In Acts 12, King Herod launched a season of persecution against the church. He rounded up several of the leaders and James, the brother of John, was put to death. In the same sweep of church leaders, Peter was also arrested and placed in prison under heavy Roman guard. During the night, an angel awoke him and led him out of the prison and on to the streets. Peter thought he was having a vision or a dream but eventually decided that he actually had been delivered from his captives. Once on the streets, the angel disappeared and Peter hurried to the house of John Mark’s mother where other believers were gathered in prayer on his behalf. The story then takes a humorous turn as well as revealing something about us as believers.
The text says, “Then Peter came to himself and said, ‘Now I know without a doubt that the Lord sent his angel and rescued me from Herod’s clutches and from everything the Jewish people were anticipating.’ When this had dawned on him, he went to the house of Mary the mother of John, also called Mark, where many people had gathered and were praying. Peter knocked at the outer entrance, and a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer the door. When she recognized Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed she ran back without opening it and exclaimed, ‘Peter is at the door!’ ‘You’re out of your mind,’ they told her. When she kept insisting that it was so, they said, ‘It must be his angel.’ But Peter kept on knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished. (Acts 12:11-17).
The scene turns humorous when Peter, desperately wanting to get off the streets, knocked on the door and was left standing in the street as the servant girl ran to tell everyone that Peter was there. It becomes a revealing scene when those praying for Peter’s release didn’t believe that he could possibly be at the door. How often do we pray with words of faith but without a heart of faith to match our words? Undoubtedly, this little gathering of believers had verbalized some powerful prayers on Peter’s behalf. Yet, when their prayer was supernaturally answered, they told the girl who had reported it that she must be of her mind.
One of the things I am learning to do is to check my faith for a prayer before I offer the prayer. The good news is that God answered the prayer of those early believers in spite of their apparent lack of faith for what they were asking. This falls in the category of aspirational beliefs rather than actual beliefs. I aspire to have strong faith, so I say all the right words, but in actuality I don’t anticipate a powerful response from God. I know that is my condition when I am skeptical about a report that my prayer was answered or when I am totally shocked to see God answer it. In reality, many of us would honestly have to say when we pray, “Lord. I believe, help my unbelief.” Again, God is good and often answers our less-than-faith-filled prayers anyway, but the goal is to pray with great confidence.
When I remember to do so, I find it helpful to rehearse in my mind all the times and ways that God has been faithful before. I find it helpful to remind myself of his unchanging character and his faithfulness to his word. I find it helpful to declare his promises related to what I am asking for and to remind myself that in Jesus all those promises are “yes” and “amen.” I also find it helpful to ask for the Spirit to give me a greater gift of faith for that moment and the moments to come. At times, the Spirit may prompt me to repent of unbelief or to command a spirit of unbelief and doubt to be silent and leave. By going through that process, I am more able to align my heart with God’s word and so have more confidence in the outcome of my request. Then I can pray with more faith and, perhaps, even believe that the stranger knocking on the door is Peter.
