Pray Earnestly! Then, What?

             “Prayer changes things!” “You can never be too busy to pray.” “I fight my battles on my knees.” We’ve all heard some or all those statements about prayer.  Maybe we’ve even told them to other people.  I’m sure that we have offered to pray for people in need, and we’ve probably asked people to pray for us.

            Then, what?  After we acknowledge the importance of prayer and begin to pray, then what?  Do we relax, knowing that God has the situation under control?  Do we wait with eager anticipation to see how God will respond?  Do we even pause to look for God’s answer?  In the Bible study, Experiencing God, the authors said,

            After you pray, the greatest single thing you need to do is turn on your spiritual concentration.  When you pray in a direction, immediately anticipate the activity of God in answer to your prayer.”[1]

            All too often we are like the church in Acts 12.  It was the early days of Christianity, but the persecution had already begun.  James, the brother of John, had been killed, and Peter had been arrested.  The Church feared for his life, so they began to pray earnestly for him (Acts 12: 5 NIV84). 

            The night before Peter’s trial, God sent an angel to free him. As the chains fell away, the angel beckoned Peter to follow him.  It wasn’t until Peter was safely out on the street that the angel left him.          When Peter realized what the Lord had done, he went directly to the home of Mary, mother of John Mark.  He knew he would find many people there praying for his release.  Praying they were!  Anticipating they were not!

            When the servant girl, Rhoda, answered the door, she was so excited to see him that she slammed the door in his face and ran to tell the others.  Instead of rejoicing at the news, they at first accused her of being delusional.  Then, they decided that it must have been an angel at the door.  After all, Peter was in prison, so how could it possibly be him? It wasn’t until Peter continued knocking that they finally opened the door and welcomed him in.  Even then the Scripture says they were “astonished” (vs. 16).  Why were they astonished?  Wasn’t that what they were praying for?

            Why are we surprised when a subsequent medical test comes back negative?  Weren’t we praying for healing?  Why do we fail to see the “open doors’ that God puts in our path or feel the “nudges” of the Holy Spirit?  Could it be that we are not really looking?

            I guess it comes down to, “Do we believe that prayer changes things?”  I know that I’m guilty of missing God’s answers to my prayers.  How about you?  Maybe it’s time that we start praying earnestly and anticipate how and when God might answer.  Otherwise, we may find ourselves leaving God standing at the door, knocking.

Acts 12: 1 - 19


[1] Experiencing God:  Knowing and Doing the Will of God, (Study Guide), Henry Blackaby & Claude V. King, Lifeway Press, Nashville, TN, 1998, Page 92.

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