Acts 12:5 NKJV Peter was therefore kept in prison, but constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church.
It seemed such a simple thing: “We’ll pray for Peter”, the folks gathered in Mary’s house said to one another. And they did. But the operative word in that scripture is ‘constant’. Like, ‘never ending.’ Like, ‘seriously.’ Like they were fixated upon that one task.
Often when Christians meet they throw together a prayer list. Like a grocery list. And, just as often, in the manner of a grocery list, many do not write the names down on that list. I guess they just expect to remember them when they come into his storehouse.
But like so many of us, we leave more out of the basket than we put in..
And finally, like the grocery list, the names are discarded when the task is finished, and the matter is over.
But those who prayed for Peter had but one item on their list: Peters freedom. And they stayed at it: ‘constantly’, fervently’, ‘without ceasing.’
When was the last time a need so burdened you that it drove you to your knees and you prayed ‘fervently’?
Is it that there are no more burdensome things left that we need, or that we have just lost the list?
There is no more important task given to man than to pray. glg
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