WHEN THE ANSWER IS KNOCKING
“So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him.” Acts 12:5
I have been thinking about the story in Acts 12.
Peter had been arrested and imprisoned, and the believers gathered together to pray earnestly for his release.
They prayed in faith.
They believed God could move.
They were asking Him to intervene.
And then He did.
God miraculously released Peter from prison. The chains fell from his wrists, the prison doors opened, and Peter walked free.
He went straight to the house where the believers were gathered praying and knocked on the door.
A servant girl named Rhoda went to answer.
When she recognised Peter’s voice, she was so overwhelmed with joy that she forgot to open the door! Instead, she ran back inside to tell everyone that Peter was standing outside.
And what did the people who had been praying for Peter’s release say?
“You’re out of your mind!”
They were praying for God to answer, yet when the answer was literally standing at the door, they struggled to believe it.
And I wonder how often we do the same thing.
We pray for healing, and when someone suddenly improves, we search for another explanation.
We pray for provision, and when something unexpected arrives, we call it luck or coincidence.
We pray for restoration in a relationship, and when hearts begin to soften, we simply say circumstances changed.
We pray for doors to open, and when they do, we put it down to timing, hard work, or being in the right place at the right moment.
Of course God can work through doctors, people, opportunities, hard work and ordinary circumstances.
But sometimes I wonder if we become so determined to explain everything naturally that we fail to recognise the supernatural hand of God working through the natural.
Like the believers in Acts 12, we can have enough faith to pray, but still be surprised when God actually answers.
Maybe faith isn’t never being surprised by God.
Maybe faith is continuing to pray even when we don’t know how He will answer, and then having eyes open enough to recognise His hand when He does.
Peter was standing outside knocking while the people inside were still trying to work out whether their prayer could possibly have been answered.
What if some of the things we are still praying about have already begun to move?
What if the answer doesn’t look the way we expected?
What if God has been working through circumstances we have dismissed as coincidence?
Perhaps our prayer needs to become:
“Lord, give me faith not only to ask You to move, but eyes to recognise You when You do.”
Because sometimes the answer to our prayer may already be knocking at the door.
“So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him.” Acts 12:5
I have been thinking about the story in Acts 12.
Peter had been arrested and imprisoned, and the believers gathered together to pray earnestly for his release.
They prayed in faith.
They believed God could move.
They were asking Him to intervene.
And then He did.
God miraculously released Peter from prison. The chains fell from his wrists, the prison doors opened, and Peter walked free.
He went straight to the house where the believers were gathered praying and knocked on the door.
A servant girl named Rhoda went to answer.
When she recognised Peter’s voice, she was so overwhelmed with joy that she forgot to open the door! Instead, she ran back inside to tell everyone that Peter was standing outside.
And what did the people who had been praying for Peter’s release say?
“You’re out of your mind!”
They were praying for God to answer, yet when the answer was literally standing at the door, they struggled to believe it.
And I wonder how often we do the same thing.
We pray for healing, and when someone suddenly improves, we search for another explanation.
We pray for provision, and when something unexpected arrives, we call it luck or coincidence.
We pray for restoration in a relationship, and when hearts begin to soften, we simply say circumstances changed.
We pray for doors to open, and when they do, we put it down to timing, hard work, or being in the right place at the right moment.
Of course God can work through doctors, people, opportunities, hard work and ordinary circumstances.
But sometimes I wonder if we become so determined to explain everything naturally that we fail to recognise the supernatural hand of God working through the natural.
Like the believers in Acts 12, we can have enough faith to pray, but still be surprised when God actually answers.
Maybe faith isn’t never being surprised by God.
Maybe faith is continuing to pray even when we don’t know how He will answer, and then having eyes open enough to recognise His hand when He does.
Peter was standing outside knocking while the people inside were still trying to work out whether their prayer could possibly have been answered.
What if some of the things we are still praying about have already begun to move?
What if the answer doesn’t look the way we expected?
What if God has been working through circumstances we have dismissed as coincidence?
Perhaps our prayer needs to become:
“Lord, give me faith not only to ask You to move, but eyes to recognise You when You do.”
Because sometimes the answer to our prayer may already be knocking at the door.
WHEN THE ANSWER IS KNOCKING
“So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him.” Acts 12:5
I have been thinking about the story in Acts 12.
Peter had been arrested and imprisoned, and the believers gathered together to pray earnestly for his release.
They prayed in faith.
They believed God could move.
They were asking Him to intervene.
And then He did.
God miraculously released Peter from prison. The chains fell from his wrists, the prison doors opened, and Peter walked free.
He went straight to the house where the believers were gathered praying and knocked on the door.
A servant girl named Rhoda went to answer.
When she recognised Peter’s voice, she was so overwhelmed with joy that she forgot to open the door! Instead, she ran back inside to tell everyone that Peter was standing outside.
And what did the people who had been praying for Peter’s release say?
“You’re out of your mind!”
They were praying for God to answer, yet when the answer was literally standing at the door, they struggled to believe it.
And I wonder how often we do the same thing.
We pray for healing, and when someone suddenly improves, we search for another explanation.
We pray for provision, and when something unexpected arrives, we call it luck or coincidence.
We pray for restoration in a relationship, and when hearts begin to soften, we simply say circumstances changed.
We pray for doors to open, and when they do, we put it down to timing, hard work, or being in the right place at the right moment.
Of course God can work through doctors, people, opportunities, hard work and ordinary circumstances.
But sometimes I wonder if we become so determined to explain everything naturally that we fail to recognise the supernatural hand of God working through the natural.
Like the believers in Acts 12, we can have enough faith to pray, but still be surprised when God actually answers.
Maybe faith isn’t never being surprised by God.
Maybe faith is continuing to pray even when we don’t know how He will answer, and then having eyes open enough to recognise His hand when He does.
Peter was standing outside knocking while the people inside were still trying to work out whether their prayer could possibly have been answered.
What if some of the things we are still praying about have already begun to move?
What if the answer doesn’t look the way we expected?
What if God has been working through circumstances we have dismissed as coincidence?
Perhaps our prayer needs to become:
“Lord, give me faith not only to ask You to move, but eyes to recognise You when You do.”
Because sometimes the answer to our prayer may already be knocking at the door.
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