Faith to believe he can do what we ask

I'm currently reading through the book of Acts, and my bible study this morning found me in chapter 12. Although I've read and heard the story of Peter's escape from prison via angelic intervention many times, a few things jumped out at me today that made me stop and think.

I'll give a quick summary of the story just so you'll know where I'm coming from. As the chapter opens, the persecution of the early church is in full force and King Herod had just arrested several members of the church. He even had James, the brother of John and one of the 12 disciples, beheaded. Herod saw that this pleased the Jews (and would therefore help him earn and keep their support), so he kept up the arrests and had Peter seized and thrown into prison.

Not only did Herod throw Peter in prison to have him await trial, he also assigned four-soldier squads to guard him at all times. Peter even had to sleep between two soldiers, while bound with two chains, as the other two soldiers guarded the prison door.

But as Peter sat in prison, the early church prayed earnestly for him. (We'll come back to this later.)

The night before his trial was set to begin, an angel of the Lord appeared, struck Peter on the side and woke him up. The chains fell off Peter's wrists and the angel basically told him to get dressed quickly and follow him out of the prison. Peter had no clue what was going on and thought he was having a vision, instead of actually being set free from prison.

After the angel walked him out of the prison and down a city street, he left Peter. Then Peter suddenly realized what was happening. It wasn't all a dream or a vision--God had answered his prayers and those lifted up by the church on his behalf. He had just walked away from a heavily guarded prison cell without any interference. He was a free man again! Herod's expectations, and those of the Jews who hated the early church and were no doubt looking forward to seeing Peter executed, had been thwarted.

So Peter went to a home of one of the members of the early church, where a group of Christians were actually gathered at that very moment, praying for him. And they were so shocked to see him outside the door that they accused the servant girl who answered it of being "out of [her] mind" (NIV). When they all finally saw him, they couldn't believe it.

There are a number of different lessons that can be drawn from this story, but the one that jumped out at me today is: where was the faith to believe that God hears and answers prayer?

The church had clearly been praying for Peter--hard--and I imagine Peter said a prayer or two of his own.

Yet I think the Scripture implies everyone expected Peter's death to be imminent. James had just been martyred and I think even Peter himself expected to meet the same fate. I don't think it's a stretch at all to believe that Peter sat in that prison cell thinking he had met his end. Why else would he be so shocked when God rescued him? And why would the church be so amazed to see him out of prison alive and well?

As I read that story this morning, I thought, "Where was their faith? Here they were, praying earnestly for Peter's life to be spared, and when it actually happens they're shocked. God had performed all kinds of miracles for the early church, so why were they amazed when he answered their prayers?"

Those thoughts quickly reminded me of the countless times I've prayed earnestly for something I knew to be in line with God's will and then been just as amazed when he answered my requests--usually above and beyond what I had asked.

God keeps his promises and assures us that he will meet our needs, protect us and answer our prayers, so where is our faith to believe that he will do what he says he'll do? Our circumstances don't dictate the outcome of the situations we find ourselves in--God does (and I'm preaching to myself here).

"'Have faith in God,' Jesus answered. 'I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore, I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it and it will be yours.'" - Mark 11:22-24

In John 15, Jesus says that if we abide in Christ (he is the vine and we are the branches) and remain in his love, "then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name" (verse 16).

And just as most of us wouldn't have any problem approaching our earthly Father with a simple request if we needed something, we can approach our heavenly Father, who loves us far more than our earthly parents ever could, with even more confidence that he is eager to fulfill our requests and meet our needs.

For example, if I needed to have some work done on my car, I would not hesitate to go to my dad and ask if I could borrow one of my parents' vehicles while my car is in the shop, fully expecting him to quickly agree to let me use the older minivan. (I've made such a request more than once.)

If I have that much confidence in approaching my earthly father--who, while he is loving, is still human and make mistakes--then why does it seem so hard sometimes to go to God confidently in prayer? God is eagerly waiting to meet my needs and even the desires he has placed in my heart, if I'll only ask and trust him. The answer may not come right away, but that doesn't mean my faith that he heard my prayer and will answer it in his timing and in his perfect way should decrease.

"Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." - Hebrews 4:16

My prayer today is like that of the man with a demon-possessed son in Mark 9:24: "Lord, I do believe, help me overcome my unbelief!" Lord, increase my faith to trust you completely in all things and take you at your word!

May we approach his throne with confidence out of an awareness of his grace and an intimate relationship with Him and be filled to overflowing with testimonies of God's goodness and faithfulness!

I'm still alive....

Wow! I can't believe it's been more than two months since I last posted anything here! Despite what my shameful negligence as a blogger would insinuate, I am still alive and well and still enjoy writing.

It's been a crazy summer, but things are beginning to return to "normal" again (whatever that is). And with that, I'm beginning to miss blogging enough to make time for it again.

I don't pretend to have anything earth-shattering to share here or a large following by any means, I've just always enjoyed writing and it helps me process things. I would write here even if no one ever read it. But if you do happen to stop by every once in a while, stay tuned... more posts are coming.