Acts 12:4-5  So when he [Herod Agrippa] had arrested him[Peter], 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. Peter was therefore kept in prison, but constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church.

Richard Longenecker writes, “Agrippa’s policy was the Pax Romana [Peace of Rome] through the preservation of the status quo. He supported the majority within the land and ruthlessly suppressed minorities when they became disruptive. He viewed Jewish Christians as divisive and felt their activities could only disturb the people and inflame antagonisms.”

By arresting and killing the leaders of the Christians, Agrippa was showing that he and the Jewish majority had something in common. His intent was to do the same by making an example of Peter who was a ‘founding father’. But because it was Passover Week, he kept Peter in prison deferring to carry out an execution in order to preserve his outward show of respect for conventional Judaism. And while Peter was being held in jail, a continual and unending stream of prayer was ascending to heaven on his behalf.

How do we react in what appears to be an impossible situation? What do we do when the odds are stacked so high against us that we can’t see the top? Do what the Jerusalem believers did – Pray.

just a thought,

jack

<><