“He (King Herod) had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword. When he saw that this met with approval among the Jews, he proceeded to seize Peter also. So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him. Acts 12:2-3,5 NIV
James was one of the two sons of Zebedee, who was told by Christ in Matthew 20:23 that he will, “indeed drink from my cup”. Though unknown to all what those words meant at that time, the words of Christ were made good in him, and thus James had finished his course. While Peter on the other hand, was designed for further services of the Lord.
Though the situation for Christian’s during this period of time was not great by any means, the church of this time is a great example for the church today. Not some of the church, not half of the church, and not most of the church was praying, but “the church” was earnestly praying. This implies the church as a whole was praying and they were praying earnestly. There was unity and they were praying with a sincere and intense conviction.
My prayer is for the church today to resemble the same unity and earnestness in prayer as this early church displayed in today’s chapter.
Lock Your Wings 
“When she recognized Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed that, instead of opening the door, she ran back inside and told everyone, “Peter is standing at the door!””
Acts of the Apostles 12:14 NLT
Excitement causes us to do things in the heat of the moment…often without thinking clearly. When we pray earnestly for something, if God were to answer our earnest prayers immediately we would likely react just as Rhoda did: shear and utter disbelief. We may even slam the door or down play the answer to prayer and others may not believe it either. May we pray believing that God WILL hear and answer us and May we be willing to receive the answer.
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