. So, we hunted and we prayed and I just kept believing that God was going to put that diamond in the palm of my hand. It was almost a week later that my son bent down in the kitchen, picked something up off the floor and placed it in the palm of my hand – yep, my diamond! What a joy to share answered prayer! Not only was my faith stretched and confirmed, but so was the faith of all of those who had joined me in prayer.
Over and over again prayer seems to be the Lord’s lesson to me. No matter the dire circumstances – God says pray. When we see no way out – too many guards and iron gates – He tells us to pray…and trust His sovereignty. He is looking for those who will believe, for those who have the faith to cry out in earnest prayer for Him to act on their behalf.
GOING DEEPER:
1. What impossible situation are you ready to turn over to God?
2. What friends and relatives do you have who are being held captive physically or spiritually? Are you praying for their release?
FURTHER
Ephesians 6:18; 1 Thessalonians 5:17; James 5:13-18; Matthew 21:22
Peggy is a wife and mother of four adult children—two sons and two stepsons and is an active encourager at Oakwood.
