The Power of Prayer

Hey everyone, this is Josh from Encounter Church

Henley and thanks so much for tuning into our

podcast. Our prayer is that through this podcast,

you can have an encounter with Jesus that will

change your life. And now get ready for an inspiring

message from our preaching team. All right. Beautiful

hills, cold summer's morning, tractor. It's my

job to drive this. Basically, it's a tractor

with a big trailer on the back that catches the

grain that's picked up from the header. Now,

if you don't know what a header is, it's this

guy. Now. I was near the entrance to a particular

paddock that we would be harvesting, and I was

getting myself situated in the tractor, getting

all comfy, seatbelt on, systems going, and then

I heard a call from my uncle on the UHF, which

is like a walkie -talkie thing, and he was asking

me to come over to the header because he was

ready to offload the grain that he had collected.

Now, while I've driven a tractor or two in my

time, I was not so used to driving them in paddocks

with hills. I grew up on the Wakefield Plains,

so you would assume flat. Well, think again.

I didn't think too much of this particular hill,

which was my first mistake, and I send it straight

up what I thought was a moderate hill, maybe

more like a mound. But on my way up, the tractor

started to slow down. It didn't sound so hot

and then started to roll backwards. I'd never

been in this situation, so I slammed on the brakes,

and because a tractor is heavy, I had to stand

up with my full weight on the brakes to keep

it manually in limbo from the top and the bottom

of this hill. Going backwards isn't great for

a tractor, and even less so for someone who doesn't

know how to go backwards without breaking something.

I was properly stuck. Not just a little bit stuck,

I was properly stuck. I couldn't bear the shame

of using the UHF to call for help from my uncle

since with how those work, all of the farmers

in nearby paddocks would also hear me calling

for help. So I called my friends who was working

in another paddock nearby. They jumped in the

tractor and got us safely down the bottom. Being

stuck ain't so hot. In that moment, I pretended

I wasn't stuck. I sounded so very calm when I

called my friend. But really, I was stuck. I

couldn't press the brakes down for much longer

and was desperately waiting for them to come

in, do their pharma magic and get us safe. We

like to think that we're strong. We like to think

that we could never really be that stuck. But

in reality, sometimes stuff happens and we find

ourselves exactly where we don't want to be.

Our Western culture insulates us from our stuckness

and keeps us at an arm's distance from anything

that could really hurt us or suggest anything

other than invincible. We like this. It feels

really good to be self -sufficient, to want for

nothing, but really, it's a facade. Rarely are

we reminded of our humanness and of our weakness.

But when we are, we recognize that our need is

far greater than our strength. In Acts 12, we

find Peter properly stuck. Personally, I read

these stories and I forget sometimes that if

I was in the same situation as Peter, it wouldn't

just be a cool story with a meaningful ending.

I'd actually be stuck. It would not be good.

Being in prison is not a good place to be. But

how did he get there and why? This passage is

in the book of the Acts of the Apostles which

comes right after a gospel accounts of the life,

death and resurrection of Jesus. Now those who

have gone to an Easter service or two in their

time would know that Jesus was persecuted by

the high Jewish religious officials, the Pharisees,

and sentenced to death on the cross. He hadn't

committed a crime, but simply the Pharisees wanted

him gone as they thought he was defaming God.

when really he was and is God. Now, how often

do you think about the Roman Empire? Probably

all the time, right? If not, here's some background

that you might need to know. At this time in

history, King Herod Agrippa I was the ruling

king of Judea, which is where this story is set.

And within Judea lived both Jewish and Roman

people. King Herod is said to have been fairly

well liked by the Romans but essentially wanted

to gain political favor with the Jewish because

he didn't have that yet since he wasn't Jewish.

So how did he go about doing that? Persecuting

the church. The Jewish people liked it when they

did this to Jesus when he was persecuted too.

We read that King Herod already killed a key

figure in the early church, the Apostle James,

by the sword, which is a polite way of saying

that he chopped his head off. And this pleased

the Jewish people, so he arrested Peter and intended

to do the same with him. Let's pick it up from

Acts 12 verse 4. Then he imprisoned him, Peter,

Acts 12:4

placing him under the guard of four squads of

four soldiers each. Herod intended to bring Peter

out for public trial after the Passover. But

while Peter was in prison, the church prayed

very earnestly for him. The night before, Peter

was to be placed on trial. He was asleep, fastened

with two chains between two soldiers. Others

stood guard at the prison gate. We'll get to

the church praying earnestly in a second. But

first, I need you to understand just how stuck

Peter is. Now, I don't know much about prisons

nowadays. A prison ministry team can tell you

all about it. Chat to Mel Huxwell. But this was

the equivalent to a maximum security prison of

the day. Here's a photo of where some scholars

think he could have been put. This is the Fortress

Antonia. But we don't actually know. Now, it

was normal in this period to be cuffed to one

soldier. But for Peter... They chained him to

two, with more people guarding him outside of

his area in multiple squads. Let's get a tally

going. Peter has a lot of soldiers watching him,

16 actually, four squads of four soldiers. He's

bound between two chains, sleeps between said

soldiers, is in this big jail fortress place,

and it's the night before he's set to go on trial.

And this isn't a trial like we have nowadays.

The accused has no rights in this trial. So basically

whatever King Herod says goes. And at least with

James, the King says kill him. There is no hope

for Peter. None at all. Escape is impossible.

He's about to die. Herod's track record says

so at least. The Jewish people hate him. Death

is imminent. What do you do in this situation?

Apparently, Peter sleeps, which is either a powerful

example of his faith in God, or he's wrecked

with grief, and the only thing that he can think

to do is sleep. But what does the Church do?

Even in the most hopeless of situations, it says

the Church prayed very earnestly for him. Earnest

prayer. Other translations of the Bible call

it fervent prayer or intense prayer, unceasing

or persistent prayer, earnest prayer. What would

it take to drive you to earnest prayer? Personally,

the first time that I can remember truly calling

out to God in earnest prayer was about seven

or eight years ago. I was a year or so into high

school and just stepping into the real world

when it comes to emotions and real life struggles.

My best friend at the time was a guy who happened

to live a fair distance away from me and we'd

chat on the phone and text fairly often and kept

each other up to date about our lives. Over time,

I noticed that he seemed to be acting a little

off and so I asked, as we often would, how he

was going. Eventually, after some persistence

and not accepting I'm fine, as the answer, he

shared with me that he had been suffering with

some quite severe mental health issues and was

starting to consider giving up. As a teenager

hearing this, I had no idea what to do with that.

I was hurt. I felt scared. I love my best friend.

And hearing the depths of his pain was heartbreaking.

I asked him, am I the only person who knows about

this? And it turns out For the most part I was,

apart from the medical staff who had supported

him in an attempt on his own life previously.

I began to talk to this friend constantly. And

now while it is good to stay in touch with someone

who's having these thoughts and good to talk

directly with them about it, this was too much.

It was almost constant communication. I heard

the depth of his struggle and because I love

him a lot, I couldn't bear the possibility of

him not being there anymore. So while I encouraged

him to seek help and loved on him the best I

could, my capacity was waning. It was almost

a daily night shift in communication supporting

him and after many 2 to 4 a .m. nights of texting

I was wrecked. But I couldn't just sleep. What

if he texts me in the night and I didn't respond?

In a moment of complete weakness I broke down

before God. I sank to my knees. and I prayed

the most earnest prayer that I can remember ever

praying to God. There weren't many words. All

I can recall really saying is, please, God, help

me. But in that moment, I felt God's presence

enter the room. It's hard to describe if you

haven't felt it before, but it's like someone

was sitting there next to me. Like the gravity

around me had shifted and there was this holy

warmth that I so desperately desperately needed.

I felt in that moment that my friend was safe

and that in my weakness and surrender to God

that he was watching over him. I felt I could

sleep in peace knowing that God saw my helplessness

and I was no longer alone in supporting my friend.

I was delivered and praise be to God my friend

is still alive today. But let me ask you again,

what would it take to drive you to earnest prayer?

Although we wish it didn't, sometimes it takes

us trying everything else in our human power

and knowing that some things only God can fix.

And hopeless as it was, the church interceded

in prayer for Peter. When we find ourselves stuck,

what should we do? In our weakness, we must pray.

Okay, so what happens to Peter? Acts 12, seven.

Suddenly there was a bright light in the cell

and an angel of the Lord stood before Peter.

The angel struck him on the side to awaken him

and said, quick, get up. And the chains fell

off his wrists. Then the angel told him, get

dressed, put on your sandals. And he did. Now

put on your coat and follow me, the angel ordered.

So Peter left the cell following the angel but

all the time he thought it was a vision. He didn't

realize it was actually happening. Now I read

this and I picture it like when you slept in

as a kid and the sun started to come through

the window but you're not really up and your

mum's coming in, you've got to get ready, throwing

the clothes. Peter's not doing anything here,

it's the angel. They passed the first and second

guard posts and came to the iron gate leading

to the city. And this opened for them all by

itself. So they passed through and started walking

down the street. And then the angel suddenly

left him. Peter finally came to his senses. It's

really true, he says. The Lord has sent his angel

and saved me from Herod and what the Jewish leaders

had planned to do to me. Praise God. Peter is

delivered by the hand of God and through the

intercession of the church, Peter is saved. How

powerful is our God? I think we need to be reminded

sometimes that the God we worship isn't a moral

idea or a meditative state. Our God is the creator

of the world, redeemer of humanity and sustainer

of all that is good and holy. He has the power

to do all things and change even the most hopeless

situation. He moved in power then, he will move

in power today. Verse 12, Peter, when he realized

this, went to the home of Mary, the mother of

John Mark, where many were gathered for prayer.

He knocked at the door in the gate and a servant

girl named Rhoda came to open it. When she recognized

Peter's voice, she was so overjoyed that instead

of opening the door for him, She ran back inside

and told everyone Peter's standing at the door.

I love that she keeps him hanging. Like they

could be officials chasing for him any second

now, but anyway. Verse 15, you're out of your

mind, they said. And when she insisted, they

decided it must be his angel. In other words,

he must have died. Meanwhile, Peter continued

knocking. And when they finally opened the door

and saw him, they were amazed. He motioned for

them to quiet down and told them how the Lord

had led him out of prison. Tell James and the

other brothers what happened, he said, and then

he went to another place. I find this passage

deeply comforting. The church is deep in intercession,

still in non -stop prayer in the middle of the

night, yet when Peter comes knocking, couldn't

be Peter, they didn't expect him to rock up.

The church is moved to pray, they know prayer

is powerful, but there's still a sense of, well,

couldn't really be him, could it? These people

of the early church aren't spiritual elites.

They have the same spirit living in them as we

do. Yet their doubt did not stop them from praying

for what they know is impossible. The passage

goes on to say that at dawn, there was a great

commotion amongst the soldiers about what had

happened to Peter. Herod Agrippa ordered a thorough

search for him, and when he couldn't be found,

Herod interrogated the guards and sentenced them

to death. Afterward, Herod left Judea to stay

in Caesarea for a while. So Peter is miraculously

delivered by the hand of God, and Herod, his

pursuer, flees the city. How can this be? Only

by the power of God. You see, we don't have any

idea how long the church prayed for Peter. It

says he was arrested during the Passover, and

would be brought out for trial afterwards. So

he could have been stuck in that awful prison

for one day, or he could have been in there for

seven. But what we do know is that while Peter

was in prison, the church prayed very earnestly

for him. Church, there's prayer, and then there's

earnest prayer. Whether it was going to take

one day or a week, the Church committed to earnest,

non -stop prayer for Peter. This is not some

type of well -meaning wish up to God. Instead,

this is face on the floor, desperate, weeping,

intercessory prayer for Peter to be saved. This

is prayer that costs something. This time of

prayer wasn't going to stop when it hit 9pm and

everyone's a little bit hungry. This is earnest,

fervent prayer for Peter to be saved. that would

continue until Peter was set free of his chains.

Friends, if you're really desperate for something,

you will pray. This is life or death prayer,

and there is power in prayer. 1 John 5 says that

this is the confidence we have in approaching

God, that if we ask anything according to His

will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears

us, whatever we ask, we know that we have what

we ask of Him. James 5 puts it like this, Are

any of you suffering hardships? You should pray.

Are any of you happy? You should sing praises.

Are any of you sick? You should call to the elders

of the church to come and pray over you, anointing

you with oil in the name of the Lord. Such a

prayer offered in faith will heal the sick and

the Lord will make you well. And if you've committed

any sins they will be forgiven. Confess your

sins to one another and pray for each other so

that you may be healed. Listen to this bit. The

earnest prayer of a righteous person has great

power and produces wonderful results. There's

that mention of earnest prayer again. I'm not

normally a big King Jimmy Bible fan, but listen

to this. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous

person availeth much. When we find ourselves

stuck, what should we do? We must pray. A God

is powerful. He's the creator, redeemer and sustainer

of all. This is not simply a question of should

we pray? The answer is obviously yes. But prayer

changes things. As I said before, I believe we're

seeing the cracks of our culture's narrative

of invincibility. We're seeing wars rumored long

ago, we're struck with sickness and see that

we're mortal. The things that once satisfied

just don't anymore. Our generation is hungry

for something or someone greater. The self -medication

through distraction only lasts so long before

we recognize our weakness. We desperately want

to see God's will done on earth. True justice,

true love and the end of weeping and sorrow.

But we must be people who engage in earnest non

-stop prayer. This is exactly why we have a 24

-7 prayer ministry at Encounter Church. This

is why we have a room dedicated to non -stop

prayer. This is why we have our periods of non

-stop prayer together in a fast approaching global

week of 24 -7 prayer in September. These aren't

simply good discipleship activities. We believe

that God is active in the prayers of His people.

We must intercede for our world. We must choose

to earnestly, unceasingly pray that our world

would know Jesus. You see, in Peter's stuckness,

the church prayed and God saved him from the

hands of his enemy. There was no way out for

Peter unless God intervened. He was totally stuck.

In our lives, we feel this sense of stuckness

too. Maybe there's someone in your life who is

just really hard to deal with. Or there's a relationship

that just isn't reconciled. Maybe you feel stuck

in your physical or your mental health. Maybe

when things get quiet, you're on your own, you

recognize something is missing. This hurts. But

you see, our ultimate stuckness as people isn't

prison or human suffering. It is with sin. We

read that the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous

person availeth much. But on our own, we aren't

righteous. Peter might have worn chains, but

our ultimate chains were sin and death. Now for

the Christian in the room who is already walking

in the light of Jesus, don't check out now. The

gospel is still as important now as it was when

you first accepted it. And for the person that

this is completely new to, Hold tight. Let me

share with you the reason for which I live, the

reason we all live. You see, humanity from the

dawn of creation questioned if God is really

who He says He is. Humanity fell in disobedience

and continued to do so throughout history. We

see the effects of this in our world with the

evil around us and the brokenness done by us

were done to us. In our brokenness, we need saving.

We need someone to deliver us from our sin. Scripture

says that the wages of sin is death, but the

gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our

Lord. For many years, it was prophesied as to

who this deliverer would be, how they would arrive,

and what they would do. There are over 300 prophecies

in the Bible about this coming Savior. And then,

Jesus was born. Even in His birth alone, He fulfilled

many, many prophecies. Jesus lived a righteous

life. One completely free of sin, totally man,

totally God. Jesus Christ the Messiah loved like

no one else before Him. Yet the Jewish religious

officials didn't believe it. He was then persecuted

by those officials, sentenced to death by a Roman

governor, nailed to a wooden cross and died.

Moments before his death, Jesus prayed, my father,

if it is possible, let this cup of suffering

be taken away from me. Yet I want your will to

be done, not mine. Jesus knew the suffering he

was about to endure was great. Yet Jesus submitted

to the will of the Father out of love, knowing

that ultimately something greater was to be done

in this moment. Jesus' death was the perfect

sacrifice for our sin, forever creating a way

for us to be forgiven and to walk in this forgiveness.

Three days after his death, Jesus rose from the

grave and proved that death does not have the

final word for all who believe in him. Jesus

is our ultimate deliverer. Our access to God

and our ability to join in His plan for our world

is only possible because of what Jesus did on

the cross. We have the authority to pray with

boldness because of the sacrifice that Jesus

made for us. For this is how God loved the world.

He gave His one and only Son so that everyone

who believes in Him will not perish but have

eternal life. God sent His Son into the world

not to judge the world but to save the world

through Him. Friends, this is the reality for

those who live in Christ Jesus. Your prayers

are powerful and effective because of the righteousness

God has bought for you salvation through His

Son Jesus. So even when we're weak, we must pray

because God's power is made perfect in weakness.

Thanks again for listening. God bless you.