September 27, 2022
Daily Devotion:
“Expect a Miracle”
Acts 12:14-15
New International Version
14 When she recognized Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed she ran back without opening it and exclaimed, “Peter is at the door!”15 “You’re out of your mind,” they told her. When she kept insisting that it was so, they said, “It must be his angel.”
So what were they praying for, those who had rushed to the house of Mary and John Mark when news spread of Peter's imprisonment? That God Would deliver Peter safely? That God's providential hand of protection would keep him from harm? Yet when Peter shows up at the house, having been miraculously released from prison by an angel, these prayerful people were incredulous! The servant girl was either crazy or had seen Peter's angel! Yet if Peter did have an angel, what are angels for? More to the point, if nothing extraordinary is going to happen, then what are prayers for? Do we not pray to invoke God's divine power when we ourselves have reached the end of human capability? Need a miracle? Pray to God! So if we get precisely what we have been praying for, why should we ever be shocked? The answer, of course, is that our prayers are rarely answered in such a dramatic fashion. How wonderful it would be, for instance, if we prayed that all who are currently imprisoned around the world as martyrs for Christ would be released tonight without harm...and suddenly they all showed up at our door! Certainly, God could snap his fingers and make that happen, but will he? And If he did, would we be any less astounded than the people praying for Peter? So What are we to make of the popular expression, “Expect a miracle”? If perhaps we have little reason to expect a miracle each and every time, who would want it said of us that we didn't believe it even when it happened? The prayerful question is: Do I pray with such confidence in God's power that I would never be surprised if he answered even the most challenging of prayers?
