Wednesday, October 26 – Acts 12:11-16

When Peter came to himself, he said, “Now I know for sure that the Lord has sent forth His angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting.” And when he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John, who was also called Mark, where many were gathered together and were praying. When he knocked at the door of the gate, a slave woman named Rhoda came to answer. When she recognized Peter’s voice, because of her joy she did not open the gate, but ran in and announced that Peter was standing in front of the gate. They said to her, “You are out of your mind!” But she kept insisting that it was so. They said, “It is his angel.” But Peter continued knocking; and when they had opened the door, they saw him and were amazed.

As the church prayed for Peter, they were completely unaware of what was going on with him. Even without a stream of updates, they remained steadfast in prayer on his behalf. When they were confronted with the answer to their devoted prayers, they were amazed at what God had done. Many don’t have patience for the process of prayer. When we lose patience, we are the ones who miss out.

God will continue to do amazing things, but we may not have the eyes to recognize it’s Him. Some of us have been praying for something for a long time, waiting to see the desired results. Be encouraged today; God hears you when you call, and He is faithful and unchanging. We can commit to prayer because we can trust God with any outcome, not because we are set on a particular outcome. Even in this answered prayer for Peter, God worked differently than the church expected. Let’s be open so that the same is possible in our lives.

• When has God answered a prayer differently than you expected?
• How does your prayer change when you are trusting God no matter the outcome?
• Pray and talk to God about the answers to prayers that have confused you. Ask Him to help you build trust in Him.