Acts 12

So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him. The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries stood guard at the entrance. Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up. “Quick, get up!” he said, and the chains fell off Peter’s wrists. Then the angel said to him, “Put on your clothes and sandals.” And Peter did so. “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me,” the angel told him. Peter followed him out of the prison, but he had no idea that what the angel was doing was really happening; he thought he was seeing a vision. They passed the first and second guards and came to the iron gate leading to the city. It opened for them by itself, and they went through it. When they had walked the length of one street, suddenly the angel left him. Then Peter came to himself and said, “Now I know without a doubt that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from Herod’s clutches and from everything the Jewish people were hoping would happen.” When this had dawned on him, he went to the house of Mary the mother of John, also called Mark, where many people had gathered and were praying. Peter knocked at the outer entrance, and a servant named Rhoda came to answer the door. When she recognized Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed she ran back without opening it and exclaimed, “Peter is at the door!” “You’re out of your mind,” they told her. When she kept insisting that it was so, they said, “It must be his angel.” But Peter kept on knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished. Peter motioned with his hand for them to be quiet and described how the Lord had brought him out of prison. “Tell James and the other brothers and sisters about this,” he said, and then he left for another place. ‭‭Acts‬ ‭12‬:‭5‬-‭17‬ ‭NIV‬‬

It is so important to believe in your prayers!  When you pray, you show your faith and trust in God when you actually believe that your prayers will be answered.  “But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord” (James 1:6-7).  The group of believers in this passage were praying for Peter like they should, but they had a hard time believing in what they were praying for.  Even when Peter was standing at the door, a free man, they couldn’t believe it!  Just going through the motions of prayer, either publicly or privately, is not an effective way to pray.  When you have confidence in God and His faithfulness, however, that is when prayers get answered and miracles happen!  Jesus said “If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer” (Matthew 21:22).  We also need to remember that not all prayer will bring the results that we expect, for the outcome of a situation depends completely on God’s will.  In addition, believing in God’s power puts the focus on God instead of on the prayer itself.  This is why complicated, religious words are unnecessary during prayer.  We also no longer need to pray with the help of a priest, since Jesus’ death allows us all complete access to God, anywhere and anytime.  “Let us then approach God’s 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).  So pray boldly and know that God hears you.  Don’t undermine your requests by doubting Him, but instead have faith in His love, power and sovereignty in all things.