ESOCS Devotional 2 July 2025 – The Efficacy of Intercessory Prayer
MEMORY VERSE: “Peter therefore was kept in prison: but prayer was made without ceasing of the Church unto God for him.”Acts 12:5 NLT
TEXT: ACTS 12:1-13
Now about that time Herod the king stretched out his hand to harass some from the church. 2 Then he killed James the brother of John with the sword. 3 And because he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to seize Peter also. Now it was during the Days of Unleavened Bread. 4 So when he had arrested him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four squads of soldiers to keep him, intending to bring him before the people after Passover.
5 Peter was therefore kept in prison, but constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church. 6 And when Herod was about to bring him out, that night Peter was sleeping, bound with two chains between two soldiers; and the guards before the door were keeping the prison. 7 Now behold, an angel of the Lord stood by him, and a light shone in the prison; and he struck Peter on the side and raised him up, saying, “Arise quickly!” And his chains fell off his hands. 8 Then the angel said to him, “Gird yourself and tie on your sandals”; and so he did. And he said to him, “Put on your garment and follow me.” 9 So he went out and followed him, and did not know that what was done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision. 10 When they were past the first and the second guard posts, they came to the iron gate that leads to the city, which opened to them of its own accord; and they went out and went down one street, and immediately the angel departed from him.
11 And when Peter had come to himself, he said, “Now I know for certain that the Lord has sent His angel, and has delivered me from the hand of Herod and from all the expectation of the Jewish people.”
12 So, when he had considered this, he came to the house of Mary, the mother of John whose surname was Mark, where many were gathered together praying. 13 And as Peter knocked at the door of the gate, a girl named Rhoda came to answer.
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In James 5:16b, we note that the earnest fervent prayer of a righteous person has great power, and produces wonderful results. Moreover, much as Saint Paul advises that we pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17), the Lord Himself also warns that “… men ought always to pray, and not to faint” (Luke 18:1).
Daniel, under the siege of the Prince of the kingdom of Persia, continued in prayer for twenty-one days, without food or water, until something happened, (Daniel 10:2). The answer eventually came, and the Prince of Persia was defeated.
In out text, though Herod had taken every precaution to secure Peter’s detention, God’s power proved greater. Believers must always remember that the power of humans does not compare with the power of God. There is authority in prayer, simply because the power of God is able to accomplish exceedingly abundantly more than we can think of (Ephesians 3:20).
In Peter’s case, as the Church interceded without ceasing, the angel of the Lord appeared in the prison cell. The power in the prayer turned the guards into dead men, as it were, (see also Matthew 28:4). The miracle was so real that Peter thought he was seeing a vision. But, truly, Peter was set free miraculously. Courtesy: the earnest fervent prayer of the Church.
Child of God: what is that challenge you see as having defied all solutions? Continually present it to God in prayer. Your day will certainly come, when God’s answer to your prayers will evoke a great thanksgiving. Again, I say to you: pray without ceasing, and faint not.
CHALLENGES
- They that pray and wait patiently for the Lord will surely celebrate. Believe and doubt no more.
PRAYER POINT
- Lord, grant me the courage to always pray, and not to faint.
FURTHER READING: Daniel 2:37-49; 3:1-11; Acts 12:14-25
ESOCS Devotional 2 July 2025
