¹ It was about this time that King Herod arrested some who belonged to the church, intending to persecute them. ² He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword. ³ When he saw that this met with approval among the Jews, he proceeded to seize Peter also. This happened during the Festival of Unleavened Bread. ⁴After arresting him, he put him in prison, handing him over to be guarded by four squads of four soldiers each. Herod intended to bring him out for public trial after the Passover. ⁵ So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him. ⁶ 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. ⁷ 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. ⁸ 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. ⁹ 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. ¹⁰ 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. ¹¹ 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.” ¹² 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. ¹³ Peter knocked at the outer entrance, and a servant named Rhoda came to answer the door. ¹⁴ When she recognized Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed she ran back without opening it and exclaimed, “Peter is at the door!” ¹⁵ “You’re out of your mind,” they told her. When she kept insisting that it was so, they said, “It must be his angel.” ¹⁶ But Peter kept on knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished. ¹⁷ 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 12.1-17 (NIV)

In today’s lesson we have a classic case study on the power of prayer. In it we also see some surprising things about prayer and our expectations behind it. The story is straightforward enough. The church is under increasing persecution and we see yet another leader bow to the politically expedient. Herod has one of the sons of Zebedee killed and sees that this is a crowd pleaser for some of the Jews. Never mind about justice and integrity. Just give the folks what they want!

Herod then arrests Peter with the intention of killing him as well. So what does the church do? It doesn’t take up arms, it starts praying fervently for Peter. Luke gives us no indication that the church denounced Herod for his persecution. In fact, it is more likely that they were praying for Herod’s forgiveness. Nevertheless, God hears the church’s prayers and intervenes in a miraculous manner to set Peter free.

“All well and good,” you say. But here the story gets really interesting. In an almost comical encounter, Peter comes to the home of Mary (perhaps the very place where Jesus held the Last Supper with his disciples) and knocks on the gate to get in. The servant girl is so excited that she leaves Peter standing outside while she rushes to tell the people inside the good news that their prayers for Peter have been answered. And their reaction? They don’t believe her!

How often have you prayed fervently without really expecting to have your prayers to be answered? Apparently this was what was going on with some of the folks in that early church. Had they expected Peter to be released they would not have been so surprised or incredulous when they heard the news that he was standing outside. They would not have essentially called Rhoda a liar. But they did. What is that all about?

It is about really having faith in the power and efficacy of prayer. Given the church’s reaction to the news that God had indeed answered their prayers it is a wonder that God did so at all. There is a mystery about prayer. God is sovereign and God will do what God will do. But Scripture clearly exhorts us to pray, not that we will get God to change his mind but apparently to help align our will with his.

Prayer at its best should be a dialogue, not a monologue, and we should always pray with expectant hearts, precisely because God is sovereign and good. I suspect one significant reason that many of us find our prayers go unanswered is because we consider what we are asking for is really too impossible for God to grant and that puts us behind the eight ball immediately. Jesus had no such reservations, in part, because he always prayed that God’s will be accomplished. He knew his place in his relationship with God.

So we pray because God expects us to do so and we pray with humility and expectation. We don’t use prayer as a bargaining tool (God doesn’t negotiate with terrorists). We pray that God’s will be done because we trust his sovereign power and great love for us. We also pray because we love others. James tells us as much in his letter (cf. James 5.13-16). He also reminds us that the character and expectations–the expectations that are a practical manifestation of our faith–of a person matter in prayer. God sees our hearts and knows our motives for praying and I suspect that too often we pray fervently but without great expectations and this will typically have a negative effect on our prayers.

So when you pray, pray with great expectations along with great fervor. Regardless of outcome, have confidence that God is God and his perspective, which is eternal and complete, can be trusted over your own limited and finite perspective in any and every circumstance. Don’t be hesitant to bring your hopes and fears before God in prayer, no matter how big they are. But also do not make your prayers a negotiating tool because that is not why we pray.

Instead, learn from today’s lesson and the early church about how to pray earnestly and expectantly (and always with hope). After all, your life with God encompasses far more than the living of your mortal days. It will go on forever. Therefore you might as well learn how to talk (and listen) to the Living God starting right here and now. As Jesus reminds us, it is the Father’s good pleasure to give us the Kingdom (Luke 22.32).

The question is, do you really want the Kingdom? You can find the answer to that in the way you pray (or don’t pray) and in the substance of your prayers. May your prayers be always filled with great expectations and be big enough for the God of this universe who loves you and gave himself for you!