Amazed & Surprised

I don’t always like surprises. Some surprises are scary and negative. There are surprises that are great! My wife and kids surprised me last year with a birthday gathering that obviously I didn’t know about. Those kinds of surprises are good. I’ve been surprised by negative news as well. I often remember where I was when I received the negative news. They day my partner passed away, I was stunned in surprise because just three days before we had talked, and all seemed well.

I came across a passage of scripture this morning that spoke of earnest prayer by the church and a miracle answer happened and everyone was shocked. Peter was imprisoned for his preaching and teaching about Jesus. Herod Antipas had recently killed James, the brother of John. He was planning a similar fate for Peter until the Lord broke him out of prison. It seemed like a good dream to Peter, but it was happening! Check this out…

¹¹ Peter finally came to his senses. “It’s really true!” he said. “The Lord has sent his angel and saved me from Herod and from what the Jewish leaders had planned to do to me!”

¹² When he realized this, he went to the home of Mary, the mother of John Mark, where many were gathered for prayer. ¹³ He knocked at the door in the gate, and a servant girl named Rhoda came to open it. ¹⁴ When she recognized Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed that, instead of opening the door, she ran back inside and told everyone, “Peter is standing at the door!”

¹⁵ “You’re out of your mind!” they said. When she insisted, they decided, “It must be his angel.”

¹⁶ Meanwhile, Peter continued knocking. When they finally opened the door and saw him, they were amazed.(Acts 12:11-16 NLT)

I have been shocked when my prayers were answered.  Please know that I’m grateful when God shows up and shows out. I shouldn’t be surprised, because of my faith. I think the issue is my faith NOT God’s Power.

I want my faith to grow as I talk to Him about EVERYTHING.

I want to pray big prayers believing that He can do anything.

I want to pray little prayers believing that He cares about the little things too.

As I read about Peter and the church’s powerful, earnest prayers, I’m inspired to pray about everything and worry about nothing. I’m also reminded to not be so surprised when He answers my prayers.

Pressing On!

Dwayne