King Herod … had the apostle James killed with a sword … he also arrested Peter … placing him under the guard of four squads of soldiers … but while Peter was in prison, the church prayed very earnestly for him.

The night before Peter was to be placed on trial, he was asleep, fastened with two chains between two soldiers … Suddenly, there was a bright light in the cell, and an angel of the Lord stood before Peter … struck him on the side … and said, 'Quick! Get up!' and the chains fell off his wrists. 'Get dressed and … follow me.'

So Peter left the cell and followed the angel. But all the time he thought it was a vision … They passed the first and second guard posts and came to the iron gate leading to the city, and this opened for them all by itself. So they passed through and started walking down the street, and then the angel suddenly left him. Peter finally came to his senses. 'It’s really true!' he said. 'The Lord has sent his angel and saved me from Herod!'"

"When he realized this, he went to the home of Mary … where many were gathered for prayer. He knocked at the door … and a servant girl named Rhoda came to open it. When she recognized Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed that, instead of opening the door, she ran back inside and told everyone, 'Peter is standing at the door!' 'You’re out of your mind! They said. 'It must be his angel.'"

"Meanwhile, Peter continued knocking. When they finally opened the door and saw him, they were amazed. He motioned for them to quiet down and told them how the Lord had led him out of prison" (Acts 12:1-17).

Three things stood out to me as I read this passage.

(1) Why did God permit Herod to murder James, yet send an angel to release Peter? Think how much Jesus had invested in James. He was one of the three disciples privileged to spend more time with Jesus. They alone were chosen to witness many crucial events (i.e. the raising of Jairus' daughter from the dead, the transfiguration, the agony of Jesus in Gethsemane, etc.). We must certainly always leave room for mystery and never sit in judgement on our Creator.

(2) The crucial importance of corporate prayer. I am the first to own up to falling short when it comes to disciplined private prayer. That is why I try to participate in joint pray meetings whenever I can. Prayer is God's way of carrying out his will with our involvement. John Wesley wrote: "God does nothing except in response to believing prayer." Big, vibrant prayer meetings build corporate faith.

(3) God answers prayer even when our faith is far from strong! Our story is quite amusing isn't it? Yet the important thing is that they prayed very earnestly. At our church prayer meeting last Sunday night, one of our ladies poured out her heart to God with many tears; crying out to him and interceding for an up-coming conference. I found it profoundly moving and a great challenge to my own cold-heartedness. Sadly such earnest praying seems rare. Why is that?