Prodigious Prayer
Sermon Series:
The Praying Church
Acts 12:1-11
Rev. Michael D. Halley
Suffolk Christian Church
April 24, 2016
Suffolk, Virginia
Fifth Sunday of Easter
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Prodigious prayer. Now what do I mean by that? “Prodigious” is not a
word that we often use, is it? “Prodigious” means “amazing or wonderful”;
“very impressive” or “very big”1. And the prayers of the church here in the
12th chapter of Acts well fit this description.
The early days of the church in Jerusalem were days of intense
persecution. Herod2, the Roman ruler, decided that he would carry out
intense persecution of these who followed Jesus, whom they called “Christ”3.
Herod was always looking for ways to gain favor with the Jewish people of that
day and surely if he were able to snuff out this new religious sect he would be
even more popular with the people.
Already, Luke, the author of the book of Acts, tells us, Herod had put
to death James, the brother of John. This must have been a terrible blow to
this band of Jesus’ followers. James and his brother John, sons of Zebedee and
Salome, were among the first to walk away from their fishing business to
follow Jesus.
And now Herod had Peter imprisoned. Peter, too, would be dead
except that for the seven days of the unleavened bread observance4 there
were to be no executions. No matter, Herod must have thought, I will put
him in prison and wait until these feast days are ended. And to be sure that
Peter did not escape, he ordered that four squads of four soldiers each would
be there to guard him around the clock.
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So here was Peter, in jail, handcuffed to two guards, with two other
guards standing watch over him. Every three hours the guard changed and
rotated through the four squads. There would be no funny business here, for
Herod made sure Peter was not going anywhere.
But what Herod had not considered was what was happening with the
rest of this band of Jesus followers. They were in Jerusalem, in the home of
Mary, the mother of John Mark, who would later be the author of one of the
Gospels.
What was the church doing during these perilous times? What should
any Christian be doing in perilous times? Eugene Peterson, in The Message5,
puts it this way: “The house was packed with praying friends.”
Meanwhile, Peter was asleep, bound to the two guards. Do you wonder
what Peter’s frame of mind was? What does a man think about when he is
sitting in jail, waiting for the seven days to end, knowing he would be put to
death? It must have looked hopeless to Peter.
Luke does not say so, but I would imagine that Peter also was deep in
prayer. And surely he knew that his friends, members of the First Christian
Church of Jerusalem, were also in prayer. Prayer is what the church did. It was
all they could do! And they believed in prayer.
James, the brother of Jesus and the leader of the church in Jerusalem
would later write, “The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective”
(James 5:16). Oh my, how they must have prayed!
I love to read the commentaries of Dr. William Barclay6, the renowned
New Testament scholar. His insights are brilliant, in my estimation. But Dr.
Barclay seems to be uncomfortable in calling a miracle a miracle. Of Peter’s
escape from prison that night, he says, “In this story we do not necessarily see
a miracle. It may well be the story of a thrilling rescue; but, however it
happened, the hand of God was most definitely in it.”7
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Well, whatever explanation we put on it, an angel or someone hit Peter
in the side to wake him up. Light shone all around, even though it was
nighttime. And before he knew it, Peter was standing up, and the chains fell
off. “Grab your coat and let’s get out of here” (Acts 12:8, MSG), the angel-man
told him.
Meanwhile, Peter must have thought he was dreaming. I can just see
him, stumbling just a bit, not sure what was going on. For some reason the
two guards who were supposed to be awake and on watch did nothing to stop
him. Even the iron gate that led to the streets of the city opened for him!
Is this a fairy tale or what? What does the 21st century skeptical man or
woman make of a story like this? Is Dr. Barclay right when he calls it a
“thrilling rescue”?
Meanwhile, back at the church gathering, what do you think is going
on? Yes, they are still praying. They may have even set up a schedule so that
someone was awake and praying every hour of these seven days.
Peter knew right where to go: To the house of Mary. Some New
Testament scholars think this may have been where Jesus celebrated the
Passover meal with his disciples. Here we see Peter, in the middle of the night,
banging on the door to the courtyard.
In telling this story, Luke adds the little detail that the servant girl who
went to answer the knock was named Rhoda8. She instantly knew it was
Peter, the very one they had been praying for. In her exuberance, however,
she ran back inside the house without even opening the door.
Think about this for a moment. By now, Herod’s guards would be
fanning out all over the city, looking for this escaped prisoner. Time was of
the essence! Peter needed to get inside quickly.
Meanwhile, Rhoda runs inside and excitedly tells the others that Peter
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is at the gate. “You’re mad!” they told her. I see a little humorous irony here,
don’t you? . . . They fervently prayed for Peter’s release and did not even
recognize the answer to their prayer when Peter was released!
Finally, when they let Peter in, his stay with them was very brief. “Tell
James and the others”, he told them, James being the head of the church, and
then he left. It was not safe for him to stay there.
Prodigious prayer, don’t you think? It was amazing, wonderful, very
impressive, a very big prayer.
Let me go back to what James later wrote. Remember, James wrote this
in chapter 5, verse 16: “The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and
effective.”
The key word in that verse is the word “righteous”. It is the prayer of a
“righteous” person that is effective. The Greek translated “righteous” is
“dikaios”9 (DEEK-eye-yos). It means upright, virtuous, keeping the commands of
God.
It is very helpful to me to compare other translations when I am trying
to understand a Bible passage. James 5:16 in the Easy-to-Read Version10 says,
“Anyone who lives the way God wants can pray, and great things will
happen.” The Message puts it like this: “The prayer of a person living right
with God is something powerful to be reckoned with.”
The key to prodigious prayer; the key to effectual fervent prayer; the
key to powerful prayer, is living right. That’s what “righteous” means.
I hesitate to ever criticize my early training in the church. I had a
wonderful pastor and a wonderful church11 and it was there, under that pastor
and in that church, that I made my profession of faith in Christ and was
baptized. It was through the ministry of my pastor that God laid upon me the
call to the ministry, and it was there in that church that I was ordained to the
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ministry in 1968.
I heard a lot growing up about witnessing to others. I heard a lot
growing up about correct doctrine. Proper Bible interpretation also was
stressed.
Unfortunately, righteous living was not as often addressed. And yet,
here is James, the brother of Jesus and the head of the church in Jerusalem,
telling us that “righteousness” -- right living -- is the key to effective prayer!
So, let me put it like this: You can have every doctrine correct. You can
be the most precise interpreter of the Bible. You can have all your “i’s” dotted
and your “t’s” crossed. But if you don’t live right you will not be an effective
pray-er.
Growing up we memorized the plan of salvation and we were
encouraged to witness to others. And that was the right thing to do, no doubt
about it. It was never a comfortable thing for me to do and I never considered
myself very good at it. It was almost like I was trying to convince someone
INTELLECTUALLY to become a Christian, when what I should have been
doing is concentrating on righteous living, doing what God wants me to do.
And what is it that God wants me to do? Listen to this sampling of
instructions, straight from God’s Word12:
•
“[A]lways be more willing to listen than to speak. Keep control of your
anger. Anger does not help you live the way God wants.” James 1:19-20,
ERV
•
“Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure,
and lovely, and admirable.” Philippians 4:8, NLT
•
There are also things we should not do: “sexual promiscuity, impurity,
lust, doing whatever you feel like whenever you feel like it, and grabbing
whatever attracts your fancy.” Colossians 3:5, MSG
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•
“Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well
as all types of evil behavior. Instead, be kind to each other,
tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has
forgiven you.” Ephesians 4:31-21 NLT
What does all that lead to? Righteous living. What does righteous living
enable you to do? Prodigious prayer.
I urge you and challenge you to carry with you this week our prayer
guide . Look at it each day and lift up our prayer concerns to God. At the
very least, ask for God’s blessings upon these who have a need. Make time to
pray. And you will be effective. You may even experience a miracle, as Peter
did that night in jail.
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God bless you. Let us pray.
Our Father, you want nothing less from us than for us to be a people of
prayer. May it be so. May we live righteous, upright, and holy lives and may
our prayers be fervent and effective. Thank you, O God, for so great a
salvation you have given us through Christ Jesus our Lord. We pray this in his
name and through your Holy Spirit.
Amen
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All Scripture references are from New International
Version®, NIV®, copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984,
2011 by Biblica, Inc.®, unless otherwise indicated.
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Sunday Sermons from Suffolk Christian
Church are intended for the private
devotional use of members and friends of
the church. Please do not print or publish.
Thank you. Suggestions for sermon topics
are always welcome!
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1. From Merriam-Webster.com.
2. There are several Herods in the New Testament. From the description of his awful death,
recorded by Luke in Acts 12:19-23, this Herod is Herod Agrippa.
3. “Christ” is from the Greek word “Christos”, which means “chosen one”. The Hebrew
equivalent is “Messiah”.
4. The feast of the unleavened bread is the seven days following Passover. See “The Feast of
Unleavened Bread... Wait - Isn’t it Passover?”, by Mia Kashat, reprinted at
http://www1.cbn.com/biblestudy/the-feast-of-unleavened-bread...-wait-isn%27t-it-passover%3F
5. The Message (MSG), copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H.
Peterson
6. William Barclay (1907 - 1978) was a Scottish author, radio and television speaker, Church of
Scotland minister and Professor of Divinity and Biblical Criticism at the University of Glasgow.
7. “Commentary on Acts 12", Daily Study Bible,
www.studylight.org/commentaries/dsb/acts-12.html, c. 1956-1959. Dr. Barclay’s entire
commentary may be found at www.studylight.org.
8. “Rhoda” is a Greek name which means “rose”. See the excellent article, “Rhoda: The Woman
Who Was Called Mad”, at https://www.biblegateway.com/resources/all-women-bible/Rhoda.
9. Www.studylight.org has a Greek-English interlinear New Testament that is very helpful in
learning the meaning of the Greek words. A knowledge of the Greek language is NOT necessary!
(Otherwise I could not do it!) Here is the link for James 5:16:
http://www.studylight.org/desk/interlinear.cgi?q1=james+5%3A16&x=0&y=0
10. Easy-to-Read Version (ERV), copyright © 2006 by Bible League International
11. The Rev. LeRoy M. Keeney (1921 - 2004) was pastor of Highlawn Baptist Church, St.
Albans, West Virginia, from 1949 to 1986.
12. See “Bible Verses About Righteous Living”,
athttps://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Bible-Verses-About-Righteous-Living/.
13. You can find our weekly prayer guide on our website, www.suffolkchristian.org. Click on
“worship” at the top, then “worship this week”, then “bulletin”.