Spend time in prayer and silence with God, asking Him to meet with you and speak to you.
Bible Reading
It was about this time King Herod arrested some who belonged to the Church, intending to persecute them. He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword. When he saw that this pleased the Jews, he proceeded to seize Peter also. This happened during the feast of Unleavened Bread. After arresting him, he put him in prison, handing him over to be guarded by four squads of four soldiers each. Herod intended to bring him out for public trial after the Passover. So Peter was kept in prison, but the Church was earnestly praying to God for him. The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries stood guard at the entrance. Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared, and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up. “Quick, get up!” he said, and the chains fell off Peter’s wrists. Then the angel said to him, “Put on your clothes and sandals.” And Peter did so. “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me,” the angel told him. Peter followed him out of the prison, but he had no idea that what the angel was doing was really happening; he thought he was seeing a vision. They passed the first and second guards and came to the iron gate leading to the city. It opened for them by itself, and they went through it. When they had walked the length of one street, suddenly the angel left him. Then Peter came to himself and said, “Now I know without a doubt the Lord sent His angel and rescued me from Herod’s clutches and from everything the Jewish people were anticipating.”
– Acts 12:1-11
Devotion
Persecution intensified greatly back in Jerusalem. James, the brother of John, was killed. God had a different plan for Peter. Luke makes a point to let the readers know that “the church was earnestly praying to God” for Peter. James the brother of our Lord wrote, “The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.” When the persecution was tough, the church got serious about prayer. In the end, Peter was saved from the clutches of Herod and the Jewish people. Peter then acknowledges that it was the Lord who rescued him.
The Big Question
We often turn to prayer when we are at the end of our rope or when things get serious. Why is prayer the last resort instead of the first thing we turn to? What is it about the human condition that we must be in crisis before we turn to God? What about you? Is prayer an ongoing transparent dialogue with God or is it the last thing we turn to in desperation? What are you talking to God about?
Conclude your time in prayer and silence, reflecting on what God revealed to you today.