Love Worth Finding

Adrian Rogers: Do you ever feel like there's something keeping you from praying? When you pray, you enter into spiritual warfare. You enter into the heavenlies, and the devil will oppose you when you pray. And the devil will cause your mind to wander. The doorbell will ring, the beans will burn, the baby will cry, or something will happen to keep you from praying. Why? Because it is warfare.

Guest (Male): Welcome to Love Worth Finding, featuring profound truths simply stated by pastor and author Adrian Rogers. The book of Acts shares numerous accounts of triumph over difficulty as the first Christians experienced victory through prayer. In Acts chapter 12, the early church faced persecution from Herod, who unleashed violence and put the apostle Peter in prison.

Yet, verse five claims that constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church. As we fight our battle against the world, the flesh, and the devil, we need to learn how to pray as the early church did. If you have your Bible, turn to Acts chapter 12 as Adrian Rogers shares more on victory through prayer.

Adrian Rogers: Acts chapter 12. Today, I want to talk to you about prayer. Not just "now I lay me down to sleep" kind of prayer, but victorious prayer. As you read the book of Acts, ladies and gentlemen, there is the shout of victory, the ring of victory, and the shout of triumph on every page in the book of Acts. These people learned how to pray, and they saturated their lives with prayer, and God gave the victory.

Now, compare that with the average Christian today. Compare that with the average church today. Compare that with Christendom as a whole today. We are failing in our battle against the world, the flesh, and the devil. And the reason that we fail, ladies and gentlemen, is primarily, fundamentally, we do not know how to pray. There's not a failure in your life or in my life that is not a prayer failure if you properly analyze it.

There's not a need in my life or in your life that could not be met if we knew how to pray and would practice what we know. There's not a sin in my life or in your life that proper prayer would not have avoided. As Jesus said, "Watch and pray, lest ye enter into temptation." How important it is that we learn how to pray.

The 12th chapter of the book of Acts has a wonderful lesson on prayer, and we're going to look at it. There are some things I want you to learn about victorious prayer. And the very first is this: it's what I'm going to call the freedom to pray or the freedom of this prayer. Now you notice, the Bible says that Peter was in prison. But prayer was made. Now, can you imagine how hopeless it is for this man? I mean, outwardly.

Here he is in a dark dungeon, in a deep security dungeon. He's such an important prisoner, there are 16 people that are assigned to him personally to guard him. Furthermore, they want to make so certain that he doesn't escape that they have chains on him. He's chained on one side to a soldier, and he's chained on the other side to a soldier. Now, they're going to put him to death.

Murderous old Herod has already killed James with the sword. I imagine he beheaded James. And he saw that he gained so much popularity with the enemies of the Gospel, he said, "I'll do the same to Peter. He's the big fisherman, they all like him. I'll put him to death, and I'm going to do it in just a few days." And he announced the day that Peter is to be executed.

Now, what are these disciples going to do? How are they going to get Peter out of prison? Are they going to get some petitions up? Are they going to say, "Now look, we are influential citizens in this city, and we demand that you release Simon Peter"? They had no influence. What are they going to do? Are they going to take a collection and get a lot of money and go in and bribe Herod?

They didn't have any money. Silver and gold had they none. And what they had, they had distributed to feed the poor and to take care of those who were in distress in that time. What were they going to do? I'll tell you what they were going to do: they were going to pray. There is the freedom to pray. Every other door was closed, but there was one that was open—it went straight up. And they could pray.

Now friend, the devil may do many things to inhibit you, but there's one thing he can't do: he can't stop you from praying. There may be iron doors all around you. There may be chains all over you. There may be people all against you. But you can pray. Prayer should not be our last resort. It ought to be our first thought, our first opportunity. There is the freedom to pray. Would to God that we could learn how to pray and to take advantage of the opportunity of this freedom.

But I want you to notice something else. I want you to notice not only the freedom of that prayer, but I want you to notice what I'm going to call the faithfulness of that prayer. Look again, if you will, in God's Word in verse five. "Peter therefore was kept in prison, but prayer was made without ceasing." Without ceasing. The faithfulness of this prayer.

You know what's wrong with many of our prayers? We have a take it or leave it attitude toward prayer. We ask God to do something for us, and if God doesn't seemingly answer right away, then we just kind of stop praying. But these people didn't. They prayed, and they prayed, and they prayed again. Now, I don't know why God doesn't always immediately answer our prayers. There's a mystery to prayer.

But I'll tell you this much about it: our God says that we are to keep on praying. They prayed without ceasing. The faithfulness of their prayers. Now, I want you to notice something else. I want you to notice the fervency of their prayer. Because look again in verse five. This word "without ceasing" may be translated fervently. Fervently. It's one of those kind of words that has a double meaning. And it means that they prayed with intensity.

They prayed with fire and with fervency. I'll tell you something else that's wrong with many of our prayers: we pray with such casualness, with half-heartedness. Half-heartedness is an insult to God. The Bible says in Jeremiah chapter 29 and verse 13, "Ye shall seek me and find me, when ye search for me with all your heart." With all your heart.

Prayer is hard work. That's the reason that many of us don't pray. It requires concentration. It requires effort. Paul said in Romans chapter 15, verse 30, "Now I beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake, and for the love of the Spirit, that you strive together with me." Notice the word strive. "Strive together with me in your prayers to God for me." Strive. That's a word that means to labor.

Friend, there is the rest of faith, but there is the fight of faith also. We need to learn how to pray fervently, to mean business with God. To strive together in your prayer. The freedom of the prayer: they could pray. The faithfulness of their prayer: they prayed without ceasing. The fervency of their prayer: they did business with God because they were desperate.

I want you to notice also what I'm going to call the fellowship of their prayer. They prayed together. Now notice, Peter was kept in prison, but prayer was made without ceasing of the church. Of the church. And by the way, these are the only people that really have the promise that their prayer is going to be answered. Turn with me, if you will, to First John chapter 5, verse 13.

"These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God. And this is the confidence that we have in him, if we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us. And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him." Now who is the us to whom he's referring? To those who have believed on His name, to those who are saved.

Prayer is for people who can pray in Jesus' name. Prayer is for the church. Jesus said to His church in Matthew 18, verse 18, "Verily I say unto you, whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again I say unto you, that if any two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them."

And that tells us that if prayer was made of that church so long ago, prayer needs to be made of this church. We need to pray, folks. Your Sunday school class needs to be an enclave of prayer. Your deacon group needs to be a time of prayer. Your fellowships ought to open and close with prayer. Committee meetings need to be saturated with prayer.

The orchestra, when you meet, you ought to pray. The choirs, before you get ready to sing, you ought to pray. And I don't mean just say, "Lord bless us now." I mean pray. Everything we do ought to be saturated with prayer. This church ought to run on the engine of prayer. It's the fellowship of prayer. Now, I want you to notice the faith of their prayer.

The Bible says again that their prayer was made unto God. They weren't praying to impress one another. They realized that they were coming into the throne room. They were speaking with God. On a few occasions, I've had the privilege to meet with the President of the United States. That's a great privilege. And I've thought, "What would I say? How will I maximize this time?" Tried to consider.

Now, if I'm going to speak to a man who is this important and who has this much power, should I not think in my own heart and in my own mind what I will say? Should I not prepare myself? Ladies and gentlemen, when we pray, we come into the throne room of the Sovereign of the Universe. How thoughtlessly, how carelessly, how flippantly I'm afraid that some of us come before Almighty God in prayer.

Their prayer is unto God. Unto God. I was in my study one day, and I had a thought that I believe was the most staggering thought I've ever had in my life. I cannot tell you the weight of that thought as it settled on me. It just shook me to my core. The most staggering thought I've ever had. I can still remember the impact that it had on me and still has on me.

I'm going to tell you what it was. And when I tell you what it was, you're going to say, "Everybody knows that." And so did I. But yet I cannot tell you the impact that thought had on me. Are you ready for it? Here it is: God answers prayer. I thought, "My soul, is that true? I mean, is that true? That the one who made the universe, the God of all eternities, will hear me and I can have influence in His court?

He will hear me. I can pray and He will hear me and answer me. And He's the one who said, 'Call upon me and I will answer thee and show thee great and mighty things that thou knowest not.'" Folks, what a thought. I mean, what a thought that we have that privilege to pray to God. Prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God.

That's the faith of their prayer. Thou art coming to a King; large petitions with thee bring. For His grace and power are such, thou canst not ask too much. Thank God for the faith of that prayer. Then I want you to notice what I'm going to call the focus of that prayer. "But prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him." Whom? Peter. He's in prison. He's going to be beheaded. We need to pray for him. "God, we pray for Peter who is in prison." It's a focused prayer.

A very specific prayer. Many of us pray such a generalized prayer that we never have to admit whether God heard our prayer or not. Isn't that true? "Lord, save the lost. Lord, bless the sick. Lord, comfort the bereaved." Somewhere, somehow, somebody who's been lost is going to be saved and somebody sick is going to get well, and you don't know whether it was your prayer or not, right?

You see, that's kind of a safe prayer. But we need to pray these specific prayers so we have to admit whether or not God answered our prayer. The average person, if you were to ask him what he prayed for yesterday, couldn't tell you. Just repeating these particular things. But when you get concerned—you can tell when a person is concerned, when they mean business—they get specific.

Have you ever heard anybody? They say something to you like this: "Hey, y'all come see us sometime. One of these days y'all have to come over." They don't mean it. Let me tell you how you can tell when they mean it. They say, "Hey look, I've got five of the thickest steaks you've ever seen in the freezer. Saturday at five, I'm going to have the coals hot. We're going to barbecue those steaks. And can y'all be here at five Saturday?"

Now they mean business. They mean business. That's the difference. Not "y'all just come see us sometime. God bless the lost." No, listen. You get specific. "Oh God, my neighbor, my neighbor needs Jesus. Oh God, here's a problem and God, You know it, and Lord, we lay it before You and now God, we expect You to answer and give us what we need.

And if this isn't what we need, show us it's not what we need and give us what we need. But we're praying, Lord, for something specific." Here is a prayer that is brought into focus. Now, you ought to have in your heart or in your Bible a list of prayer requests, a date, a prayer record of when you entered it and when God answers it so you can give Him the glory and give Him the praise and get specific and focused in your prayer.

Because prayer that is channeled is prayer that is powerful. Prayer was made for Peter. Now last of all, I want you to notice what I'm going to call the force of that prayer. The force of that prayer. What happened? Well, I'll tell you what happened: God answered it. And God delivered Peter from prison. Now, Peter's there in prison and he's asleep. Would you be asleep if you knew the next day they were going to execute you?

Sleeping between two smelly soldiers and chained to one on one hand and chained to the other on the other hand. And there's Peter, he's sound asleep. Peter was so asleep when that angel came in there, if you read it, the Bible says the angel smote Peter and said, "Peter, wake up. Get up!" He gave Peter an elbow in the side. He actually had to shake him to rouse him. He had to raise him up. Peter was sawing logs.

Why? I've tried to think about it and I think I know one reason why. In John 21, Peter's a young man when this happened to him. John 21, Jesus said, "When you're an old man, they're going to lead you around." Peter thought, "Well, they say they're going to kill me, but I'm not old yet, and Jesus was talking to me about when I'm an old man. So whatever's going to happen, I'm not going to die."

I don't know why Peter was so calm. Maybe that was just it. You know, I think we'd spend a lot less sleepless nights if we knew the Word of God and believed the Word of God and stood on the promises of God. But for whatever reason, here is Peter and he is asleep. And this angel says, "All right, now get up." And then he says, "Put on your shoes, put on your clothes, gird yourself." I like that. We're not sneaking out; we're going out in class. So dress up.

Peter rises up, gets dressed up, and he and the angel walk out. And as they start to walk, they pass this guard and this guard—everybody else evidently is asleep or blinded or in a stupor, whatever happened to them. And then they come to this huge iron gate. I mean, a big iron gate. Now remember, this is a prison. This is a fortress. Those gates, like having an electric eye, just opened.

Peter and the angel walk right out. That's the force of this prayer. Now, the answer to this prayer was late. It came at the last minute. God was on time, however. Don't you get anxious. Not only was it late, it was leisurely. God moves in majesty. They walk out. But I want to tell you something: it was also limited.

The interesting thing is this: the iron gate opened of its own will. But when Peter got outside that iron gate, you're going to find out that he said, "Where will I go? Well," he said, "I better go to the prayer meeting." Now, they were meeting at Mary's house. That Mary was the mother of John Mark. And they're having a prayer meeting there. And there's a door out there also. There's a door to the courtyard and it's a wooden door, I imagine.

Peter knocks on that door. And they have a maid. She goes to the door and she looks out. She says, "Would you imagine? Look, that's Simon Peter." They're in there praying for Simon. "Hey folks," she just leaves him standing there. "Peter's at the door." "Oh," they say, "well, no, look, Peter's in prison. It must be his ghost. That's an angel or something." "Hey Peter, is this really you?" "Yeah, it's me." "He says it's really him."

And the Bible says there that Peter is knocking and knocking and knocking and knocking. He's got red knuckles. Bible doesn't say that, but that's the original Greek. All right, now look. Here he is, knocking. They're over there praying. Point: God is not going to do for you what you can do for yourself. Peter could never have opened those iron gates, but they could open that wooden door, right?

Prayer's no substitute for common sense, it's no substitute for labor, it's no substitute for work. Jesus said, "You roll away the stone," and then He said, "Lazarus, you come forth." They could roll away the stone, but they couldn't raise Lazarus. Do you understand what I'm saying? Friend, Peter could not have opened that iron gate, but they could have opened that wooden door.

Now, God does not do for us what we ought to do for ourselves, but we can never do for ourselves what God alone can do. And when we begin to merge prayer with obedience and common sense, then God begins to work. We must learn, dear friend, that there's a force in prayer. There's a power in prayer. It's not a substitute for work. It's not a substitute for common sense.

But when we begin to pray, then we see what God alone can do. When we depend upon organization, we see what organization can do. When we depend upon planning, we see what planning can do. But when we depend on prayer, we see what God can do.

Guest (Male): Well, maybe as you've listened to Pastor Rogers today, there is a prayer request that's weighing heavy on your heart. If so, please share it with us. It's one of our great honors at Love Worth Finding to come alongside you and pray with you. If you can, go to our website homepage at LWF.org/radio and scroll down to our prayer wall.

There you'll find the option to either submit a prayer request or pray for others. This resource is one of our favorite ways to keep the ministry and the community praying continually for one another's needs. Let us hear from you today. Hi, this is Cary Vaughn, and this program has been brought to you by Love Worth Finding, a non-profit ministry showcasing the powerful preaching and teaching of Pastor Adrian Rogers.

We operate solely through the generous gifts of individual supporters just like you. So to give a gift today, call 1-877-LOVE-GOD. You can also connect with us online by going to LWF.org/radio. There we offer helpful resources inspired by the timeless teachings of Pastor Rogers. Or even write to us at Love Worth Finding, Box 38-600, Memphis, Tennessee 38183. Thank you for listening today, and be sure to join us next time for more profound truth, simply stated, right here on Love Worth Finding.

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