Then Peter came to himself and said, “Now I know without a doubt that the LORD sent his angel and rescued me from Herod’s clutches and from everything the Jewish people were anticipating.” When this had dawned on him, he went to the house of Mary the mother of John also called Mark, where many people were gathered and were praying. Peter knocked at the outer entrance, and a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer the door. When she recognized Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed she ran back without opening it and exclaimed, “Peter is at the door!” You’re out of your mind,” they told her. When she kept insisting that it was so, they said, it must be his angel.” But Peter kept on knocking and when they opened the door and saw him they were astonished. Acts 12: 11-16, NIV.
Dear God, I am convinced that there is a message for each of us in our study today. Please help us not to overlook it. May we learn to keep on knocking until the door of Your mercy is opened to us. This is our prayer in the blessed name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
The angel of the LORD had just broken the chains that held Peter bound. Peter was now a free man. When his eyes became accustomed to the dark, and he realized where he was, he made his way to the home of Mary, the mother of John Mark. Scripture informs us that many people were together, praying. However, when Rhoda informed then that their prayers had been answered, they told her that she was crazy! Isn’t that just like us? We believe in a God who is All-mighty! He knows no limitations! We sing the little chorus: “God can do anything, but fail! And I imagine that most of us believe this! That is the reason we pray! It is because we believe that God is omnipotent! Yet we are surprised! We are shocked! We are in disbelief, when certain prayers are answered!
Perhaps one of the reasons we find it so hard to believe, is because we cannot see the One who answers our prayers. We do not understand His modus operandi. On the other hand, we see the way the enemy of our souls operate. We see his agents at work, and so his doings are real to us, because they are visible to our physical eyes. It would be helpful if we could remember that the real warfare is not with the flesh and blood agents that we see. It is with the invisible forces of evil! But thanks be to God! The “Good News” is, “You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world” (1 John 4: 4).
I have described what happened that night, as, “Closing the door on the answer to our prayers.” I believe I have dealt with this topic in the past, but it does not hurt to remind ourselves of certain truths. Many of us, because of unbelief, or, because our god is too small, will say our prayers, and then lock the doors with the key of fear! I know, because I have done it, and still do it, occasionally. It is true, that I am learning to trust more. I want to trust more. That is the only way we will find true peace – when we can stop trying to analyze our prayers into fulfillment, and instead, believe them into fulfillment! Peter’s experience is a good lesson book from which we can learn a very valuable lesson, he just kept on knocking. He could not see what was going on inside. But he did what he could do. He could knock, and insist, and believe, that eventually, they would open the door and let him in. That is exactly what he did! He knocked, insisted, and believed. And they eventually opened the door!
There is a very familiar saying that we use quite often, especially, when praying: “LORD, help us to trust You where we cannot trace You.” It sounds good, and it makes a lot of sense. But do we practice it? Can we give God our problem (knock); and when we do not get an answer, insist (keep on knocking); and then trust Him? Believe, that God will do what we ask Him! It worked for Peter, and by God’s grace, it will work for us. Perhaps not as quickly as it did for Peter, but if the answer we are seeking is good for us, it will come. I believe that sometimes, the time frame will depend on the urgency of our request.
But let us not forget, that their reaction to answered prayer could have represented death for Peter if an enemy had been following him. The closed door would have hindered their prayer being answered! So the next time you come to a closed door, and you are convinced that it is the will of God that you enter that door, don’t give up! Just keep on knocking!