Read today’s texts first: Job 6-8; Acts 12
He asks us to pray for a reason - He is teaching us now how to rule and reign with Him forever.
Yesterday we touched on the topic of man’s free will and God’s sovereignty. Finding the balance in this tension is pivotal in not only understanding salvation but also our ongoing role in partnering with God in prayer. Ignoring man’s free will can lead us to fatalism (whatever God wills) and negate the purpose and power of prayer. Minimizing God’s sovereignty often leads to a formulaic view of prayer - follow this formula and God is literally bound to answer. Neither view accurately understands how we can accomplish His will through prayer.
Job suffered the personal loss of almost everyone and everything he valued in life, and now we read about his debilitating bout with boils that will go on for many days, despite his prayers for healing. In our Acts reading we start with the news that James, the brother of John, is killed with a sword, martyred at the command of Herod Agrippa I. No doubt the church was praying for his safety, as they would be for all the apostles.
We know they were praying for Peter, who was captured, imprisoned, guarded by 16 Roman soldiers, and likely awaiting his execution. Believers were gathered at Mary’s house (the mother of John Mark), fervently interceding for Peter. Their prayers were answered when an angel somehow stupefies the guards, tries to wake Peter up (this is where the story gets really funny), breaks off his chains, tells him what to wear, and leads him out to safety as locked gates open up like the “opening” scene of Get Smart.
Peter is still half asleep, trying to figure out if this is a dream or real life as he wanders over to Mary’s. Rhoda hears him knocking and calling, runs to the gate, recognizes his voice, is too shocked to let him in, and then runs back to explain to those praying for Peter that he’s standing outside right now! While Peter is still knocking, the prayer warriors are arguing with Rhoda, “you’re crazy, girl, you must be hallucinating!” So much for the prayer of faith!
The fact is God does answer prayer, whether we expect Him to or not, and not always the way we expect. But as we pray we learn about God’s will and how we can partner with Him to bring about His will on earth, as it is in heaven. He could do it without us, and often does, but He asks us to pray for a reason. He is teaching us now how to rule and reign with Him forever.
“Lord, show me what l can do with You through prayer. Maybe there are some chains in my own life or in the lives of others that can be broken as I listen to how You want me to pray today.”
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