Meanwhile . . .

The first-century believers were people just like us. They were flawed. They weren’t super Christians. Yes, they prayed fervently. Yes, they prayed together. But sometimes, they also prayed with an element of doubt.

Clearly there is a place for faith in our prayers. And on many occasions, we hinder our own prayers because we don’t pray with any faith whatsoever. However, that doesn’t mean faith is a force to harness so that we can simply speak things into existence.

Remember, when Jesus taught the disciples to pray, He said, “Pray like this: Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy. May your Kingdom come soon. May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:9–10 NLT).

Even Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, “Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine” (Luke 22:42 NLT).

Don’t ever be afraid to pray, “Not my will but Yours be done.” There is a place for faith. But even if your faith is weak, come with as much faith as you have.

The Bible tells the story of a man who had a demon-possessed son. He came to Jesus, pleading with Him to touch his child. He said, “Have mercy on us and help us, if you can” (Mark 9:22 NLT).

Jesus replied, “What do you mean, ‘If I can’? . . . Anything is possible if a person believes” (verse 23 NLT).

The desperate father cried out, “I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!” (verse 24 NLT).

This man’s faith was good enough for God because Jesus responded to his cry and healed his son. He was honest and admitted that he had his moments of doubt. But he brought as much faith as he could and put it into action.

When Herod Agrippa threw Peter in prison, the Bible tells us that the church prayed earnestly for his deliverance. In Acts 12:6, we read, “The night before Peter was to be placed on trial, he was asleep, fastened with two chains between two soldiers” (NLT). Peter probably was the only Christian in Jerusalem who slept that night because everyone else was praying.

But God heard their prayers and sent an angel to rescue Peter from his prison cell.

How things changed because of powerful prayer. At the beginning of Acts 12, we see a seemingly all-powerful Herod wreaking havoc on the church. On the other side, we see the church turning to God in prayer.

Yet at the end of Acts 12, Herod is dead, Peter is free, and the word of God is triumphing. Verses 23–24 tell us, “Instantly, an angel of the Lord struck Herod with a sickness, because he accepted the people’s worship instead of giving the glory to God. . . . Meanwhile, the word of God continued to spread, and there were many new believers.”

God always will have the last word. Never underestimate the power of prayer.

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