Acts 12:12 As soon as he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John who was called Mark, where many had assembled and were praying.

______________________________________________

As we saw in the previous lesson, the church was in the desperate straits — their response was to pray. And God answered them!

Peter was set free by an angel and walked him out of the prison. When he was out on the street, the angel disappeared. “When Peter came to himself, he said, “‘Now I know for certain that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from Herod’s grasp and from all that the Jewish people expected.’” (Acts 12:11)

Notice especially those last few words, “all that the Jewish people expected.” Peter realized how desperate and despondent the Christian church must be at that time.

Meanwhile,, these followers of Jesus had been praying at the house of Mary, the mother of John, also known as Mark. There were “many” assembled together to pray at that house, and they had no idea that their prayers had already been answered.

The irony was that when Peter knocked at the door, a servant named Rhoda came to answer and was so shocked when she heard Peter’s voice, instead of opening the door to let him in, she dashed to tell the others what has happened.

They were praying, and irony continued in that they told Rhoda she was out of her mind, and that she had probably seen an angel. But Peter’s persistent knocking finally got a response, and with great joy they realized that the Lord had, indeed, answered their prayers.

PRAYER STARTER…

O Dear Jesus, our Great Shepherd, there are times when we are truly shaken. Like Jehoshaphat who prayed to you in his distress and proclaimed, “We do not know what to do, but we look to you,” (2 Chronicles 20:9,12). We may not receive the answer we desire or even expect, but we know that you do hear and answer our prayers according to your divine providence.

(Continue this prayer as the Holy Spirit directs you personally.)