Peter’s Imprisonment
“But Peter continued knocking.” —Acts 12:16
Read Acts 12:1-19
King Herod sought to please the Jews, and to accomplish that, he was willing to grant them some special favours. First of all, he had James, the brother of John, killed by the sword. Then he had Peter put into prison with the intention of executing him after the days of unleavened bread. Behind bars, Peter must have remembered the words spoken by Christ: “Another shall gird thee and carry thee whither thou wouldest not” (John 21:18).
Peter was guarded by four sets of heavily armed soldiers, making escape impossible. You might think his heart must have pounded with fear in anticipation of his death; one would expect him to be very nervous and unable to sleep. But on the contrary, even though he was fastened with chains to soldiers on either side, he slept soundly. He was not fearful at all; he was ready to die for his Master.
What about Herod? His time would come! However, the Lord still had work for Peter to do and delivered him out of prison. Another reason for Peter’s freedom was that the congregation prayed continually to the Lord on Peter’s behalf. He heard their prayer. In this instance we see the power of prayer. When Peter arrived at the house where the congregation was gathered, they could not believe that Peter stood at the door. They had prayed for his release, but when it became a reality they could not believe it. Perhaps they had expected another answer to their prayer. That the Lord would deliver Peter immediately may not even have entered their minds.
Can you relate to this? You pray for something, the Lord answers, and yet you expected something different.
Why did the congregation not believe that Peter had been delivered?
This devotional was taken from “The Time of Your Life” a daily devotional published by the Youth & Educational Committee of the FRC. To order a printed copy of this book, contact: bookorders@frcna.org.