1. There are many things in life that we simply cannot understand.
2. And there are many things in the Bible that we cannot understand.
3. For example, we cannot understand how God moves in answer to prayer, but we know He does (cf. Matt.7:7-11; 17:14-21; James 4:2; 5:16).
4. I want to speak today about how God moved in answer to prayer back in Acts 12. But first let us look at the background.

1. THE DEVIL IS OUT TO DESTROY GOOD CHURCHES

1. He certainly is not out to destroy bad churches – he likes them. But he hates strong churches where souls are saved and Christians are actively serving God.
2. I have been preaching this message a lot recently – that the devil is out to destroy good churches – because the Lord put it on my heart.
3. In Acts 2:41 we read that about 3,000 souls were saved and baptized. Then in Acts 4:4 we see that the church grew to 5,000. This must have really bothered Mr. Devil. He was not going to sit still for that.
4. The Bible says that the devil is like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour (I Peter 5:8). So he threatened the church (Acts 4:13-22).
5. The Bible says that the devil is a slippery serpent (Gen.3; Rev.12). So he slipped into the church in Acts 5:1-3.
6. If the devil cannot succeed by persecution from without, he will try to corrupt the church from within. We need to pray that God protects us from Satan’s tricks.
7. The Bible says that the devil is the accuser of the brethren. He tried that in Acts 6:1. Whenever you hear murmuring, backbiting, whispering, etc. you can be sure the devil is at work.
8. Remember that our Lord said the devil "was a murderer from the beginning" (John 8:44). He tried to kill our Lord at the time of His birth; he had John the Baptist killed; and he had James killed (Acts 12:1,2).
9. I want you to note that the devil used Herod the Great to try and kill the baby Jesus, Herod’s son to kill John the Baptist, and Herod’s grandson to kill James.
10. The devil uses different people, but his objective is always the same – to destroy the work of God.

2. OUR WEAPON AGAINST SATAN IS PRAYER

1. Satan uses people such as Herod to do his dirty work, but we must remember that our battle is not with people. "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places" (Eph.6:12).
2. Why did Herod attack James and Peter? "Because he saw it pleased the Jews" (Acts 12:3). And why did harassing Christians "please the Jews"? Because these Jews were unsaved and hated the Christians.
3. It all boils down to this: the devil will do every thing he can to hinder God’s work. The devil hates the local church, the devil hates the King James Bible, and the devil hates soulwinning.
4. That is why we need to pray regularly, just like the early church prayed (Acts 12:5; cf. 4:31).

3. WE NEED MORE FAITH

1. One of my favorite Scriptures is, "Lord I believe; help Thou mine unbelief" (Mark 9:24).
2. Peter was scheduled to be executed in the morning but he had perfect peace. He knew he was in the perfect will of God. The Bible says he "was sleeping between two soldiers" (Acts 12:6).
3. Do you know why Peter was so calm and peaceful? Because of two things: the Word of God and prayer.

1. The Word of God: our Lord told him he would be executed when he became an old man (John 21:18,19). Peter was not old yet.
2. Prayer: Christians were praying for him (Acts 12:5).

4. Likewise, we can have perfect peace through the Word of God and prayer.

1. Our Lord has told us that He will build His church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it (Matt.16:18).
2. He has promised to go with us when we go out soulwinning (Matt.28:19,20).
3. He has given us an open door that no man can shut (Rev.3:8).

4. PRAYER MOVES THE HAND OF GOD

1. Many churches are not moving ahead because of lack of prayer (as well as lack of faith, lack of soulwinning, lack of giving, etc.).
2. Notice that this was not your typical Wednesday night prayer meeting with only a handful of people present – there were "many" people "gathered together praying" (Acts 12:12). Our Sunday night attendance is improving but we still need much improvement on Wednesday nights.
3. I heard a preacher say yesterday that Thomas doubted because he missed the first Sunday night service.
4. Their earnest praying moved the hand of God. Note two things in particular:

1. Peter was delivered, and they were astonished (Acts 12:12-16).
2. Their persecutor, Herod, was killed (Acts 12:17-24). Note that the angel "smote" Peter to wake him up and rescue him (12:7), and the angel "smote" Herod to judge him and remove a hindrance to the church (Acts 12:23). Historians all date his death at AD 44.

CONCLUSION:

1. Things begin to happen when churches pray. God begins to move, doors are opened, and souls are saved.
2. The last time I preached this passage in Acts 12 was in August of 1995, and I concluded with these two prayer requests:

1. Pray for a building. It was only a few months later that God moved us into the building on Waldorf Avenue, and now we own our own building.
2. Pray for souls to be saved: many have been saved since then but we still have much work to do before God calls us home!

3. Perhaps the next time I preach from this passage, our building will be completely renovated.