21 Days of Prayer - Day 17 - Tuesday, August 23, 2022
Acts 12:5-10 (NIV) 5 So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him.
6 The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries stood guard at the entrance. 7 Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up. “Quick, get up!” he said, and the chains fell off Peter’s wrists.
8 Then the angel said to him, “Put on your clothes and sandals.” And Peter did so. “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me,” the angel told him. 9 Peter followed him out of the prison, but he had no idea that what the angel was doing was really happening; he thought he was seeing a vision. 10 They passed the first and second guards and came to the iron gate leading to the city. It opened for them by itself, and they went through it. When they had walked the length of one street, suddenly the angel left him.
There was a problem or a situation and the church believed that prayer was the adequate response.
Peter realizes this was not a vision but an actual rescue. The very first thing he does is go to the church where they are praying for him.
This was a miraculous rescue. Peter goes through 12 different barriers with door after door open for him. When he gets to the church, that door doesn’t open.
We often see door after door open, but it seems there is one door that does not open.
What do we do when we stand outside a door that doesn’t open.
Acts 12:16 (NIV) But Peter kept on knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished.
Peter, despite this closed door that he thought would open, kept on knocking. Keep on knocking for your family, for your kids, for your school, for your church.
Some doors open freely; Some doors open forcefully (God wants us to participate by keeping on knocking). How do we do this?
1. We knock with praise
I have a lot to believe for but a lot to be thankful for. Psalm 100. Enter with Thanksgiving. Even if a door doesn’t open, we will praise Him.
2. We knock with promise.
I knock with faith and assurance. I know He is faithful. Other things fade, but the Word of the Lord lasts forever. I can do this by praying with scripture.
3. We knock with persistence.
IN Luke 18 a widow receives an answer to her request because of her persistence. She kept on coming to him and that was a judge who was reluctant. But we have a God who is a blesser and a giver.
So we keep on knocking. Great faith requires persistence.
My response to believe in favor, I’m going to keep on knocking. I will keep on knocking for marriages, for families, believing that lost people can be found, believing that people can receive their healing, I’m believing that the church can still make a difference in the world, I’m believing that the young generation will not leave the church but will stand to be a generation that can make a difference.
