Who is Earnest?

Good Day! Did you have a chance to read about the gift of encouragement yesterday? It is the gift that keeps on giving, you know. . . did you make a conscious effort to encourage someone? I pray so.
And, hey--are you thinking 'you have no idea, I'm the one that needs the encouragement right now, sister'? Well, when you get out of your own head, and encourage someone else... guess what? It brings some satisfaction your way; in fact, Proverbs 11 says that, "he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.' So, that is quite a good return on investment, wouldn't you say?

We are not done talking about the value of encouragement, as Acts 14 will naturally take us there again, but let us look today at our next passage--from here on, we see Brother Saul as part of the permanent landscape of Acts. . . 'tis a passage of irony and the miraculous-- Guy, please ask God to open your heart and mind to the insights from His Word~
Acts 12:1-19 (NIV) It was about this time that King Herod arrested some who belonged to the church, intending to persecute them. He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword. When he saw that this pleased the Jews, he proceeded to seize Peter also. This happened during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. After arresting him, he put him in prison, handing him over to be guarded by four squads of four soldiers each. Herod intended to bring him out for public trial after the Passover. So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him. The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries stood guard at the entrance. Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up. "Quick, get up!" he said, and the chains fell off Peter's wrists. Then the angel said to him, "Put on your clothes and sandals." And Peter did so. "Wrap your cloak around you and follow me," the angel told him. Peter followed him out of the prison, but he had no idea that what the angel was doing was really happening; he thought he was seeing a vision. They passed the first and second guards and came to the iron gate leading to the city. It opened for them by itself, and they went through it. When they had walked the length of one street, suddenly the angel left him. Then Peter came to himself and said, "Now I know without a doubt that the Lord sent his angel and rescued me from Herod's clutches and from everything the Jewish people were anticipating." When this had dawned on him, he went to the house of Mary the mother of John, also called Mark, where many people had gathered and were praying. Peter knocked at the outer entrance, and a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer the door. When she recognized Peter's voice, she was so overjoyed she ran back without opening it and exclaimed, "Peter is at the door!" "You're out of your mind," they told her. When she kept insisting that it was so, they said, "It must be his angel." But Peter kept on knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished. Peter motioned with his hand for them to be quiet and described how the Lord had brought him out of prison. "Tell James and the brothers about this," he said, and then he left for another place. In the morning, there was no small commotion among the soldiers as to what had become of Peter. After Herod had a thorough search made for him and did not find him, he cross-examined the guards and ordered that they be executed.

Isn't it ironic?♫ The Jews are observing the Passover, which celebrates God's rescue and release from the tyranny of Egypt, but Herod locks Peter in jail. (after arresting several other Christians, and killing the apostle James) The church was earnest in her prayers for Peter. . . and then, when God miraculously springs him from jail, Peter himself couldn't believe it--and, when he goes to the home where the Christians are gathered to pray earnestly for him, they too are shocked that he has been freed from jail. I could easily scoff at the unbelieving nature of their hearts--(although they were earnest in their prayer)--but how could I? How many times have I prayed, asked God for something, and then was simply amazed when my prayer was answered?!

The other day, I asked my gym buddy, Jim, how I could pray for him; he said he really needed prayer for his job--'seems he had been working under a hostile boss, and finally had his fill of it. He went and filed a complaint with the owner, even produced a memo penned by the offending boss that was really inflammatory. My friend was very concerned what would happen--would the boss see that he lost his job? He prayed. . . I prayed. . . then, later the same day, he got a call from the owner of the company, saying the boss had been suspended, as per the company attorney's suggestion. Jim recognized the hand of God in this, and thanked Him--he gave credit where credit was due->God. Then, today I went to the gym, and guess what? The owner called, and apparently, Jim's actions gave others the courage to speak up, so the offensive boss was removed from his position! What can I say, then, but "Praise God"?! This, ladies and gentlemen, is answered prayer.

"Earnest" is a great word--not used too much in today's culture--but hey, let's bring it back, okay? (means sincere, intense conviction) I think when we pray in earnest, we are committed to the outcome of that prayer. . . we are invested in it. I have been learning the expression of earnest prayer through fasting. Fasting, as an accompaniment of prayer, is in both the Old and New Testaments; classically, fasting has to do with going without food to pray for a specific purpose--to see God break through, to "loose bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens" (Isaiah 58). Fasting is not to be trumpeted about, but done quietly. In Matthew 17, the disciples were unable to heal a demonized boy; when they asked Jesus why they had not seen success, Jesus said, "This kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting." Fasting shows that we are earnest about the intent of our prayer. Jesus hailed the widow who persisted in prayer. . . because we are a quick-fix generation, we have lost the art of persistence. . . even in prayer. When we are praying in earnest for a brother, we enter into the work of God. Never before in my life have I been so impacted by both the need for earnest, persistent prayer, or that I was called to be that pray-er. I have always felt like a prayer weakling--but then I ask myself, 'does anyone go about boasting that they have an inside track to answered prayer?' Does anyone go about saying, 'yes, I am a prayin' fool; that is what I live to do!' And yet. . . friends, I must confess that is where I find myself--so gripped with the needs of my fellow believers, (I don't use that term lightly--'fellow' implies to me that I am willing to get in the ditch with them, and dig out--that their needs are felt needs within me), whose marriages are in jeopardy, whose businesses are tied up in unfounded litigation, whose husband has been out of work since the Fall, and all of the retirement money is gone, whose teen-and-twenty-something children have been lost to the world. . .

Who is Earnest? I pray that I am Earnest; I pray that you are Earnest, standing before God with all we've got, asking Him for a rescue. . . a remedy. . . an answer that only He can provide. Be an encourager. . . come alongside someone in need, and pray in earnest for their need. Grace to you, Christine