Acts 12

Today's Passage: Acts 12

5 So Peter was kept in prison, but earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church.

God uses different circumstances to accomplish his purposes. He uses persecution to lead to scattering of believers, which leads to gospel advancement. He uses the imprisonments of Paul to write letters to churches that are now what we read in our New Testament. God uses persecution and suffering in powerful ways.

And then sometimes God chooses to do something different to show his power and glory.

In Acts 12, Peter is imprisoned because of his ministry. Could God have used Peter in prison? Of course he could have. But he chose not to. Why? Who knows.

But what I do think is cool, and hope you notice too, is what it says in verse 5: So Peter was kept in prison, but earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church.

Peter had a church that prayed earnestly for him. Now, this obviously doesn’t mean that just because we pray earnestly for something, that it is always going to be answered the way we hope it will be. Sometimes God has other plans that might be confusing to us. But we can trust that they are good even though they might not feel good in the moment.

But God honors and answers the earnest prayers of the church regarding Peter. And the result? Not only was Peter set free, but the church was amazed at what God had done!

What should we take away? In all things, God gets glory; and in all things, we get grace. This is true no matter what it is you are going through or have gone through. We serve a God we can trust, both in his sovereignty and in his goodness toward us.

Written By: Graham Withers

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