Acts 12:1-19. The king Herod mentioned in chapter 12 is Herod Agrippa 1. He was the grandson of Herod the Great, who was the one who killed the children at the time of Jesus' birth. Herod Agrippa l's grandmother was a Jew. The conversion of so many Jews to Christianity disturbed the Jews and consequently Herod also. Herod proceeded to arrest and persecute some of the Christians. When he had James killed with a sword and noticed that the Jews were pleased; he decided to arrest Peter also. He arrested Peter during the feast of unleavened bread, when a great many Jews were in the city. He put him in prison intending to hold him until after the Passover, try him and certainly to execute him also. If James' execution put him in good with the Jews; Peter's would carry him much further. Verse 5 reads, "So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him." There is power in a church that prays. There are several situations in the New Testament where the church prays, and each time God acts on her behalf. The book of James tells us that the prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. When the whole church is in prayer, God listens and acts. Not because the church is using some power play, forcing God to work; but this is the method God chooses to use. When the church learns to want what God wants and in one accord begins to storm the gates of heaven to get the job done and perseveres until the job is done, God will be pleased to go to work on the church's behalf. And better yet He will do it with His wisdom, by His power and in His time - that's the "super deluxe" version. The church that was praying in verse 5 was even surprised at the speed that God answered. Let's find out what God is doing, get excited about it and begin to pray it into being. Responding as He leads.

The Church Prays