November 3, 2024 SERMON

Victory through Prayer Acts 12:1-11

We're continuing through the Book of Acts, under the theme, "That Old-Time Religion," and this morning we’ll be looking a chapter twelve. I want to talk about prayer—not just "now-I-lay-me-down-to-sleep" kind of prayer, but victorious prayer.

As you read the Book of Acts you’ll find that these people learned how to pray, and they saturated their lives with prayer. And, God gave the victory.

Compare that with the average Christian today. Compare that with the average church today. Compare that with Christendom, as a whole, today.

We are failing in our battle against the world, the flesh, and the devil, and the reason that we fail, is primarily and fundamentally, we do not know how to pray.

There's not a failure in your life or in my life that is not a prayer failure, if you properly analyze it.

There's not a need in my life or in your life that could not be met if we knew how to pray and would practice what we know.

There's not a sin in my life or in your life that proper prayer would not have avoided. Jesus said: "Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into temptation..." (Mark 14:38).

Have you ever considered how you pray? Some people repeatedly lift up prayer requests yet fail to express admiration, praise, and gratitude.

Perhaps they expect God to fulfill their needs and desires without demonstrating any love for Him.

But we are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God's very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for He called you out of the darkness into His wonderful light. (1 Peter 2:9)

Psalm 100:1-5 reads: Shout with joy to the Lord, all the earth! Worship the Lord with gladness. Come before Him, singing with joy. Acknowledge that the Lord is God! He made us, and we are His. We are His people, the sheep of His pasture. Enter His gates with thanksgiving; go into His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him and praise His name. For the Lord is good. His unfailing love continues forever, and His faithfulness continues to each generation.

God created us to praise Him. Our worries and concerns are of great importance to Him, but He also wants us to come to Him with a worshipful heart, not an attitude of self-centeredness.

When we praise our Lord, our focus shifts to Him, we’ll recall His greatness, grace, goodness, mercy, love, and faithfulness. We are told in Psalms to praise Him joyfully (Psalm 100:1), continually (Psalm 34:1), corporately (Psalm 108:3), and wholeheartedly (Psalm 111:1).

Take some time to reflect on God's mighty work of salvation in your life. Instead of approaching our Lord with a list of requests, simply praise Him for His grace, faithfulness and righteousness.

When our heart is full of praise, worries dissipate and you will trust God to provide for your needs in His own timing.

A tale is told about a small town that had historically been "dry," but then a local businessman decided to build a tavern. A group of Christians from a local church were concerned and planned an all-night prayer meeting to ask God to intervene. It just so happened that shortly thereafter lightning struck the bar and it burned to the ground. The owner of the bar sued the church, claiming that the prayers of the congregation were responsible, but the church hired a lawyer to argue in court that they were not responsible. The presiding judge, after his initial review of the case, stated that "no matter how this case comes out, one thing is clear. The tavern owner believes in prayer and the Christians do not."

The twelfth chapter in the Book of Acts has a wonderful lesson on prayer, and we're going to look at it. I want us to begin reading now in verse 1.

1 Now about that time Herod the king stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the church.

2 And he killed James the brother of John with the sword.

3 And because he saw it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to take Peter also. (Then were the days of unleavened bread.)

4 And when he had apprehended him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to keep him; intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people.

5 Peter therefore was kept in prison: but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him.

6 And when Herod would have brought him forth, the same night Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains: and the keepers before the door kept the prison.

7 And, behold, the angel of the Lord came upon him, and a light shined in the prison: and he smote Peter on the side, and raised him up, saying, Arise up quickly. And his chains fell off from his hands.

8 And the angel said unto him, Gird thyself, and bind on thy sandals. And so he did. And he saith unto him, Cast thy garment about thee, and follow me.

9 And he went out, and followed him; and wist not that it was true which was done by the angel; but thought he saw a vision.

10 When they were past the first and the second ward, they came unto the iron gate that leadeth unto the city; which opened to them of his own accord: and they went out, and passed on through one street; and forthwith the angel departed from him.

11 And when Peter was come to himself, he said, Now I know of a surety, that the Lord hath sent his angel, and hath delivered me out of the hand of Herod, and from all the expectation of the people of the Jews.

There are some things that I want us to learn about victorious prayer, and the very first is what I'm going to call "the freedom to prayer"—the freedom to prayer.  Notice, the Bible says that Peter was in prison, but prayer was made.

Can you imagine how hopeless it is for this man—I mean, outwardly? Here he is in a dark deep secure dungeon. He's such an important prisoner that there are sixteen people that are personally assigned to guard him.

Furthermore, they want to make so certain that he doesn't escape that they have chains on him. He's chained on one side to a soldier, and he's chained on the other side to a soldier.

They're going to put him to death. Herod has already killed James with the sword. I imagine he beheaded James.

He saw that he gained so much popularity with the enemies of the Gospel that he said, "I'll do the same to Peter. I'll put him to death, and he announced the day that Peter is to be executed.

What are these disciples going to do? I mean, how are they going to get Peter out of prison? Are they going to organize a mob and storm the prison? Not a chance with that little motley crew.

Are they going to get some petitions up? Are they going to say, "Now look, we are influential citizens in this city, and we demand that you release Simon Peter?" They had no influence.

Are they going to take a collection and go in and bribe Herod? They didn't have any money. "Silver and gold have I none." What were they going to do? They were going to pray.

It has been said that Satan trembles when he sees the weakest saint upon his knees.

Every other door was closed, but there was one that was opened, the freedom to pray; it went straight up to the throne room, they could pray.

The devil may do many things to inhibit you, but there's one thing that he can't do—he can't stop you from praying.

I mean, there may be iron doors all around you; there m

ay be chains all over you; there may be people all against you; but you can pray.

We talk about how kids can't pray in school—that's ridiculous. You can pray anywhere, anytime, and in any place—in prison, in school, in the office, any place—you can pray.

Isn't that wonderful, the freedom to pray? "But prayer was made..." (Acts 12:5). Prayer should not be our last resort; it ought to be our first thought. There is the freedom to pray.

Would to God that we could learn how to pray and to take advantage of the opportunity of this freedom.

Notice something else: not only the freedom to prayer, but I want us to notice what I'm going to call "the faithfulness of that prayer."

Look again in verse 5: "Peter therefore was kept in prison: but prayer was made without ceasing"—without ceasing. Notice the faithfulness of this prayer.

They prayed; they prayed; and they prayed some more. They did not quit praying. Do you know what's wrong with many of our prayers? We have a take-it-or- leave-it attitude toward prayer.

We ask God to do something for us, and if God doesn't seemingly answer right away, then we just kind of stop praying.

But, these people didn't. They prayed; they prayed; and they kept on praying. I don't know why God doesn't always immediately answer our prayers.

There's a mystery to prayer. But, I'll tell you this much about it: Our God says that we are to keep on praying.

As a matter of fact, the Lord Jesus gave a special parable in Luke 18:1, that story begins: "And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint." That means not to stop praying.

Galatians 6:9 "And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not."  

In Matthew 7:7 Jesus said: "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." And, in the Greek language, he is literally saying, "Keep on asking; keep on seeking; keep on knocking—don't quit!"

They prayed frequently, they prayed faithfully, they prayed without ceasing—the faithfulness of their prayers.

Something else: I want us to notice the fervency of their prayer. Look, again, in verse five. These words "without ceasing," means that they prayed with intensity. They prayed with fire and with fervency.

That’s something else that's wrong with many of our prayers. We pray with such casualness—with half-heartedness. Half-heartedness is an insult to God.

The Bible says, in Jeremiah 29:13: "And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart"—with all your heart. These people prayed fervently.

When Jesus prayed in the book of Hebrews 5:7: "he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears...," when's the last time that you prayed with tears?

Intensity, prayer is hard work. That's the reason that many of us don't pray—it requires concentration, and it requires effort. It's harder to pray than it is to preach. It's harder to pray than it is to study. It's harder to pray than it is to sing. It is harder to pray than almost anything, because prayer is work.

Prayer is warfare. When you pray, you enter into spiritual warfare—you enter into the heavenlies and the devil will oppose you when you're praying. The devil doesn't mind everything else we do as long as we leave out prayer.

He'll say, Go ahead and do all you want as long as you leave out the power of Almighty God that comes through fervent prayer."

The devil sneers at our organization; the devil laughs at our personalities; but he fears our prayer. And, that's the reason that when you go to pray, you're going to feel opposition.

Do you ever feel opposition when you pray? Of course you do. The flesh doesn't want to pray. The Bible says the flesh is in enmity against God. There's that old nature that doesn't want to pray.

Not only do you have that inward predisposition against prayer in your flesh, but you have that outward opposition against prayer, the devil will cause your mind to wander.

The doorbell will ring; the beans will burn; the baby will cry—it doesn't matter what'll happen—something will happen to keep you from praying.

Why, Because it is warfare.

Paul said, in Romans 15:30: "Now I beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake, and for the love of the Spirit, that ye strive together with me in your prayers to God for me." Strive—that's a word that means "to labor."

There's the rest of faith, but there is the fight of faith, also. We need to learn how to pray fervently—to mean business with God. I believe God does business with those that mean business. "And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart" (Jeremiah 29:13).

The freedom of prayer—they could pray. The faithfulness of their prayer—they prayed without ceasing. The fervency of thei

Notice, also, what I'm going to call the fellowship of their prayer. They prayed together, Peter therefore was kept in prison: but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him. (Acts 12:5)

Prayer is for the Church. If prayer was made of that church so long ago, then prayer needs to be made of this church. I mean, we need to pray, folks. And, I don't mean just "Lord, bless us" I mean—pray!

Everything we do ought to be saturated with prayer. This church ought to run on the engine of prayer—the fellowship of prayer.

Next, I want us to notice the faith of their prayer. The Bible says, that their prayer was made unto God. Notice again in verse 5: "Peter therefore was kept in prison: but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God"—unto God. This was the faith of their prayer.

They weren't praying to impress one another. They realized that they were coming into the throne room—that they were speaking with God.

When we pray, we come into the throne room of the Sovereign of the Universe. How thoughtlessly, how carelessly, and how flippantly, I'm afraid, that some of us come before Almighty God in prayer. Their prayer is unto God—unto God.

I recall once while I was studying that the thought came into my mind that God answers prayer. I thought, Lord I know that, everybody knows that. But then in my spirit came “is that true?”

I mean, is that true—that the one who made the universe, the God of all eternities, will hear me, and I can have influence in His court. Me! He will hear me! I can pray, and He will hear me and answer me.

He's the one who said: "Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not" (Jeremiah 33:3). Folks, what a thought! I mean, what a thought—that we can have that privilege to pray to God.

I mean, we can have an audience with the King of kings. "But prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God..." That's the faith of their prayer.

Now, I want us to notice what I'm going to call the focus of that prayer. "But prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him." (Acts 12:5) Whom? Peter.

He's in prison. He's going to be beheaded. We need to pray for him: "God, we pray for Peter, who is in prison." The focused prayer—a very specific prayer.

Many of us pray such a generalized prayer that we never have to admit whether God heard our prayer or not. "Lord, save the lost. Lord, bless the sick. Lord, comfort the bereaved."

Somewhere, somehow, somebody who's been lost is going to be saved, and somebody that's sick is going to get well, and you don't know whether it was your prayer or not.

That's kind of a safe prayer. But, we need to pray specific prayers so that we will have to admit whether God answered our prayer.

When you get concerned you get specific.

Have you ever heard anybody say something to you like: "Hey, you all come see us, sometime. One of these days, you'll have to come over?" They don't mean it.

Let me tell you how you can tell when they mean it: They say, "Hey, I've got five of the thickest steaks that you've ever seen in the freezer. Saturday at five—I'm going to have the coals hot. We're going to grill those steaks. Be here at five on Saturday?"

Now, they mean business. That's the difference. Not just: "You all come see us, sometime." God bless the lost. No, listen: You get specific.

Last of all, I want us to notice what I'm going to call the force of prayer—the force of that prayer. What happened? God answered it, and God delivered Peter from prison.

Peter's there in prison, and he's asleep. Would you be asleep if you knew that the next day they were going to execute you—sleeping between two smelly soldiers, chained to one on one side, and chained to the other on the other side?

There's Peter—he's sound asleep. Peter was so asleep when that angel came in there, the Bible said that the angel "smote Peter" and said, "Peter, wake up! Get up!" He slapped Peter, probably had to shake him in order to rouse him, and the chains fall off.

This angel says, "All right get up, put on your shoes, put on your clothes." I like that. We're not sneaking out—we're going out in class. "Dressed up" and he and the angel walk out.

As they start to walk, they pass this guard and another guard. Everybody else is evidently asleep.

Then, they come to this huge iron-gate. Those gates, like having an electric eye, just open. Peter and the angel walk right out. That's the force of this prayer.

They walk out and the angel departed, left him standing there. But as he considered the “thing” he went to the house of Mary the mother of John Mark. He probably knew that’s where the church gathered, it doesn’t say.

He finds a locked door to the courtyard. Peter knocks on the door. A maid goes to the door, and she looks out. She says, "Can you imagine? Look, that's Simon Peter." They're in there, praying for Simon. "Hey, folks"—(she just leaves him standing there)—"Peter's at the door."

They say, "No, Peter's in prison. It must be his ghost. Hey, Peter, is this really you?" "Yeah, it's me." "He says that it's really him."

The Bible says that Peter is knocking and knocking and knocking and they're inside praying.

Here’s a point: God is not going to do for you what you can do for yourself. Peter could never have opened those iron gates, but they could open that wooden door.

Generally, God does not do for us what we ought to do for ourselves. But, we can never do for ourselves what God alone can do.

We must learn that there's a force in prayer—there's a power in prayer. When we depend upon prayer, we’ll see what God can do.

In Jesus’ Name, Amen!