Persistent Prayer

“Peter was therefore kept in prison,
But constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church.” Acts 12:5

“Now Peter continued knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him,
they were astonished.” Acts 12:16

When I read Acts 12:5-17, I was amazed that God answered the church's prayers to free Peter from prison. They were praying fervently for Peter’s release but didn’t expect God to do it in the way that he did. They prayed for hours, yet they were astonished by God’s answer, to allow Peter to walk out of jail in sight of 16 soldiers and past locked iron gates. As we look at this passage from hindsight, God spared Peter’s life to fulfill his leadership role in the church. It showed the sovereignty of God. However, from the standpoint of the text, Luke, the writer of Acts, did not know this and reported the situation as it unfolded: Christians prayed diligently for Peter’s release, and God intervened for him to be freed. God answered their prayers spectacularly and allowed Peter to finish his ministry.

When I read this passage, I feel a little guilty. When have I ever prayed for more than an hour at one time for one situation? Rarely! I’ve often been on my knees in honest prayer, but it wasn’t for hours. I’ve been in prayer meetings that lasted a couple of hours, but there were multiple participants, discussion times between prayers, and many prayer requests.

When I pray, do I have an agenda for how I want God to answer my prayers? Maybe so. Maybe God has answered more of my prayers than I think. Maybe his answer was “no.” Maybe my idea of God is incomplete and too limited.

Perhaps I’ve been too impatient to see his handiwork through a long-term solution. Maybe I haven’t learned the lesson He was trying to teach me yet. Possibly my faith is not so genuine, and it is more like an impetuous child who asks because that is what the child wants, not what God wants.

Maybe, just maybe, my commitment to him is predicated on my comfort in a middle-class, pain-free lifestyle. I hope not, but if I encounter cancer, death, financial crisis, or family issues, will my faith remain strong, and will my prayers persist?

Sometimes, my prayers are not genuine. Public prayers can be more of a lecture than a conversation with God. Sometimes I am in a hurry and want to pray because I said I would, but it is not authentic. When I pray alone, I stop and ask the Lord to remove the distractions and prepare my heart to enter into this holy conversation. When my distractions disappear, I sense his presence, and the time is truly a divine moment. Other times, well, other times, I stop praying and move on to something more… “practical.” I gave up and moved on.

In a wacky world, may my prayers be persistent and continuous, and may the Lord answer them according to his sovereign will. And may I not be surprised.