A few years ago, a story came in the news about two churches in a small Oklahoma town. There was a distillery with a liquor shop within a distance of less than one mile from the churches. Members of both churches complained that the distillery was giving the community a bad image. And to make matters worse the owner of the distillery was an outspoken atheist. The church people had tried unsuccessfully for years to shut down the distillery. Finally they decided to hold a joint Saturday all night prayer. There was a horrible thunderstorm during their prayer meeting. A lightning hit the distillery and burned it to the ground. The insurance refused claims from the distillery owner saying that the fire was an act of God and that was exclusion in the policy. The distillery owner was furious and he sued both churches claiming that they had conspired with God by praying together to destroy his business. But the churches denied that they had anything to do with the cause of the fire. During the trial, the presiding judge opened the trial with theses words: “I find one thing in this case that is the most perplexing. We have a situation here where the plaintiff, an atheist says that the churches prayed and God answered and he is professing his belief in the power of prayer, and the defendants all faithful church members are denying that their prayers had nothing to do with and deny the power of their prayer.” Prayer can bring surprising results.
In the books of Acts, Chapter 12, we find that Herod Agrippa had already killed James, the brother of John. He then had Simon Peter arrested and put in prison to try and gain further approval of the Jewish leaders. This Herod is the grandson of Herod the Great who killed the children during the birth of Jesus (Matthew 2). The grandson also known as Herod Agrippa I, reigned from 37 A.D. to 44 A.D, followed in the footsteps of his grandfather who had murdered his own son, Herod Agrippa's father, and had brought terror into the hearts of the people. Herod Agrippa was suspect in the eyes of the Romans as they had never truly trusted him. Because of his close friendship with Roman Emperor Caligula he was named king and given the area north of Galilee to rule. In 39 A.D. Caligula extended Agrippa's rule by giving him Galilee and Perea and eventually all of Judea and Samaria. Herod Agrippa was a powerful man, but he knew in his heart that he was trusted and admired by neither the Romans nor the Jews. To try and gain the trust of the Jews Herod Agrippa was always trying to win their favor by persecuting the followers of Christ. Herod Agrippa chose the week of celebration following the Passover to arrest Peter because of the presence of lots of Jews in the city.
In the little house of John Mark's mother, the followers of Jesus were praying for Peter. While Peter was in prison, 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. 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. 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. 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 and the angel left him.
Peter made his way to the house of John Mark's mother, Mary. When Peter arrived at Mary's house the followers of Jesus were still praying. I am not sure if they were praying for Peter to be comfortable, for the living conditions to be amicable, or for Herod not to kill Peter. We read that the church had been praying "fervently" for Peter. God answers their prayer (vv. 7-11) miraculously. Peter goes to the door of the prayer meeting and knocks, but those who were praying refused at first to believe that it is really Peter. The girl who ran to the door saw Peter and ran back to the house instead of opening the door for him. They did not expect an immediate and positive answer. Someone said that it was harder for Peter to get into the house of John Mark than it was to get out of the prison. "But when one prays, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does." (James 1:6-8).
There are two tools a Christian needs to use every day — meditating on the scripture and prayer. Through scriptures, God communicates with us and through prayer we communicate with God. 'Pray' is a transitive verb, meaning there is an object. We pray for someone or something. We are not people who just say prayers, like the rosary prayers many religions follow. But we are PRAY-ERS, like we call people who run are runners, people who pray are 'pray-ers'.
Christian Today journal says that prayer is good for our health. In a recent article in Christianity Today magazine there was an articled titled, "Doctors Who Pray," in which several medical doctors expounded upon the medical benefits of prayer for their patients. Dr. Dale Matthews, an internist and associate professor of medicine at the Georgetown University Medical Center in Washington, D.C., is one of a growing number of medical professionals who are discovering the medical benefits of faith and prayer. Dr. Matthews and other doctors are beginning to scientifically study the effects of prayer on illnesses and injuries. In the article, Dr. Matthews says, "Scientific knowledge has demonstrated the positive benefits of religion. I can say, as a physician and scientist--not just as a Christian--that, scientifically, prayer is good for you. The medical effects of faith and prayer on health are not just a matter of faith, but also of science." (Christian Today, January 6, 1997)
“The fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much” (James 5:16 ). The prayer of a child of God is powerful and effective. It can change the diagnosis of a doctor who gave only 6 months to live to a person who is still living after 8 years because of prayers. A prayer offered in faith can heal our sickness and it can cause even the weather to change. E. Stanley Jones, the great missionary to India said, "Prayer is surrender-surrender to the will of God and cooperation with that will. If I throw out a boat hook from the boat and catch hold of the shore and pull, do I pull the shore to me, or do I pull myself to the shore? Prayer is not pulling God to my will, but the aligning of my will to the will of God."
In Alexander Solzhenitsyn's, "A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich," Ivan endures all the horrors of a Soviet prison camp. One day he was praying with his eyes closed when a fellow prisoner noticed him and said, "Prayers won't help you get out of here any faster." Opening his eyes, Ivan answered, "I do not pray to get out of prison but I pray for the will of God." (Our Daily Bread, December 29, 1993). Someone said, "A man praying on his knees is the taller than anyone else”
George Muller had founded several orphanages, which cared for as many as 2,000 children. One night Muller was informed that the supply of food was gone at one of the houses. The next morning he joined the children at the breakfast. There was a bowl, and plate and glass in front of each of the several hundred children, but all were empty. Mr. Muller asked the children to bow their heads as he prayed. His words included "Father, we thank Thee for what Thou art going to give us to eat." After he ended the prayer there was a knock at the door. A baker was standing there who said, "I couldn’t sleep last night. I felt you didn’t have any bread and the Lord wanted me to send you some, so I got up at 2:00 this morning and baked some fresh bread for you." George Muller not only thanked the baker, but also said a prayer of thanksgiving to God. Later that day another miracle happened. There was a milkman standing at the door. He explained that his milk cart had broken down right in front of the home. The milk had to be unloaded and he wanted to give it to the home for the children. "Could you take it?’’ he asked. God answers prayers in surprising ways to make sure that His children are provided for and protected.
"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, to him be the glory, dominion and power for ever and ever." (Ephesians 3:20)
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