Claude T. Stauffer :: The Spirit Acts and We Should Pray Constantly – Acts 12

The Spirit Acts

The Spirit Acts and We Should Pray Constantly – Acts 12

The Spirit of God using the word of God to make people of God and change the people of God into Spirit-empowered, effective, edifying, disciples of Jesus Christ.

Acts 12 begins with the fifth persecution of Christians thus far in Acts. During this persecution, Herod harasses the church and James, the brother of John (a son of Zebedee), is executed by Herod. When Herod sees that it is politically expedient for him to persecute Christians because it puts him in a favorable light with the Jews, he arrests Peter and throws him in prison too. This sets up a scenario where we will see the Spirit work in a miraculous way. Before we get to chapter 12, let’s review a bit the four previous persecutions.

The first persecution. The first persecution of the saints comes in Acts 4:1-22, after Peter and John are used by the Spirit to heal a man who had been lame from birth. As Peter and John are moved by the Spirit to use the situation to teach about Jesus’ resurrection and the church grows to about 5,000 (Acts 4:4), the religious Jewish leaders of the Sanhedrin oppose them and bring them before their assembly. There Peter declares that the only way a person can be saved from sin is through faith in Jesus (Acts 4:12). Peter and John are perceived by the religious leaders as uneducated, untrained, and only that they had been with Jesus. These religious leaders didn’t realize that Peter and John, in the Spirit, had Jesus with them (Acts 4:13). The Sanhedrin forbid them to preach Christ anymore, but Peter boldly responded by saying he must obey God rather than men (Acts 4:19-20). They were then released.

The second persecution. As the apostles were empowered by the Spirit to do more miracles and the ministry continues successfully in winning the lost, the high priest and Sadducees oppose the apostles in the second persecution and demand they stop their preaching (Acts 5:17-42). But again, Peter says he needed to obey God rather than men (Acts 5:29).

The third persecution. The third persecution is the result of the Spirit working through Stephen, who begins his ministry serving tables. Stephen does powerful signs and wonders among the people he was serving (Acts 6:9-7:60). He is brought before the Sanhedrin where he gives a powerful message in the Spirit and is ultimately stoned to death by the religious leaders.

The fourth persecution. The fourth persecution is a response to Stephen’s powerful message and spreads to the church as a whole (Acts 8:1-3; Acts 11:19-30). This persecution leads to a dispersion of the believers from Jerusalem to the surrounding lands where they continue to spread the gospel, showing how the Spirit even uses persecution to forward the gospel of Christ (cf. Acts 1:8).

Now, in Acts 12, Peter is arrested just after James, the brother of John, has been executed. The obvious expectation would be that Peter was going to meet a similar fate to that of James. What would the Spirit do? How would the believers react to the acts of the Spirit? Let’s see.

Herod’s Attack on the Church

• Acts 12:1-4 – ¹ “Now about that time Herod the king stretched out his hand to harass some from the church. ² Then he killed James the brother of John with the sword. ³ And because he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to seize Peter also. Now it was during the Days of Unleavened Bread. ⁴ So when he had arrested him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four squads of soldiers to keep him, intending to bring him before the people after Passover.”

The “time” mentioned here is probably in the early 40s A.D. based on the following:

The Herod mentioned here is Agrippa I, a ruler popular with the Jews for he was partly Jewish, being of Hasmonean descent. His kingdom covered basically the same area as that of his grandfather Herod the Great. He was known for doing everything possible to curry the favor of the Jews, so he found it politically expedient to arrest Christians and to execute James, the brother of John. Herod Agrippa I died in A.D. 44. His son, Herod Agrippa II, was king of Judea from A.D. 50-70. Paul was on trial before Agrippa II and his sister Bernice (Acts 25:13-26:32).¹⁴²

James, the brother of John, was executed by Herod I to please the Jews. Now Peter was also taken into custody and the believers must have feared that a similar fate awaited Peter. What did the disciples do?

Praying Constantly Through Persecution

• Acts 12:5 – “Peter was therefore kept in prison, but constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church.”

We have seen repeatedly in Acts that the disciples were people of prayer. Prayer is a declaration of dependence upon God. There was no way the disciples would get through such trying times on their own. Therefore, they reached outside themselves and called out to God in their predicament of persecution. That is always the best response in trying times, call out to God.

E. M. Bounds in his book The Possibilities of Prayer quotes John Wesley as saying:

You need not utterly despair even of those who for the present ‘turn again and rend you.’ For if all your arguments and persuasives fail, there is yet another remedy left, and one that is frequently found effectual, when no other method avails. This is prayer. Therefore, whatsoever you desire or want, either for others or for your own soul, ‘Ask, and it shall be given you.’¹⁴³

E. M. Bounds in his book the Purpose of Prayer quotes Chrysostom as saying:

The potency of prayer hath subdued the strength of fire; it had bridled the rage of lions, hushed anarchy to rest, extinguished wars, appeased the elements, expelled demons, burst the chains of death, expanded the gates of heaven, assuaged diseases, repelled frauds, rescued cities from destruction, stayed the sun in its course, and arrested the progress of the thunderbolt. Prayer is an all-efficient panoply, a treasure undiminished, a mine which is never exhausted, a sky unobscured by clouds, a heaven unruffled by the storm. It is the root, the fountain, the mother of a thousand blessings.¹⁴⁴

Prayer should be our first and fervent response in situations such as the one we see in Acts 12. But we should always be praying. Paul said, “Pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17). The prayer described in verse 5 is “constant.” What is “constant” prayer?

The Spirit Moves Believers to “Constant Prayer”

“Constant prayer.” The word “constant” in Acts 12:5 used to describe the kind of prayers being offered, is translated from the Greek term EKTENES (Strong’s #1618) which means, “intense, intent, without ceasing, fervent.”¹⁴⁵ This word can be further traced to the root word EKTEINO (Strong’s #1614) which is formed by adding the prefix EK to the word TEINO. EK means out of, or from within. TEINO means “to stretch; to extend…cast, put forth, stretch forth (out).” ¹⁴⁶ In other words the prayers offered by the church for Peter in this predicament were prayers that were intense and fervent. This prayer stretched them to their limits.

Pray with your heart. Sometimes, people can make prayer into a work in the sense that they feel God will answer prayer based on the work they put into it. This fails to grasp the heart of God who desires to answer our prayers (Luke 11:13). But sometimes people go to the other extreme and allow their prayers to be half-hearted, casual, and emotionless, wrongly thinking that emotional prayer is somehow spiritually superficial or a lack of faith in God’s grace. That is just as faulty a view of prayer. When we pray, we should always put our heart in the prayer. When we pray, we should never allow our words to be casual, neglectful, or presumptive. When we pray, we should pray with all our heart and that is the kind of prayer we see in Acts 12:5.

What kind of prayer is this? We need only to look to Jesus to see what kind of prayer it is. In Luke’s account of Jesus’ praying in Gethsemane, he was inspired to record:

• Luke 22:44 – “And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.”

Later in Hebrews, it says of Jesus praying, “who, in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His Godly fear” (Hebrews 5:7). Jesus prayed a lot. Jesus prayed with fire and passion. He modeled and taught prayer to His disciples. In Gethsemane He showed us the depth of prayer; “His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.” Jesus prayed with all His heart and we should too.

Again we quote E. M. Bounds to help us understand the intensity of constant prayer. Bounds wrote:

To say prayers in a decent, delicate way is not heavy work. But to pray really, to pray till hell feels the ponderous stroke, to pray till the iron gates of difficulty are opened, till the mountains of obstacles are removed, till the mists are exhaled and the clouds are lifted, and the sunshine of cloudless day brightens – this is hard work, but it is God’s work and man’s best labor.¹⁴⁷

God does the work, but in His sovereign plan, He requires we participate in His work through prayer requests that are fervent, intense, sincere, from our heart.

In another book by Bounds entitled The Necessity of Prayer Bounds writes about fervency in prayer saying:

Prayers must be red hot. It is the fervent prayer that is effectual and availeth. Coldness of spirit hinders praying; prayer cannot live in a wintry atmosphere. Chilly surroundings freeze out petitioning; and dry up the springs of supplication. It takes fire to make prayers go. Warmth of soul creates an atmosphere favorable to prayer, because it is favorable to fervency. By flame, prayer ascends to heaven. Yet fire is not fuss, nor heat, noise. Heat is intensity – something that glows and burns. Heaven is a mighty poor market for ice… The Holy Spirit comes as a fire, to dwell in us;…Our Lord warns us against feeble praying. ‘Men ought always to pray,’ He declares, ‘and not to faint.’ That means we are to possess sufficient fervency to carry us through the severe and long periods of pleading prayer. Fire makes one alert and vigilant, and brings him off more than a conqueror.…Fervency has its seat in the heart, not in the brain, nor in the intellectual faculties of the mind… It is not in our power, perhaps, to create fervency of spirit at will, but we can pray God to implant it.¹⁴⁸

That God will grant such intensity and fervency to us if we ask Him is seen in the example of Epaphras.

Agonizing in prayer. In Paul’s letter to the Colossians, he mentions Epaphras who was a prayer warrior. Paul described Epaphras’ prayers like this:

• Colossians 4:12 – “Epaphras, who is one of you, a bondservant of Christ, greets you, always laboring fervently for you in prayers, that you may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.”

The word translated “fervently” here comes from the Greek term AGONIDZOMAI (Strong’s #75) and has the meaning of, “to agonize, to struggle,…to compete for a prize…to contend with an adversary,…to endeavor, to accomplish something…fight, labor fervently, strive.”¹⁴⁹ The same idea is present here, prayer needs to be from the heart and sometimes prayer involves a great struggle and agony in our heart reaching for and stretching out our hand to God for answers and help.

We need to call out to God and ask Him to fire up our prayers, to put a fire in our hearts for that which we come to Him about in prayer. If we lack that fire, we should ask Him and if we still have trouble lighting up, we should seek help from fellow believers.

Striving together in prayer. Paul wrote the Romans and said:

• Romans 15:30 – “Now I beg you, brethren, through the Lord Jesus Christ, and through the love of the Spirit, that you strive together with me in prayers to God for me,”

The word “strive” here is a derivative of AGONIDZOMAI and is SUNAONIDZOMAI. SUNAIONIDZOMAI (Strong’s #4865) means, “to struggle in company with,…strive together with.”¹⁵⁰ God often helps us acquire the fire of fervency in prayer, by bringing us together with other believers and praying for the fire and for the purpose for which we are praying. That is what we see in Acts 12; we see the Church coming together to pray intensely, fervently for the situation with Peter. When the Church prays with fire and fervency, the Spirit acts.

The Spirit Acts in an Awesome Answer to Prayer

• Acts 12:6-11 – ⁶ “And when Herod was about to bring him out, that night Peter was sleeping, bound with two chains between two soldiers; and the guards before the door were keeping the prison. ⁷ Now behold, an angel of the Lord stood by him, and a light shone in the prison; and he struck Peter on the side and raised him up, saying, “Arise quickly!” And his chains fell off his hands. ⁸ Then the angel said to him, “Gird yourself and tie on your sandals”; and so he did. And he said to him, “Put on your garment and follow me.” ⁹ So he went out and followed him, and did not know that what was done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision. ¹⁰ When they were past the first and the second guard posts, they came to the iron gate that leads to the city, which opened to them of its own accord; and they went out and went down one street, and immediately the angel departed from him. ¹¹ And when Peter had come to himself, he said, “Now I know for certain that the Lord has sent His angel, and has delivered me from the hand of Herod and from all the expectation of the Jewish people.”

Herod was about to bring Peter out, most likely to execute him as he had James (Acts 12:6). It was at this point that Peter was delivered by angelic intervention (Acts 12:7-11). Interestingly, Peter did not appear to be too worried about his plight, he was asleep and had to be wakened by the angel (Acts 12:7). So deep in sleep was Peter that the angel had to actually strike Peter to wake him up. Peter’s deep sleep reveals that he totally trusted in the Lord.

Looking at this account, we see God’s answer to prayer involved the following:

1. Perfect timing by the Lord to make a way for Peter’s escape just before he was brought to Herod (for execution?) – Acts 12:6
2. Peter was peacefully asleep though in great peril, e.g., bound with chains, between two soldiers, guards at the doors, on Herod’s target list – Acts 12:6. Such peace comes from God (Philippians 4:6-7).
3. God answered their prayers by way of an angel – Acts 12:7.
4. The angel had to wake Peter up – Acts 12:7. Sometimes God has to wake us up, so we can walk in the answers to His prayer.
5. The angel instructed Peter to get dressed and ready to go – Acts 12:8. God has to instruct us to get ready to go sometimes.
6. God gave Peter faith to follow the angel and His plan of escape – Acts 12:9
7. God (through the angel) can open prison doors – Acts 12:10
8. God can answer our prayers and work even when we are sleep-walking, or even when we are not fully aware of what He is doing – Acts 12:11.

Peter was at peace throughout this entire ordeal. The prayers of the saints on his behalf can be credited in part for such peace. Paul experienced a similar sense of peace and security during trials. To quote a verse from Peter’s friend Paul:

• Philippians 1:19-26 – ¹⁹ “For I know that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayer and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, ²⁰ according to my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death. ²¹ For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. ²² But if I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruit from my labor; yet what I shall choose I cannot tell. ²³ For I am hard pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. ²⁴ Nevertheless to remain in the flesh is more needful for you. ²⁵ And being confident of this, I know that I shall remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy of faith, ²⁶ that your rejoicing for me may be more abundant in Jesus Christ by my coming to you again.”

That same attitude seems to have been the attitude of all those whose lives were on the line for the Lord. We can look at Stephen, Paul, Peter, and we can be sure that James, who actually was executed, all had this comforting and trusting attitude in the Lord. Their sense of the reality of heaven and the Lord made them unshakable in life-threatening situations.

This deliverance of Peter by way of an angel was awesome, so much so that Peter didn’t believe it at first, thinking it to be a dream. But once outside the prison, Peter knew for sure that he had been delivered.

The Spirit Acts But Are We Ready and Alert to His Acts?

• Acts 12:11-17 – ¹¹ “And when Peter had come to himself, he said, “Now I know for certain that the Lord has sent His angel, and has delivered me from the hand of Herod and from all the expectation of the Jewish people.” ¹² So, when he had considered this, he came to the house of Mary, the mother of John whose surname was Mark, where many were gathered together praying. ¹³ And as Peter knocked at the door of the gate, a girl named Rhoda came to answer. ¹⁴ When she recognized Peter’s voice, because of her gladness she did not open the gate, but ran in and announced that Peter stood before the gate. ¹⁵ But they said to her, “You are beside yourself!” Yet she kept insisting that it was so. So they said, “It is his angel.” ¹⁶ Now Peter continued knocking; and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished. ¹⁷ But motioning to them with his hand to keep silent, he declared to them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he said, “Go, tell these things to James and to the brethren.” And he departed and went to another place.

They prayed with no expectation of an answer. The Church prayed with great constancy and fervor. The Spirit acted in an awesome way. But what is very interesting here is that no one was ready for the awesome angelic answer! Peter didn’t know it was true at first (Acts 12:11). When he came to the house “where many were gathered together praying” for his deliverance from prison and Herod, the Church was not ready for the Spirit’s awesome angelic answer. The Church people said to Rhoda, “You are besides yourself!” (Acts 12:15). They all prayed and were praying, but none of them, not Peter, not Rhoda, not the church, were expecting this miraculous answer to their prayers. We need to learn to expect God to answer our prayers.

This is not an uncommon response of people to the awesome work of God. Abraham questioned how he would inherit the Promised Land (Genesis 15:8). Gideon requested a fleece to confirm God’s plan (Judges 6:17). John the Baptist questioned the identity of Jesus (Matthew 11:3). Martha doubted Jesus could raise Lazarus from the dead (John 11:39). The disciples doubted Jesus’ resurrection (Matthew 28:17; John 20:25). We so often have difficulty accepting the awesome work of the Spirit of God. Why is that? We are often caught off guard by God’s awesome acts because we do not look at things through a heavenly perspective. We need to see things with spiritual insight.

Spiritual Insight

To be ready and grasp the things of the Spirit, we need to live with spiritual insight. We need to walk in the Spirit. Paul put it like this, as the Spirit inspired him to write:

• 1 Corinthians 2:9-14 – ⁹ “But as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” ¹⁰ But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. ¹¹ For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. ¹² Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. ¹³ These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. ¹⁴ But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”

God has put the Holy Spirit within those who have received Jesus as their Lord and Savior, and it is the Holy Spirit who gives spiritual insight and understanding (John 14:26; John 15:26). It is the Holy Spirit which gives spiritual perception and discernment. It is the Spirit who helps us to be ready and to receive the awesome actions of the Spirit in and through us. This is what it means to “walk in the Spirit” (Galatians 5:16, 25). This is what it means to “walk in the light as He is in the light” (1 John 1:7). The Spirit has breathed God’s revelation to us in the word of God, which is a lamp and a light to our path (Psalm 119:105). When we see the evidence of the awesome Acts of the Spirit in God’s word (such as in Acts 12), it should cultivate in us an expectation and readiness to see and receive the works of the Spirit. We will see an example of this later in Acts 14:9, when Paul was able to discern the state of a man in need of healing. That was spiritual insight given by the Holy Spirit to Paul. The Spirit is at work. Are we open or attentive enough to see and acknowledge His work? If we are not, we are missing out on a great blessing and a great bolstering of our faith by the reality of the acts of the Spirit before us.

Spiritual Alertness

The above passage ends with Peter saying, “Go, tell these things to James and to the brethren.” (Acts 12:17). The James referred to in verse 17 is of course another James than the one beheaded earlier in the chapter (Acts 12:2). The James mentioned by Peter was the half-brother of Jesus (Galatians 1:19).

But don’t miss the purpose of the Spirit moving Peter to have others informed about what had happened. It is as though Peter was moved by the Spirit to say this, to point out that the Spirit was at work. They should and needed to expect such awesome works to occur. Are we expecting great things from God? Are you expecting God to act in answer to your prayers?

Why Aren’t We Inclined to be Prayerfully Watchful?

Why aren’t we inclined to be prayerfully watchful? In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus told the disciples:

• Matthew 26:41 – “Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” (Mark 14:38)

These are verses we need to take to heart. Our flesh or natural senses are willing but weak. That is why we need to “Watch and pray.” Jesus often exhorted the disciples to watch, to be alert to what was going on around them. The problem is that there are many things that tempt us away from prayerfully watching in the Spirit. Sleep, hobbies, sports, people of the opposite sex, jobs, business, busyness, even good things like family and friends and, yes, even ministry, can all keep us from being prayerfully watchful.

Beware the lazy flesh. Jesus would not have exhorted the disciples frequently to watch unless their inclination was not to watch. Jesus emphasized to His disciples that it was very important to watch, to be spiritually alert. The problem is that in our flesh we cannot be prayerfully watchful, we’ll just fall asleep. In our flesh is no good thing (Romans 7:18). In our flesh we are weak; we just don’t have the capacity, we just don’t’ have what it takes; we don’t have the enduring energy to stay awake and be prayerfully alert. We need the Spirit to help us!

Jesus Exhorts Us to be Prayerfully Watchful – It’s Important!

Be awake in the Spirit. In the Garden of Gethsemane, the sleepy disciples were in danger of missing one of the most poignantly profound experiences of our Lord Jesus (cf. Hebrews 5:7). Apparently, they woke up just enough to see and then later share in inspired writing the deep agonizing prayers of Jesus. But how many times do we miss what the Spirit wants to do because we sleep an opportunity away? There is a time to sleep. But there is also a time to be alert in the Spirit. We need the Spirit to help us be on the alert when He is working.

Be awake in the End Times. Jesus repeatedly exhorted the disciples to be prayerfully watchful. Jesus would not have repeatedly exhorted disciples to be prayerfully watchful unless it was important. Below are a few to take note of:

• Matthew 24:42 – “Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming.”
• Matthew 25:13 – “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.”
• Mark 13:32-37 – ³² “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. ³³ “Take heed, watch and pray; for you do not know when the time is. ³⁴ “It is like a man going to a far country, who left his house and gave authority to his servants, and to each his work, and commanded the doorkeeper to watch. ³⁵ “Watch therefore, for you do not know when the master of the house is coming—in the evening, at midnight, at the crowing of the rooster, or in the morning— ³⁶ “lest, coming suddenly, he find you sleeping. ³⁷ “And what I say to you, I say to all: Watch!”

Jesus is coming back! We need to watch prayerfully for His return. Now when He returns, we will see Him clearly, but while we are waiting for His return, we need to live in a state of prayerful watchfulness, alertness to the acts of the Spirit in and through us, around us.

What Does It Mean to be Prayerfully Watchful?

Jesus said, “Take heed, watch and pray” (Mark 13:33). The apostle Paul was moved by the Spirit to exhort us in the following ways:

• 1 Corinthians 16:13 – “Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong.”

Watch. The word “watch” here is translated from the Greek term GREGOREUO (Strong’s #1127) which means, “to keep awake, i.e., watch… be vigilant, be awake, be watchful.”¹⁵¹ Furthermore, the meaning of this word is emphasized by its grammatical form which conveys the idea of a constant active essential and imperative action (Present/Active/Imperative). The context of Paul’s letters to the Corinthians implies watchfulness to spiritual enemies, those who, through carnal and fleshly ways, would derail your walk with the Lord. Therefore, it is essential and imperative to be on constant watch against those things that would deter or distract you from your prayerful watchfulness of the Lord.

Stand fast. The words “stand fast” are translated from one Greek term, STEKO (Strong’s #4739) meaning, “to be stationary,…to persevere…stand (fast), immovable in the face of opposition.”¹⁵² The grammatical form of this word (Present/Active/Imperative) also conveys the ongoing, consistent absolutely essential nature of its use here by Paul. We need to stand fast, not moved by attacks of the enemy or distractions and disruptions in our lives. You must stand fast “in the faith.” Don’t let yourself be moved, distracted or disrupted in your prayerful watchfulness.

Be brave. The words “be brave” come from the Greek term ANDRIDZOMAI (Strong’s #407) which literally means, “to act manly…be brave in the face of opposition. [KJV].”¹⁵³ This may sound sexist to some, but the idea is to “be a man” or be in the nature of what a man is thought to be as a brave protector who does not shrink back from those who would attack and oppose. The form of this term also conveys that essential and imperative constancy of being (Present/Middle or Passive Deponent/Imperative). Therefore, we should never shrink back or cower cowardly when opposed in our faith.

Be strong. Lastly, Paul is inspired to say, “be strong” which is derived from the Greek term KRATAIOO (Strong’s #2901) which means, “to be empowered,…increase in vigor…be strengthened, be…be strong.”¹⁵⁴ The form of this term is different from the forms of the previous words (Present/Passive/Imperative) implying an ongoing and constant action that is not done by the person but to the person by another. The idea is to be constantly empowered by the Lord. It is essential that in all our watchfulness that we do not attempt it in our own strength, but in the strength of the Lord. More on this below.

To be prayerfully watchful, therefore, means understanding the essential and imperative necessity to stand strong in faith, it means having an up-to-date faith and relationship with the Lord. It means being brave in the Lord, bold in the Lord, ready to be used by Him. It means being strong in your walk with the Lord; prayed up; read up and studied up in the word of God;l and taking your place among the ranks of the army of the Lord. It means not falling asleep on your watch, but keeping an eye out for opportunities to be used by the Lord and keeping an eye out for enemy attacks. It means relying on and being empowered by Another to do all this. That is what prayerful watchfulness is. But where do we get the power to be all this?

How Can We Be Prayerfully Watchful?

The apostle Paul was inspired to write to the Ephesians:

• Ephesians 5:15-18 – ¹⁵ “See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, ¹⁶ redeeming the time, because the days are evil. ¹⁷ Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. ¹⁸ And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit,”

Have your head on a swivel. To walk “circumspectly” is to walk in awareness of your surroundings. Have your head on a swivel. Be aware of your surroundings. It’s as though Paul is warning someone who is walking through a dark alley in a bad neighborhood at night and tells them, “Hey, watch yourself, there may be robbers lurking in the dark, be alert and keep your eyes open.” How can we do this? How can we be prayerfully alert?

Understand God’s will. Paul says we should understand God’s will. We should follow and live by God’s will as it is revealed in His word (John 17:17; Romans 12:1-2).

Don’t dull your senses. We should “not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit,…” We should not allow our senses to be dulled in any way by the things of this world, no matter how enticing they are. Instead, we should be continually filled with the Spirit and walk in Him.

Be continually filled with the Spirit. Do you want to be prayerfully alert to the workings of the Holy Spirit in your life? Do you want to make sure you don’t miss out on any Spirit-provided opportunities or the blessings of the Spirit working in and through you? Then walk in the Spirit. Be so filled to overflowing with the Spirit, so engulfed in Him that you have an ear to hear what He says each moment of every day (see Revelation 2:7, 11, 17, 29; Revelation 3:6, 13, 22).

The only way we can stay awake and be prayerfully watchful, is in the Spirit. Only by the enabling power of the Spirit can we be ready to go and alert to all He plans to do in and through us. This begins with experiencing a spiritual birth. We need to be born again and indwelled with the Spirit (John 3:3, 5; John 4:13-14; John 14:6-7; Romans 8:9, 29; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20). We need to be empowered by the baptism with the Holy Spirit (John 7:37-39; Acts 1:8; 2). And we need to daily and regularly be refilled and refreshed by the Spirit (Acts 4:31; Ephesians 5:18). We need the fullness of the Spirit so we can be consistently and persistently prayerfully watchful in the Spirit. All we need to do to have the power to be prayerfully watchful is to ask the Lord for the power of the Spirit, and He will give it (Luke 11:13).

That is what it means to be prayerfully watchful and how to do it, but why should we be prayerfully watchful?

Why Be Prayerfully Watchful?

Why should we care to be prayerfully watchful? Well, besides the fact that Jesus our Lord commanded us to be prayerfully watchful, there is another benefit. There is an incredible statement by Jesus in Luke’s gospel where He says:

• Luke 12:35-40 – ³⁵ “Let your waist be girded and your lamps burning; ³⁶ “and you yourselves be like men who wait for their master, when he will return from the wedding, that when he comes and knocks they may open to him immediately. ³⁷ “Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, will find watching. Assuredly, I say to you that he will gird himself and have them sit down to eat, and will come and serve them. ³⁸ “And if he should come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants. ³⁹ “But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. ⁴⁰ “Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”

Jesus actually says that when He comes for us, those He finds watching for Him, He “will gird himself and have them sit down to eat, and will come and serve them.” Jesus the King of kings and Lord of lords will actually gird Himself and wait on us! That is because we are His precious bride, and He will tenderly care for us when He comes for us (i.e., at the Rapture when He comes to take us to heaven and have the marriage supper of the Lamb with us).

God’s Answers to Prayer

God is able to work in spite of us. We need to take note of one other thing in Acts 12. Notice, God’s answer to prayer was not dependent on their expecting an answer or even believing God would answer or deliver Peter. While we should be alert to the acts of the Spirit, our dullness and oftentimes blindness to the hand of God does not deter His work, it merely keeps us from experiencing the blessing of God ourselves. The grace of God means God blesses us based on His nature, not ours (Romans 2:4; Romans 5:8). Therefore, even though we are asleep at times, God’s work continues. We may miss it, but it goes on, and we reap the benefits, like Peter, Rhoda, and the Church. God is able to work in spite of us.

Why was James Beheaded and Peter Saved?

You might ask, “Why did God intervene on behalf of Peter and not on behalf of James?” Certainly it is likely and safe to believe that constant prayer was offered to God on behalf of James too.

But God did not spare James. Perhaps that is why Peter, Rhoda, and those of the Church were so surprised that Peter was delivered. As to why Peter was spared and James was not, only God knows that answer to that question. God in His sovereign will number our days (Job 14:5; Psalm 139:16). Apparently, it was simply God’s time for James to go home with Him. James’ work for the Lord was completed and God took Him home. Peter, on the other hand, was apparently not yet done and so God preserved Him. God numbers our days. We should live for Him every day, because every day is a gift of His grace. And we should leave our days, and the days of others, in God’s sovereign hands. Our life and all life is in God’s hands.

The Spirit Acts Against Herod

• Acts 12:18-25 – ¹⁸ “Then, as soon as it was day, there was no small stir among the soldiers about what had become of Peter. ¹⁹ But when Herod had searched for him and not found him, he examined the guards and commanded that they should be put to death. And he went down from Judea to Caesarea, and stayed there. ²⁰ Now Herod had been very angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon; but they came to him with one accord, and having made Blastus the king’s personal aide their friend, they asked for peace, because their country was supplied with food by the king’s country. ²¹ So on a set day Herod, arrayed in royal apparel, sat on his throne and gave an oration to them. ²² And the people kept shouting, “The voice of a God and not of a man!” ²³ Then immediately an angel of the Lord struck him, because he did not give glory to God. And he was eaten by worms and died. ²⁴ But the word of God grew and multiplied. ²⁵ And Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem when they had fulfilled their ministry, and they also took with them John whose surname was Mark.”

The Spiritless have only worms and death to look forward to. Why the inclusion of the death of Herod here in Acts? Besides providing historical information on the demise of the opponents of the gospel, I believe this account of Herod’s death is here to show the darkness of the natural man (1 Corinthians 2:14). The natural man is the Spirit-less man. The spiritless are people who live in sin seeking to exalt themselves in the place of God (Acts 12:21-22; compare Genesis 3:5). The natural man or woman is the person who attempts to rule their own lives and refuses to recognize or submit to the rule of God in their lives (that is sin). The natural man has no awareness of the presence of God or the work of the Spirit and really does not care to know about it. The Spirit attempts to awaken them to their sinfulness and need, but they refuse (John 3:18; John 5:24, 44-45; John 12:47-48; John 16:8-11. They refuse to recognize that the good things they have are all from God and meant to lead them to acknowledge God and their sin and repent (Romans 2:4; James 1:17). The consequence of such sin is “worms” and death. Jesus said:

• Mark 9:43-47 – ⁴³ “If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed, rather than having two hands, to go to hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched— ⁴⁴ “where ‘Their worm does not die, And the fire is not quenched.’ ⁴⁵ “And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame, rather than having two feet, to be cast into hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched— ⁴⁶ “where ‘Their worm does not die, And the fire is not quenched.’ ⁴⁷ “And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire”

Jesus quotes Isaiah 66:24 three times here to convey the nature of hell. Hell is an eternal, fiery, painful place (Mark 9:43, 45). Hell is a place of rotting, a place where there is no life, just death, eternal death. This death does not imply annihilation (as the cult doctrine of the Jehovah’s Witnesses teach). There are no second chances after one dies, no purgatory (as per Roman Catholicism). Hell, according to Jesus, is described as a state of deadness in contrast to the eternal life and fruitfulness of heaven. That is what awaits those who persist in their proud sinfulness, refusing to give glory to God. Life in the Spirit or rotting eternal death, that is the choice here.

The Spirit deals with enemies of the gospel. We also see in these verses that the Spirit has a way of dealing and, if necessary, eliminating those who oppose His work. The word of God will multiply. Of Herod’s death one commentator writes:

At this point Luke’s account is paralleled by an extrabiblical account which provided confirmation of the accuracy and validity of Acts. Josephus (Antiquities xix.8.2) records that on the birthday of the emperor (upon a set day), Agrippa held a large festival in which he donned a robe made of silver throughout. As he entered the theater of Caesarea at daybreak, the silver glittered in the morning sunlight and was so resplendent that all who looked upon it were immediately enamored with the king. Luke records that the people gave a shout, saying, it is the voice of a God and not of a man. Josephus says the cry invoked by the crowd was, “Be gracious unto us! Hitherto we have reverenced thee as a man, but henceforth we acknowledge thee to be of more than mortal nature.” Agrippa relished and reveled in the plaudits that had been thrown his way. He was claimed to be a God; and he did not deny the claim. Therefore, the Lord smote him, because he gave not God the glory. Herod’s receiving the praise due only to Jehovah, and his subsequent death, are not without precedent. But his own particular species of blasphemy is recorded by Luke to be the single cause of his death.¹⁵⁵

God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble (1 Peter 5:6). In Herod, we see the literal fulfillment of the verse that says, “Pride goes before destruction” (Proverbs 16:18). The Church relying on the word of God grew and multiplied (Acts 12:24). The growth of the church is the fruit of their humility before God and the Holy Spirit.

Conclusion

I received this story from a fellow pastor regarding a missionary experience and I thought I’d pass it on to you in closing.

A missionary on furlough told this true story while visiting his home church in Michigan:

“While serving at a small field hospital in Africa, every two weeks I traveled by bicycle through the jungle to a nearby city for supplies. This was a journey of two days and required camping overnight at the halfway point. On one of these journeys, I arrived in the city where I planned to collect money from a bank, purchase medicine and supplies, and then begin my two-day journey back to the field hospital. Upon arrival in the city, I observed two men fighting, one of whom had been seriously injured. I treated him for his injuries and at the same time witnessed to him of Jesus Christ. I then traveled two days, camping overnight, and arrived home without incident.

Two weeks later I repeated my journey. Upon arriving in the city, I was approached by the young man I had treated. He told me that he had known I carried money and medicines, He said, ‘Some friends and I followed you into the jungle, knowing you would camp overnight. We planned to kill you and take your money and drugs. But just as we were about to move into your camp, we saw that you were surrounded by 26 armed guards.’ At this I laughed and said that I was certainly all alone at that jungle campsite.

The young man pressed the point, however, and said, ‘No sir, I was not the only person to see the guards. My five friends also saw them, and we all counted them. It was because of those guards that we were afraid and left you alone.’

At this point in the sermon, one of the men in the congregation jumped to his feet and interrupted the missionary and asked if he could tell him the exact day this happened. The missionary told the congregation the day and the man who interrupted told him this story:

“On the night of your incident in Africa, it was morning here and I was preparing to go play golf. I was about to putt when I felt the urge to pray for you. In fact, the urging of the Lord was so strong; I called men in this church to meet with me here in the sanctuary to pray for you. Would all of those men who met with on that day stand up?” The men who had met together to pray that day stood up. The missionary wasn't concerned with who they were-he was too busy counting how many men he saw. There were 26.

This story is an incredible example of how the Spirit of the Lord moves in mysterious ways. The above true story clearly illustrates, “with God all timings are possible” and more importantly, how God hears and answers the prayers of the faithful. After you read this, please pause and give God thanks for the beautiful gift of your faith, for the powerful gift of prayer, and for the many miracles He works in your own life daily…and then pass it on.

“For the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” We have a lot to thank God for, and so, I’m passing this account on to you. Give glory and thanks to Him.

How about you? Are you more alert to and interested in making a five-foot putt than hearing the Spirit’s call to you? Are you more alert to and interested in getting to the next hole than being moved by the Spirit to the next divine appointment? Are you more alert to and interest in hitting the green right or in the Spirit using you to fit into His plan? For you, the distraction may not be golf, it may be another sport, or a Mall, or TV shopping network channel. Whatever it is, I exhort and encourage you to be constant in prayer. God bless you and may your prayers be red hot!

142 John F. Walvoord, and Roy B. Zuck, The Bible Knowledge Commentary, (Wheaton, Illinois: Scripture Press Publications, Inc.) 1983, 1985.

143 E. M. Bounds, The Possibilities of Prayer (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House) 1979 edition of 1923 issue of book. Page 16.

144 E. M. Bounds, Purpose in Prayer (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House) 1978 edition of book originally published in 1920, Page 32

145 James Strong, New Strong’s Dictionary of Hebrew and Greek Words [computer file], electronic ed., Logos Library System, (Nashville: Thomas Nelson) 1997, ©1996.

146 James Strong, New Strong’s Dictionary of Hebrew and Greek Words [computer file], electronic ed., Logos Library System, (Nashville: Thomas Nelson) 1997, ©1996.

147 E. M. Bounds, Purpose in Prayer (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House) 1978 edition of book originally published in 1920, Page 95

148 E. M. Bounds, The Necessity of Prayer (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House) 1981. Pages 56, 58, 59

149 James Strong, New Strong’s Dictionary of Hebrew and Greek Words [computer file], electronic ed., Logos Library System, (Nashville: Thomas Nelson) 1997, ©1996.

150 James Strong, New Strong’s Dictionary of Hebrew and Greek Words [computer file], electronic ed., Logos Library System, (Nashville: Thomas Nelson) 1997, ©1996.

151 James Strong, New Strong’s Dictionary of Hebrew and Greek Words [computer file], electronic ed., Logos Library System, (Nashville: Thomas Nelson) 1997, ©1996.

152 James Strong, New Strong’s Dictionary of Hebrew and Greek Words [computer file], electronic ed., Logos Library System, (Nashville: Thomas Nelson) 1997, ©1996.

153 James Strong, New Strong’s Dictionary of Hebrew and Greek Words [computer file], electronic ed., Logos Library System, (Nashville: Thomas Nelson) 1997, ©1996.

154 James Strong, New Strong’s Dictionary of Hebrew and Greek Words [computer file], electronic ed., Logos Library System, (Nashville: Thomas Nelson) 1997, ©1996.

155 Jerry Falwell, executive editor; Edward E. Hinson and Michael Kroll Woodrow, general editors, KJV Bible Commentary [computer file], electronic ed., Logos Library System, (Nashville: Thomas Nelson) 1997, ©1994.