In today’s blog, we will zoom in on Matthew 6:25 where Jesus says:
Therefore, I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?
Those of you who have followed my posts for very long have likely heard my story and know that I used to battle anxiety. It was a noose around my neck and choked the life out of me more times than I can count. BUT GOD, in His goodness, set me free from the grip anxiety had on me. This is not to say that anxiety doesn’t still seek to grab hold of me, but today’s verse and others like it (Philip. 4:6-8, 1 Peter 5:7, Isa. 26:3…) are ready weapons that silence the anxious thoughts and give me victory over the enemy who, as Paul wrote, “…seeks to steal, kill, and destroy”(John 10:10).
You see, what I had to learn years ago is to retrain my focus. If I focused on my circumstances (the things of this life), the enemy, with his fiery darts of anxiety, was sure to win the battle; BUT GOD showed me that when I set my mind on Him and His Word, where we find that His character is one of truth … goodness … faithfulness … ever-present …. abounding in love (and so much more)… then the battle and the victory belonged to Him and the anxious thoughts no longer had any power over me!
As the author points out in today’s ‘snapshot’1, “Jesus says we should aim to focus on our true home, which is in the next life–in God’s kingdom. The things that cause us anxiety are often things that are ‘passing away’ (1 John 2:17), but Jesus wants us to focus on the things that will last.”
Reflection and application
Today’s reflection and application are from “The God Shot”, p 13
Are you anxious over temporary things?
What is disrupting your peace today?
Where do you feel like God has forgotten you?
Talk to Him about it.
Remember He can be trusted, and
His trustworthiness is the only thing that can truly set your heart at peace.
The More We Know
THE GOD SHOT, 100 SHAPSHOTS OF GOD’S CHARACTER IN SCRIPTURE, pages12-13 ↩︎
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. ~ James 1:17
God is good! His love and blessings surround us, fill us, delight us, intrigue us, and astound us. He loves us with an unfathomable love. A love undeserved but so deep that He gave His only Son to save a world of sinners. Actually, His word describes us as his enemies. Yet still He loved us and gave us the gift of all gifts, the perfect gift that came down from above. He didn’t stop with the gift of Jesus; but to all who believed Him and accepted Him, He gave the right to become children of God, and to all who received Him by faith, He gave the gift of everlasting life. He continued to pour out His blessings on us and continues to this day ~ mercies that are new every morning, all-sufficient grace, the privilege of prayer and the promise that He will hear and answer them. He gifts us with provisions of daily bread and other needs, renewed strength, forgiveness of sins, daily mercies (holding back what we do deserve), and unbelievable grace (giving gifts we don’t deserve). Then there’s also the gift of His active presence in our lives, His promise to never leave or forsake us, forgiveness for unimaginable sins, hope for tomorrow, and as Peter wrote, “everything we need for life and godliness”(2 Peter 1:3-4).
Friends, may we never become oblivious or unresponsive to His good and perfect gifts. May our gratitude flow continually for every gift and every act of love and kindness. May we stay alert to the enemy’s schemes and never allow our emotions and sinful thinking to trick us into turning away from God.
In the previous verse, James urged his readers not to be deceived. Emotions and sinful thinking can trick us into turning away from God. It’s important to cling to the truth, which is that every good thing in our lives is a gift from God. In the midst of our trials, we are tempted to change our opinion of the trustworthiness of our God. We start to make lists of all the things we think we are missing in our lives, of all of the things we have lost. If God were good, wouldn’t we have those things?
This attitude leads to even more temptation. We begin to look elsewhere for the good things we think we’re missing. “If God won’t provide them,” we think, “we’ll have to go and get them for ourselves.” We attempt to take control. We struggle to find our own satisfaction.
Now, however, James urges us to flip the typical human script. He calls us to make a new list: all the good things we do have. Where did all those good things come from? James is encouraging believers in Christ to tell themselves the truth: God gave you every single good thing in your life. He is the source of all the good you have and all the good you crave. Who God is does not change when our circumstances change. He doesn’t go from being a good God to a bad God when our trials begin. He is still the source of all the good in our lives; He never changes.
Bibleref.com/James 1:17
Reflection and Application
What does it mean to remain faithful in hard times?
Bibleref.com explains: It means continuing to acknowledge that God is the source of what is good in our lives and what will be good in the future.
What else do you think it could mean?
A Challenge
End each day by thinking about, listing out, or simply thanking God for the gifts of grace you saw throughout the day. I write mine in my prayer journal almost every evening. I call them Daily Graces. Let me know if and how you do them.
Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving.
Colossians 4:2
Yesterday’s Scripture Reading from ourdailyverse.com was Colossians 4:2. “Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving.” What a gracious gift God has given us through these words of Paul. We have been invited into a life of prayer. He doesn’t demand it but graciously offers us the privilege to not only come boldly before His throne but to come often – actually to stay in an attitude of prayer, making it the “heartbeat of our existence.”
“It is an opportunity to experience the profound intimacy of continual communion with our Creator, to align our hearts with His in every waking moment.” ourdailyverse.com
Through the years of knowing/quoting this verse, God has trained my heart to hear His voice, to be alert not only to the guiding hand and voice of His Spirit, but to watch with expectation for His answer and to discern His purposes unfolding in and around me. It has been in the watching and the staying alert, as Paul instructed his readers to do, that my prayers have morphed into not just requests but offerings of thanksgiving and praise. This way of praying becomes a way of living and has the power to change us from the inside out. It changes not only the way we think but the way we live and how we respond to life, to others, and to God.
We recognize that every blessing, every trial, every moment is an opportunity to experience God’s grace and faithfulness. Gratitude becomes the lens through which we view life, transforming even the darkest days into opportunities for praise.
12 I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. 13 No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us. Philippians 3:12-14
Using the analogy of a runner, Paul teaches us to press on … to continue on by keeping our focus on the goal, which he identifies as “the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” He encourages his readers to “forget the past” and keep moving forward by focusing on what we can do today and in the days ahead to live for Christ until we meet with Him ~ whether through death or His return.1
He wrote a similar message to Timothy (2 Timothy 3:14) – telling him to remain faithful, despite the evil that was around him, to continue on in the things he knew to be true, the things of faith which he had learned and been assured of and professed to others.
To the Colossians, he wrote that they were to continue in prayer, to be devoted to it. He wanted those he was writing to understand that prayer was an essential part of their faith and should be a constant in their lives, not just something scheduled for certain times or places. As one commentary explains, “It is meant to be an ongoing dialogue with the Lord.” Paul reiterates this in his letter to the Thessalonians when he tells them to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17)
Paul mentions two important aspects of prayer. First, believers are to be “watchful” in prayer. This carries the idea of standing guard, or staying awake at night to make sure a location is safe. Prayer demands ongoing attention, just like the guard at a city gate. In practical terms, this means prayer is not supposed to be a careless, casual, or frivolous act. We should pray with specific purpose and with deliberate intent. Bibleref.com
John also writes to believers about continuing on in their faith… specifically to keep (continue, remain…) abiding in His love (John 15:9-11) and to abide (continue, remain…) in Him (John 15:4-7). Only when we choose to remain (continue on) in Him will we know the fullness of His joy and bear spiritual fruit for His glory.
Friends, continuing on isn’t always easy. It wasn’t in the days of Paul and John, and it isn’t in the days and times we live in now. Yet it is the calling of Jesus on our lives and the example He (and His disciples) set before us – even to the cross that Christ hung on and the unimaginable deaths that many of His followers faced. – May our God of grace and mercy help us to press on to the “mark of His high calling in Christ Jesus”. May we remember that He has given us everything that we need for life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3-4) and that through Him nothing is impossible.
Reflection and Application
What is the key to pressing (or continuing) on in our faith, even in this sin-infested world?
What is the key to remaining in Christ?
How can we encourage others to continue on in the faith?
Today’s Scripture Reading: Genesis 25 and Ephesians 3:20
From being barren for twenty long years to a complicated pregnancy to delivering twins, the road to having children was not an easy one for Rebekah and Isaac.1 Unlike today, barrenness in the days of Isaac and Rebekah came not only with the disappointment women experience today but with the added stigma of social shame and disgrace. This was in large part due to the cultural beliefs that childbearing was equated with a blessing from God and/or a woman’s worth. So, like Hannah and others2 we have studied in our journey through the women of the Bible, barrenness could frustrate marriages or have crushing mental effects on a woman who struggled to conceive.
Rebekah also serves as an example that when we feel barren God can intervene. She, volume 4/p58
I particularly appreciate one of the commentaries by Biblehub.com, which points out (and I paraphrase) that the stigma not only affected the barren woman but also her husband and extended family. However, as the commentator points out, God often used these situations “as a backdrop for miraculous divine intervention.” I know the reality of this statement from my own years of barrenness, and I am forever grateful for God’s sovereign timing (divine intervention) in opening not only my womb but my mind and heart to His saving grace and mercy. These gifts (mercy and grace) led me out of the physical barrenness, but also out of the hopelessness and spiritual wilderness I had been wandering in for far too long.
Her husband prayed to the Lord on his wife’s behalf.
While our focus is on Rebekah in this part of our journey through God’s Word, it should also be noted, as the my study journal points out that Isaac prayed for his wife because she was barren and the Lord heard Isaac’s plea and God gave them even more than they asked for, or, as He so often does ~ He gave them exceedingly abundantly more than he asked or even imagined (Eph 3:20). When it came time for her to deliver she delivered twin boys. In Genesis 25:23 the Lord had described them to her as “two nations…two manner of people would come from her…one would be stronger and the other would serve the younger. Of course, if you know the story of Jacob and Esau, you know that every word God spoke to Rebekah about her babies was proven true, they could not have been more different.
“Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us.”
Ephesians 3:20 KJV
Reflection and Application
How did Rebekah go from barren to doubly blessed? (list out all the ways/things that you can think of that played into it.)
Think of ways God has blessed or doubly blessed you and/or someone else you know and why it happened.
The More We Know
Rebekah did not have an easy pregnancy and Scripture tells us that she talked to the Lord about the difficulty (Genesis 25:22) ↩︎
Notable matriarchs who wrestled with the stigma of barrenness include: Sarah (Sarai): She endured years of childlessness before God miraculously enabled her to conceive Isaac in her old age (Genesis 11:30, Genesis 21:1-2). Rachel: She famously cried to her husband Jacob, “Give me children, or I’ll die!” (Genesis 30:1). Hannah: Mocked by her husband’s other wife due to her infertility, she poured out her anguish in prayer to God, eventually giving birth to the prophet Samuel (1 Samuel 1:6-8, 1 Samuel 1:20). Elizabeth: In the New Testament, she was publicly disgraced for being childless, but gave birth to John the Baptist in her old age (Luke 1:7, Luke 1:24-25). ↩︎
adapted from the study She, delighting in the examples of the women of the Bible, volume 4/pp63-64
Today’s Scripture Reading: Genesis 16 and Isaiah 55:8-9
Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had not been able to bear children for him. But she had an Egyptian servant named Hagar.
Genesis 16:1
In our last encounter with Sarah, we learned that she was married to Abraham, and she left her family and a life she had known for more than 50 years to follow Abraham to a land God said He would show them. She has heard God’s promise to Abraham of many descendants that would make up a great nation. Yet, four chapters later, Scripture still reports that she has no children.
Sarah was considered barren, Yet she knew what God had promised.
She, Delighting in the examples of the women of the Bible, Volume 4, p65
The journal for this study poses the question, “Why had she not gotten pregnant yet?” This made me think of others we’ve met on our journeys, like Hannah (1 Samuel 1:5) and Rachel (Genesis 30:22), both of whom are reminders of the fact that it is God who opens the womb and/or keeps it closed. The journal also reminds us that “she was getting up in years, and it seemed as if time was short.” This truth is made evident in today’s journey through Genesis 16, where we find that Sarah decides not to wait any longer; she devises a plan and takes the necessary steps to carry it out. The plan involved her Egyptian handmaid, Hagar, and the very desperate act of having her sleep with Abraham. (Yes, this was a cultural norm at the time, but I can only imagine how desperate you must be for a child to consider, let alone actually, employing it.) I would like to say that I have never been one to manipulate situations for a certain outcome, but sadly, I played those games for years when I was younger, and I learned, just like Sarah, that manipulation comes with regret and consequences that are often more difficult and disappointing than waiting for God and His timing.
Friends, we must never forget that patience is a highly esteemed virtue in the Bible, often described as “long-suffering” or “endurance”. It is not passive waiting, but an active, steadfast trust in God’s timing and loving treatment of others. Patience is not only a fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23), but according to James, it is also a key ingredient in developing spiritual maturity (James 1:3-4).
We would be wise to remember that our God, the same God of Abraham and Sarah, is a sovereign God, a keeper of promises, and His timing is always perfect. Apparently, though, the years of waiting have made her question, if not flat-out disbelieve, that she would ever get pregnant. Unlike God, she had a plan B and set it in motion through a conversation with Abraham, explaining her plan. She then takes Hagar and gives her to Abram as a ‘surrogate’ wife. Can you even imagine what a desperate desire Sarah had for a child, to the point that this became her solution?
A Plan Gone Wrong
2 So Sarai said to Abram, “The Lord has prevented me from having children. Go and sleep with my servant. Perhaps I can have children through her.” And Abram agreed with Sarai’s proposal. 3 So Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar the Egyptian servant and gave her to Abram as a wife. (This happened ten years after Abram had settled in the land of Canaan.) 4 So Abram had sexual relations with Hagar, and she became pregnant. But when Hagar knew she was pregnant, she began to treat her mistress, Sarai, with contempt.
Genesis 16:2-4
The plan accomplishes Sarah’s desire for a child, but it backfires in every other way. Her husband was now the husband of Hagar, her handmaid, who was now pregnant with his child. On top of that, Hagar now despises Sarah and treats her with contempt, and in turn, Scripture says that Sarah treated Hagar harshly, and Hagar fled from Sarah’s presence.” (Genesis 16:6, CSB)
Sarah is an example of how impatience, not being willing to wait on God’s will, can lead to trouble and heartache ~ having a negative impact on our lives as well as others. I also believe Hagar serves as an example of how jealousy can lead to broken relationships. ~ May God guard us from jealousy and impatience. In His worthy and powerful name I pray – AMEN!
Holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus. But Jesus deserves far more glory than Moses, just as a person who builds a house deserves more praise than the house itself. Hebrews 3:1-2
According to the commentary by Bibleref.com, “for the Jewish people, there was no greater example than Moses, but according to this section of Hebrews, Jesus is far greater. These verses make a connection between Jesus’ role as our ultimate example—the “founder of our salvation”—and His superiority to even Moses.” The author clearly wanted the people of God to know and understand that Jesus is the One they are to follow.
Some may see the term “apostle” here as confusing. This is a title often given to the men who preached the gospel immediately after the ascension of Jesus. The term itself literally means, “one who is sent.” In the context of this passage, that is a perfect description of Jesus. He is One sent from God to bring us good news. He is meant to be our example, and we are meant to do as He did (John 13:13–15; 20:21).1
“In the next verses, the author will point out that Moses was faithful, but was also a created servant of God. Jesus, on the other hand, is the Creator and the Son of God. What Moses predicted, Christ fulfilled.” In doing so, He made a way to the Father where there was no way. So that all who come to Him by faith “are met with the power of His grace and love. There is forgiveness of sins, yes! There is also a call to a higher way of living.”2
In Luke chapter 2, Jesus turned to the crowd and told all who were listening that anyone who wanted to follow Him would have to turn from their selfish/wicked ways and take up their cross daily in order to follow Him. In other words, He was telling them they would have to be faithful to Him above everything else. In Mark chapter 12, He explained that this faithfulness required loving God and others above self, and in John chapter 3, He made sure that they understood what that love was to look like, namely, it was to be a mirror of His love- loving God and others, just as He has loved us. Thankfully, we who believe have been given His Holy Spirit, who empowers us to live and love like He did.
“There is no shortcut or bypassing the mandate to love God and to love others. Love encompasses the whole of the Law (Galatians 5:14). Anything else falls short of our heavenly calling.3“
Friends, may this prayer, borrowed from 100 Meditations of the Names of Jesus, be our prayer – on repeat …
Apostle of our Confession, You showed me how to walk in the ways and the power of God. May I be wise and discerning, choosing Your love above fear and pressures to conform. ~ Amen
Reflection and Application
“Beware of those who claim to know what it is to walk in the name of Jesus and do not live out the ways of Jesus.”4
Adapted from She, delighting in the women of the Bible, volume 3, pp 33-34
Today’s Scripture: Luke 1:39-56, Hebrews 11:6, and Psalm 37:4-5
Take delight in the LORD; and He will give you your heart’s desires. Commit everything you do to the LORD; trust Him and He will help you.
Psalm 37:4-5
Sometime after Mary professed her belief in the angel’s message and surrendered to the will of the LORD, she went to visit her cousin, Elizabeth. You most likely know the story, but it never gets old, does it? Luke writes that Elizabeth gave a glad cry and exclaimed to Mary, ‘God has blessed you above all women, and your child is blessed. Why am I so honored that the mother of my Lord should visit me? When I heard your greeting, the baby in my womb jumped for joy. Oh, how I love the words of Elizabeth, the description of the baby jumping for joy, and the sign that seemed to be to her that Mary had indeed been given the honor of bringing the long-awaited Messiah into the world.
As Mary had believed the words of the angel and surrendered to the will of God for her life, Elizabeth also believed and made her belief known to Mary, saying: “And blessed is she that believed; for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord.” What an encouragement that must have been to Mary, whom I cannot help but imagine has been feeling somewhat alone in all of this since she received the announcement. Though undoubtedly, her faith was a sustaining grace, the questions, conversations, judgments, and, especially, Joseph’s initial doubts had to weigh heavily on her mind and heart. Then she arrives at Elizabeth’s and is greeted with great excitement and honor. The Lord, our God, is so good to give us just the encouragement we need when we need it.
The willingness of the women to believe and Mary’s willingness to surrender were, as the study journal points out, “birthed in faith that if the Lord said it, there is no doubt it would happen.”
This is the faith that the author of Hebrews writes about in Hebrews 11:6, where we read: “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” Both Mary and Elizabeth believed that what God had said would happen. This reminds me of what Paul alludes to in Philippians 1:6, when he states that he is “confident that He who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it.“
MARY, THE MOTHER OF JESUS, ALSO SERVES AS AN EXAMPLE THAT WHEN WE BELIEVE WHAT THE LORD HAS PROMISED, HE IS CERTAIN TO PERFORM IT.
Reflection and Application
When you pray, is your attitude one of confidence – not in what you want but in what the Lord can do? If you are waiting for a prayer to be answered, are you confidently surrendered to the will/desire of God for your life or the life of the one you are praying for?
Friends, the way we pray and what we pray matters… consider this commentary from Hebrews 11:6 by bibleref.com:
What does Hebrews 11:6 mean?
This is a popular verse from the book of Hebrews, and also one easily misunderstood out of context. Taken all by itself, the verse presents a truth which is fairly easy to understand. Namely, that God’s first and foremost concern is with our faith—our attitude towards Him and trust in Him—rather than in our actions. This does not make our behaviors unimportant. On the contrary: what we do reflects what we truly believe (James 2:14–17). However, as this verse shows, merely “going through the motions” is not what God is looking for. Those who want to please God need to have faith, not simple agreement, and not merely reluctant cooperation. ~ ~The problem with quoting or reading this verse out of its context is the specter of “blind faith,” or wishful thinking. As shown in prior passages, the writer of Hebrews is not advocating for a gullible, wishful-thinking attitude. On the contrary, this entire letter has been an exercise in evidence and logic. The writer’s point is meant to emphasize the primacy of true faith over insincere works: robotic obedience without legitimate trust in God is worthless. This lesson is given as part of a description of Old Testament figures whose actions prove their faith. (emphasis mine)
The More We Know
“Many of our prayers appear to go unanswered simply because we do not believe that God is willing and able to bring them to pass.”2
She, delighting in the examples of the women of the Bible/Volume 3/p33 ↩︎
She, delighting in the examples of the women of the Bible/Volume 3/p34 ↩︎
adapted from the She study, delighting in the women of the Bible, volume 3, pp 68-69
Today’s Scripture Reading: Acts 9:32-43 and Proverbs 31:10
“Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies.”
Proverbs 31:10
Tabitha, also known as Dorcas, is another woman of the Bible who is seldom taught and little known by most. Actually, if you had asked me three weeks ago (before I began looking through this study book) who Tabitha was, I would have told you she was a character from the Bewitched Show.1 It wasn’t until I began reading today’s passage of Scripture that I remembered her story. This Tabitha was not an adorable child who could twitch her nose and make things move or disappear. Instead, she was a New Testament believer known for her good works and kind deeds. These deeds/works are not really elaborated on, but what we do know is that she was specifically known for her good works and acts of love for the poor/needy, particularly the widows (Acts 9:36 & 39).
While Tabitha’s story is told in a mere seven verses, it is one of inspiration and a miraculous restoration of life that led to many more believers in the city of Joppa. It is safe to say that her testimony is far more valuable than rubies. This is made evident when Peter not only responds quickly to the message he received about her passing, but then raises her from the dead.
SHE WAS ALIVE AGAIN, A LIVING TESTIMONY OF THE MIRACULOUS GRACE OF GOD.2
Friends, like Tabitha, our testimonies matter. How we live for God, not only on Sundays or when people are watching, matters. From our words, to our facial expressions, to the things we do for God and for others matter. How we live will either lead people toward God or away from Him. As my pastor preached yesterday,3 “others will know when we have spent time with Jesus”(Acts 4:13).
Every time a person is raised from the dead, it is a stupendous miracle, showing that the God who is Himself the Source of Life has the ability to give life to whom He will—even after death.4
Tabitha serves as an example that faithfulness can lead to great miracles and much fruit, which in this case was other believers5 (Acts 9:42).
Reflections and Application
When others see us, will they see that we have spent time with Jesus? Will they be able to tell that we are faithful followers of Jesus? When they hear or see that we are sick, will they call others in the body of Christ to pray for us? Will the watching world see what Jesus is doing in us and choose to follow him as well?
Faithfulness is a rare quality. How can you/we be more faithful?
7 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened for you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. Matthew 7:7-8
Have you ever been so excited or stunned by something or someone that you reacted differently than expected? That appears to be how it was with Rhoda – today’s woman of the BIble. Did you even know there was a Rhoda in the Bible? – I remember the story of Peter coming to the door of the house unexpectedly, but I did not remember the “damsel,” as the KJV describes her, named Rhoda. Her reaction to Peter’s appearance made me laugh out loud, mostly because I could picture myself reacting the same way.
James is killed, and Peter is imprisoned
12 About that time King Herod laid hands on some from the church to harm them. 2 He had James, the brother of John, executed with a sword. 3 When he saw that this pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter too. (This took place during the feast of Unleavened Bread.) 4 When he had seized him, he put him in prison, handing him over to four squads of soldiers to guard him. Herod planned to bring him out for public trial after the Passover. 5 So Peter was kept in prison, but those in the church were earnestly praying to God for him.6 On that very night before Herod was going to bring him out for trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, while guards in front of the door were keeping watch over the prison. 7 Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared, and a light shone in the prison cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up, saying, “Get up quickly!” And the chains fell off Peter’s wrists. 8 The angel said to him, “Fasten your belt and put on your sandals.” Peter did so. Then the angel said to him, “Put on your cloak and follow me.” 9 Peter went out and followed him; he did not realize that what was happening through the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision. 10 After they had passed the first and second guards, they came to the iron gate leading into the city. It opened for them by itself, and they went outside and walked down one narrow street, when at once the angel left him. 11 When Peter came to himself, he said, “Now I know for certain that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from everything the Jewish people were expecting to happen.”
12 When Peter realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John Mark, where many people had gathered together and were praying.13 When he knocked at the door of the outer gate, a slave girl named Rhoda answered. 14 When she recognized Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed she did not open the gate, but ran back in and told them that Peter was standing at the gate.15 But they said to her, “You’ve lost your mind!” But she kept insisting that it was Peter, and they kept saying, “It is his angel!” 16 Now Peter continued knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were greatly astonished. 17 He motioned to them with his hand to be quiet and then related how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. He said, “Tell James and the brothers these things,” and then he left and went to another place.
Acts 12:1-17
Their answer to prayer was literally knocking on the door of the house.1
While I love Rhoda’s reaction, I appreciate even more that the very thing (person) they were praying for was knocking on the door of the house. Yet when they received her report, they thought she was crazy and declared that it must be his angel. However, when they heard the knocking, “they opened the door and were greatly astonished.“
Friends, while this might come across as a slapstick comedy at first, it is real. Peter was captured and awaiting a trial that would most likely result in his death. Prayer warriors were gathered together, praying for him – a prayer that, I imagine, most certainly would have included pleas for his protection and deliverance. Now, he stood knocking at the very door where they were praying. Yet when Rhoda, who recognized his voice, told them he was there, they could not believe it was true. I would dare say, most, if not all, of us may have reacted the same way. Much like Thomas2, they needed to see it to believe it. While this is, of course, human nature, it brought a surge of conviction/reminder to me that when we pray, we are to pray believing and expecting God to answer, we are to watch and wait expectantly, and not doubt. We are to remember His deeds from the past, from speaking the world into place, to parting the Red Sea, to the empty tomb … and all of His miraculous deeds, including the evidence of His hand in our own lives. May we continually stand amazed at the door – astonished – not because we didn’t believe He could do such a great thing, but because we are overwhelmed with the joy we receive when we see His great deeds and experience His response to our prayers.
Rhoda serves as an example of the gladness and joy that we can receive when the Lord answers our persistent prayers.3
Reflection and Application
What evidence of His hand have you seen in your own life?
The More We Know
She, Volume 3 [delighting in the examples of the women of the Bible], pp 57 and 58 ↩︎
Me From the Inside Out 