Do You Really Believe God Will Answer Your Prayer

Speaker A: And today, and today is National Eat a Hoagie Day. Now for those of you that don't know what a hoagie is, because I think that's pretty much a Pennsylvania term. That's the same thing as a sub or a torpedo or a po boy or a grinder. You know, all those are the same thing. Love. Love hoagies. Go get yourself a hoagie and celebrate this. National Hoagie Day is National Cream Filled Donut Day. Now I like a good cream filled donut and up there in Pennsylvania I like to go up. That's where I'm from and that's where I grew up. And, and when you get out to Amish country in Pennsylvania, there around Lancaster area, you can get some amazing cream filled donuts. And one of my favorites is a peanut butter and jelly donut. A jelly filled donut with peanut butter icing on the top. I know it's not cream filled, but it's still a filled donut and it tastes pretty good too. So. So anyway, get yourself a hoagie, get yourself a cream filled donut for dessert and have a great day. Today, our Bible reading. As we're reading through the history of ancient Israel, we're starting our third book in the series. We're looking here at First Samuel chapters 1, 2 and 3 today, First Samuel chapters 1, 2 and three. And I certainly hope you join us as we're studying through those, those history books Today we're going to look in acts, chapter number 12 and we're going to look here at, at Peter getting delivered from prison. And we pray because we believe God hears us. But here's the uncomfortable question. Do we really believe that God is going to answer? In Acts, chapter 12, the church was praying for Peter while he was sitting in prison, chained between soldiers and facing what appeared to be certain death. Then God answered their prayer in a miraculous way. But when Peter actually showed up at the door, the people who have been praying for him could hardly believe it was really him. Sometimes the greatest challenge isn't getting on our knees and praying. It's believing that God will actually do what we're asking him to do. You know, it makes me think of a story. I've shared it here several times on the Daily Dose. It's a story about, about this town that was, that was facing a really bad drought and they were, they were losing their crops and, and they had decided as a church one day that they were gonna, that night was gonna hold a prayer service and, and they were going to pray for rain. And night came, and just about everybody from the town had came to this prayer meeting. And. And the kicker was only one person showed up with an umbrella. Do we really believe that God's going to answer? Acts, chapter 12 gives us an interesting story on this very topic. And we see here, starting in. Let's start in verse number one, and let's go down through verse three, verse four, to get started today. Now, about that time, Herod the king stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the church. And he killed James, the brother of John, with the sword. And because he saw it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to take Peter also. Then were the days of unleavened bread. And when he had apprehended him, he put him in prison and delivered him to. To four. Quarter, quarter neans. Quarter. I guess I'm pronouncing that right of soldiers to keep him, intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people. In verse number five, Peter, therefore, was kept in prison. But prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him. All right, let's. Let's break this down here. Let's. Let's see what's going on. James, Peter. James and John. One. One member, the inner three. You know, the. The ones that were closest to Jesus. He was killed by the sword by Herod. And the religious leaders, the. The Jewish leaders at that time, they really liked what they saw because they were trying to do away with. With all the disciples with his teachings about Jesus. And he saw it please them, and he decided he was going to do more to make them happy. And he's gonna kill Peter right along as well. And we see here where. Where he apprehended Peter. He put him in prison. He delivered them to the soldiers to keep him and was going to kill him after the Easter or at an Easter holiday. And he was in prison. Peter was sitting there in prison, and the church prayed for him. This is a key. Verse 5 is a key to this whole story. Therefore, Peter, therefore was kept in prison. But prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him. The church at that time was praying for Peter. They were praying probably that Peter wouldn't be killed. They were praying for his safety. And I'm sure that they were asking God to get Peter out of prison as well. And we see here at reverse number six, when Herod would have brought him forth. The same night, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers bound with two chains. And keepers before the door kept the prison. So Peter was. Was chained to people There was plenty of people there to guard him, make sure nothing happened to him. And the church was praying. And we see here in verses 7 through 9 that an angel came and woke him up, told him to get dressed, get his shoes on, and he led him straight out of prison. And, and they, they went out onto the street. He took him a street over. And then the angel disappeared. The angel came, woke Peter up, delivered him out of prison. Probably the very thing that the. The church was praying for. Peter, he wasn't sure exactly what was going on here. And he thought that he was seeing a vision. He thought he was having a dream that he was escaping jail. But he came to himself and realized that. That God had delivered him, that God brought him out of that prison. And so he headed to. To where the church was there praying for him. And we pick up the story again in verse number 12, and it said. And when he had considered the thing, this was considering how he got out of prison, knowing that God had brought him an angel had led him out of there. He said he came to the house of Mary, the mother of John, whose surname was Mark, where many of. Where many were gathered together praying. And Peter knocked at the door of the gate, and damsel came to hearken, named Rhoda. And when, when she knew Peter's voice, she opened not the gate for gladness, but ran in and told how Peter stood at the gate. And they said unto her, thou art mad. But she constantly affirmed that it was even so. And they say, it's his angel. I'm going to stop right there for just a second. Peter came to. He realized he's out of prison. He realized God had got him out of prison, that an angel led him out. So he goes to where the church was. He goes to where the. The people were praying for him. And as he's knocking on the gate, I'm sure he was probably. Probably banging on the door to get inside. The young lady recognized his voice and instead of letting him in, ran back in and told the people inside the house that Peter's knocking at the door. And they all thought she was nuts. Remember, they're praying for Peter and Peter's at the door, and they didn't believe her. In verse 16 says. But Peter continued knocking. And when they had opened the door and saw him, they were astonished. Peter kept knocking on the door. And finally they go and they. They see Peter standing at the door, and they were astonished. Astonished. A biblical definition for astonished means to be stunned or thrown into a state of mental confusion and wonder. By an extraordinary or unexpected event. It makes me wonder. These people are praying for Peter. Did they not expect their prayer to be answered? What were they astonished about? Maybe they didn't think that their prayer would be answered. Maybe they didn't have faith to believe that God would answer their prayer. Their prayer was answered and their prayer was staring at them face to face. And they were astonished by this unexpected event. They were astonished by this unexpected event. It just makes me, makes me wonder what they were thinking about. Did they have the right mindset? Were they double minded? Did they believe God? But they didn't believe that God would answer their prayer? You know, the Bible warns us about being double minded. In James chapter number one, we're going to look here at a couple verses in James chapter number one. See here James chapter one. We're going to look at verses six and seven. James chapter one, verses six and seven. Scripture says, but let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea, driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think he shall receive anything of the Lord. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways. I threw in verse number eight there for free for you today. But James is warning us here that when we ask for something, we need to ask in faith. Not wavering. Not wavering between, well, God can't. Can God answer my prayer? Or should I just go and act on my own? Or is God really gonna answer my prayer? Is God really gonna reveal things to me? He's saying we need to ask in faith. Faith means we're asking in full belief and assurance that God's gonna hear our prayer and that God's gonna answer our prayer. Now we're not saying that God's gonna answer our prayer in the way we want and the way we expect, but God is gonna answer our prayer and in his way, according to his will, according to his ways. So you see, that's where people get into trouble because God's answering their prayer. He's just not answering their prayer in the way that they think God should answer it. So therefore they're saying, God's not answering my prayer. But if we're going to ask and we, we don't ask in faith and we're wavering. If, if we believe or not that God can or will answer our prayer, then James says we're double minded. And he says that we shouldn't expect to receive anything from God. So what's our takeaway today? What's the thing we need to get from this story. Do we really believe that God will answer our prayers? Let me make it a little more personal for us today. Do you really believe that God is going to answer your prayer? That's a big one right there for many of us because too often we have a preconceived notion in our mind of how we want God to answer that prayer. And when he doesn't answer it the way we want him to answer it, then we think that God didn't hear our prayer, or we think that God doesn't answer prayer, or we think that, that, you know, God is not there when in reality he answered it. He just didn't answer it the way we wanted. These people were praying for Peter, and I'm sure that they were praying for his release from prison, his safety. And God answered that prayer. And when God answered it, they were astonished. They didn't expect it. What about you? How do you respond when God answers your prayer? What prayers today are you praying to God that you are expecting for and waiting for an answer? Think about that as you go through this day. And remember, get into God's word and allow God's word to get into you. Then share that word with someone today. Have a blessed day. It.