#BibleStudy. Expressions of Faith. Acts Ch 12. You’re Out of Your Mind

¹² When this had dawned on [Peter], he went to the house of Mary the mother of John, also called Mark, where many people had gathered and were praying.¹³ Peter knocked at the outer entrance, and a servant named Rhoda came to answer the door. 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.”

Acts 12:12-15

Herod arrests Peter and throws him in prison; more about that in the next post.

• God sends an angel to facilitate Peter’s escape.
• Chains are broken.
• Locked doors are opened.
• Peter thinks he’s having a vision.
• Roman soldiers are oblivious throughout the whole escape.

Once outside the prison, the angel disappears.

• Peter realizes he’s free and heads for a house he must have known contained people praying for him.
• The term Luke uses for “praying” is the same term he uses in his gospel to describe Jesus’ praying in the Garden of Gethsemane.
• In other words, those people were seriously praying!

Rhoda is so happy and excited that Peter is free that she leaves him outside the locked door and reports the good news to those praying.

• The prayers refuse to believe God has answered their prayers.
• They let Rhoda know they think she’s crazy.
• When she persists with her story, they decide it must be Peter’s identical twin angel.
• All this time Peter waits outside the locked door hoping not to get re-arrested.

The people praying focused on the act and missed the answer.

• How often have you reacted like those in Mary’s house?
• You get so busy doing something for God that you miss what God’s doing in your life.

Look for God’s answer to prayer in your life this week.

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