Herod is the king and he decided to persecute the church. He killed James with a sword and because that made the Jews happy, he thought he would kill someone else that had strong influence in the church. Herod set his sights on Peter. He arrested Peter and threw him in prison with four groups of four soldiers guarding him. That seems like an excessive amount of prison guards for one man, but Herod knew Peter was a pillar of the church.
Acts 12:5 Peter therefore was kept in prison: but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him.
King Herod thinks he has this all figured out, but God is getting ready to foil his plans. He is getting ready to set Peter free! Herod decided what day he was going to present Peter to the Jews and ultimately would kill him, but the night before that happens God comes to Peter's rescue.
Acts 12:6 And when Herod would have brought him forth, the same night Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains: and the keepers before the door kept the prison.
Do you know what Peter was doing the night before he was going to be murdered? He was in prison and bound with not one, but two chains, and sandwiched between two soldiers. He was sleeping! He was not crying. He was not distraught. He was not asking God, "Why me?" He was not looking at his circumstances. Peter was asleep! God can give you the peace that surpasses all understanding as you keep your mind on Him. (Philippians 4:7) If you are in the middle of a dark circumstance and you don't feel like you have much chance of breaking out of the prison cell you are locked in, hold on to faith because you are about to be delivered! Rest in God's Word!
I love this story of how God sets Peter free. The angel of the Lord slaps Peter on the side to wake him up and tells him to get up quickly. When God tells you to do something, don't question it, just quickly obey. When Peter got up the Bible says the chains fell off from his hands. Obedience will always be the key to unlock the chains that have you bound. The angel instructs Peter to get dressed and take his sandals. Why? Because he was going to walk into freedom! Do you have your sandals with you?
Now Peter had just been sleeping, so he didn't know this was even really happening. He wasn't sure if it was a dream or he was imagining this but he is going to find out very quickly that it is real! You may have been praying for so long and when the answer finally comes, you may be questioning whether it is real, whether you are really going to be loosed from the fear, the pain, the hurt, the loss, the chains that have held you bound for so long, but you are going to quickly discover that your victory is at hand!
The angel of the Lord takes him past the first ward of the prison, and then the second, and then they came to an iron gate which opened by itself. Don't stop in awe of what is happening. Don't try to figure it out. Keep moving! Peter did not stop to investigate the gate and wonder how it opened itself. It was made of iron, so we know the wind wasn't going to just blow it open. God opened the gate for Peter to walk through. God has the gate open for you, too. Go through!
Peter and the angel walked through the gate and passed on through one street, and then the angel left. God has set people in your path to help you get through one obstacle after another that is hindering you from being free. He has sent someone to tell you an encouraging message and that has got you through the first ward. Someone else may share a Bible verse and now you have moved beyond the second ward. Another person comes alongside you and now you are at the gate. The gate is opened and you are led further still. Keep moving forward. Don't let the fear, the pain, the hurt, the disappointment, the failure linger with you. Don't let those feelings convince you to go back into the prison cell. Do not let the enemy blind you to the fact that you are free.
Acts 12:11 And when Peter was come to himself, he said, "Now I know of a surety, that the LORD hath sent His angel, and hath delivered me out of the hand of Herod, and from all the expectation of the people of the Jews."
You have to get to the place where you come to yourself. Look at all that God has told you already. Hold on to those scriptures of faith and encouragement. When you do, you will be like Peter, who finally realized his prayers had been answered and he was free!
What now? After he considered all that had happened, what was he going to do? Where would he go? Where do you go when you are delivered? Where will you run to when your chains fall off? Peter went to Mary's house where many people were there praying. He wanted them to know their prayers had been heard and answered by Almighty God! Tell others when God has blessed you and helped you and delivered you. Tell them that their prayers were answered.
Peter knocks on the door and Rhoda responds by going to the door. She hears the knocking and she goes to see who it is. The others are in the other room praying for Peter. She is the only one who gets up to answer the door. They all could have heard it, but she takes the steps necessary to go to the source of the noise.
Acts 12:14 And when she knew Peter's voice, she opened not the gate for gladness, but ran in, and told how Peter stood before the gate.
Peter knocks on the door, Rhoda goes to see who it is, Peter responds with the request to be let in, and she recognizes his voice but she is so excited that she failed to take action and receive the answer. She left him standing outside the gate so she could go tell the others. Do you think they stopped praying, got up with gladness, and let him in? No! They called her crazy! She insisted she had just been talking to him and they didn't get up even then, they just dismissed it by saying she saw his angel.
Remember these are the very people praying for a breakthrough for Peter. They wanted God to help him and when God came on the scene, Peter was set free. Peter wants to tell them the amazing things that just happened, but no one will let him in because of disbelief and contention. How much faith did they have to believe God would hear and answer their prayer? It does not look like they believed God at all. Sometimes people, even in the church, dismiss what you know God has revealed to you. Keep standing on what you saw, you heard, you know to be the answer God has given to you.
We know that prayer works because Peter is standing at the gate! The Bible tells us that the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. It says we are to pray for one another. (James 5:16) We must believe that God will answer our prayer if we have the audacity to ask Him. Jesus had died and rose from the dead and had revealed Himself to the disciples but Thomas wasn't with them. They told him what they saw and he was like the ones who didn't believe Rhoda. He said that unless he saw the nailprints for himself and could put his hand in the Lord's side, he would not believe that Jesus was alive. Jesus is so loving and compassionate that He paid a special visit to Thomas and told him to touch the nailprints in His hands and thrust his hand into Jesus' side. Thomas responded with, "My Lord and my God." Jesus told him in John 20:29 Jesus saith unto him, "Thomas, because thou hast seen Me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed."
Rhoda did talk to Peter, but the people tried to make her think she was crazy or just seeing things. Rhoda stood her ground because she knew she just talked with him. The disciples wanted to share the good news with Thomas that Jesus was alive and they had been in His presence, but doubting Thomas dismissed their claims and in skepticism claimed he would never believe it unless he saw it for himself. Rhoda and the disciples did not let the naysayers change their mind on what they knew to be true. Do not be persuaded. If God delivered you, don't take a vote, just rest in the truth found in God's Word and walk in your freedom!
Faith is the opposite of doubt. But what is faith? Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Faith is believing you will have what you are hoping for even though there is no proof that it is going to happen. Faith is taking God at His Word and believing Him even when the circumstances look like it will never happen. Do not get discouraged. Stop looking at the circumstances and look at what God has said about it. Whose report will you believe?
I am not suggesting you believe everything you hear. We are not to trust everyone because some people's intention is to deceive. The Bible says in 1 John 4:1 Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. The Holy Spirit that dwells in all of God's children will let you know when you are being deceived and when you are not.
Acts 12:16 But Peter continued knocking: and when they had opened the door, and saw him, they were astonished.
Peter kept knocking! Sometimes you just have to keep telling your story and God will open their eyes to see the truth. Don't give up! Peter could have been insulted when Rhoda ran off instead of opening the door. Fear could have come upon him that the prison guards would discover he had escaped and come after him, but instead he stood there and kept knocking. Don't let fear come back on you when God has delivered you. Look at what the Lord has done for you!
Finally they hear the knocking for themselves and open the door. There stands Peter and they were shocked! They could hardly believe their eyes. Faith says they should have opened the door expecting to see Peter standing there. 1 John 5:14-15 And this is the confidence that we have in Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He heareth us: And if we know that He hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions we desired of Him. The Bible says we have confidence that God will hear and answer our prayers when we pray according to His will. Of course it was God's will to rescue Peter.
Acts 12:17 But he, beckoning unto them with the hand to hold their peace, declared unto them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he said, "Go shew these things unto James, and to the brethren." And he departed and went unto another place.
Peter motioned for the group to be silent. It is difficult to hear what is being said if everyone is talking at the same time. Peter wanted to share his testimony with them. He knew they had been praying for him and he wanted to encourage them and help their faith to grow. They had to be quiet so they could receive the message and increase their faith.
Notice that after Peter testified of the miracle working power of God, he left. The glory was for God, not for Peter! You are delivered from the bondage of fear, discouragement, anger, abandonment, or failure, but you are not the hero in that story. Always give God the glory and share with others how He set you free because your testimony can help set others free. Peter knew there was no reason he should be seen as a hero. He shared his faith and removed himself from the situation so they could glorify God. Do not let pride rise up in you when God restores you to a good place. Psalm 100:4 Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise: be thankful unto Him, and bless His name.
If you are struggling with an addiction, feelings of guilt, worthlessness, depression, anger, fear, anxiety, betrayal, or rejection give it to God. He will remove those feelings from you and give you something far better to help you live your life to the fullest. He will give you peace and His joy to strengthen you and help you on this journey toward home.
God bless you!
~Bridgett Owens
