God is calling US to PRAY !

“if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” 2 Chronicles 7:14
“SO Peter was kept in prison, BUT earnest  prayer for him was made to God by the church. Acts 12:5
“You do not have, because you do not ask.” James 4:2

I read this tragic statement this week…”Faith is just a crutch. God is just for the weak minded, the losers, the ones who can’t survive, who can’t win themselves?”
You know I’ve got to the point that when I read or hear such utterly ridiculous words like those, I laugh, I laugh loud! As I was writing this, Lorraine, my wife shared a post on my Facebook, a quote of Phil Robertson via Mark Driscoll. The end of the quote says,
“Many have told me through the years: 'I think I'll take my chances without Jesus.' And I always come back and say, 'so what chance is that?'"
Faith for me is my absolute trust in Jesus Christ. It is based on His Power, Love and Ability to look after me through every situation in life and to finally take me home, to heaven, that where He is I will be too, FOREVER!
Faith isn’t easy, no one, certainly not Jesus, ever said it would be, His Word in John 16:33  “In the world you will have tribulation.”  BUT that’s not the end of the verse…” take heart; I have overcome the world.”
I know for some family and friends of mine these last few weeks have been dreadful to say the least..
I know that there is also around a general sense of despair and bewilderment abounding in the hearts and minds of so many..What is our world coming to, everything is falling apart and NO ONE seems to have the answer? This week in the UK voters went to the polls to elect their Local Government representatives and it seems no one is sure of who to believe any more..Well for those who say my faith is just a crutch what of politics and the politicians who we trust to fix things?
Jeremiah has a Word for those who put their trust in men, “Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who draws strength from mere flesh and whose heart turns away from the Lord. That person will be like a bush in the wastelands; they will not see prosperity when it comes. They will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives.” Jeremiah 17:5-6. Talk about prophetic!!!!


Whether we are enduring difficulties personally or if we are gazing upon our declining world desperately seeking assurance and answers I want to take you to a fantastic story in the Bible. You will find it in the Book of Acts Chapter 12.

The Chapter begins with a despotic King who is only in the place of power by manipulation and intrigue. The story of Herod Agrippa I is well known in history and would make a great storyline for any contemporary Jeffrey Archer Book! Herod has had one the Apostles executed, James one of the Sons of Thunder. Calculated to ingratiate himself with the Jews and to send fear into the infant church.One of their most vociferous men is dead and now Peter, one of their leaders is imprisoned and about to face the same fate! The Church it seems is impotent and powerless and amidst all this the time is Passover and their remembrance of the Crucifixion of Jesus heightens their anxiety.. As
R Kent Hughes goes on to say in his commentary on Acts. “Their apparent weakness was underlined by the fact that all they could do was pray (v. 5).”
Sometimes we feel the same way about situations we face — cancer in a loved one, growing unemployment, trying to turn a straying son or daughter back from disaster, overcoming the hurt of a loyal friend OR seeking to reverse the tides of evil in our land (terrorism, abortion, violence, open immorality, deceit).
Hughes continues. “Does anything look more ridiculous to oppressors than a ragtag, harried group of believers praying for God’s help in the midst of oppressive darkness? To those outside the family of God, this is terminal weakness……..What good would this effeminate praying do? A CRUTCH!!!!

BUT God’s people continued to pray — and rightly so! “The church was earnestly praying to God for him.” The word “earnestly” means “to stretch” or “to strain.” They were straining in prayer! — praying “with agony,” as G. Campbell Morgan says.
What fools they were, their opponents thought, to pray about the situation. After all, Herod’s power was irresistible. The axe had fallen once, and it would fall on the helpless neck of another of their leaders. Who were God’s people to dare to believe anyone or anything could help them now?

What follows is a story of the divine intervention of God, He sent an angel v7 and the miraculous release of Peter from Prison.. WHY because the Church prayed earnestly for HIM!!!
(Did they pray that way for James or maybe they didn’t pray at all.. Perhaps they thought God would never let that happen to a godly man like James? After all some people believe that bad things don’t happen to good people????)
Well Peter found himself out in the street a free man again and immediately went to the house where the Church has been praying earnestly for him, they will be expecting him won’t they???

Well what follows so funny yet so sad because the people who had spent all night really praying for Peter they got the shock of their lives when he actually put in an appearance at their prayer meeting!!! Wow! unbelievable don’t you think!! BUT before you get to critical just think, when was the last time you were surprised when GOD DIDN’T answer your prayers.. Let’s be honest have we not ALL been guilty of praying at times and NOT believing!!!

John Piper commenting on James 4:2 “You do not have, because you do not ask.”  Said this
“The verse does not mean the reverse, I.E. You will have it anyway even if you don’t ask! That means prayer causes things to happen, that wouldn’t happen if you did not pray. That is just a staggering, glorious privilege. To be taken by the Sovereign God of the Universe who runs ALL things according to His infinite wisdom and folded into His causality, breath-taking! If YOU do not avail yourself of the privilege of bringing to pass events in the Universe that would not take place if you did not pray. YOU are acting like a colossal fool! If YOU are offered the privilege of engaging with God in such a way and you do not……it is folly of the highest or lowest order”
Wow! staggering indeed.. My friends do you understand anything of this? Do you not realise that God has permitted things to come into your and our lives to get us back onto our knees to pray and to pray earnestly for your family, for you neighbours, for your church, for yourself, for your Government and yes for this World..
Going back to Acts Chapter 12. The King, Herod who had caused so much trouble for the Church presents himself to His people,  “On the appointed day Herod, wearing his royal robes, sat on his throne and delivered a public address to the people. They shouted, “This is the voice of a god, not of a man.” V21-22 AND THEN….”Immediately, because Herod did not give praise to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died.” V23
Don’t miss the irony of this probably the same angel that visited Peter in his cell but when he struck Peter it woke him out of his sleep but when he struck (same word) Herod he died!!!
“But the word of God continued to spread and flourish.” V24

My friends Faith is NOT a crutch, faith is the reality of God’s people understanding who they are in Christ AND appropriating through Christ the Power of God to change things. Overwhelming power was/is in the hands of people, like the ragtag bunch who prayed in Mary’s house, like the people who will be meeting and praying tomorrow in churches in every part of the World… In the midst of darkness and decay and decline God is calling His troubled Church to become His Triumphant Church and we will do this ONLY by getting on our knees..

“Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.” Psalm 50:15
And you will find this. “Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh. Is anything too hard for me? Jeremiah 32:27