Title: I Believe, But... /Topic: Faith

PLEASE EXCUSE MY ABSENCE. I have been ill for several weeks and not keeping up on my blogging. I am back and looking forward to sharing my thoughts on my daily reading. God bless you.

Today’s Reading: Exodus 39; Exodus 40; Psalm 15; Acts 12

Scripture: Acts 12: 5, 12-15
5 So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him.

12 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. 13 Peter knocked at the outer entrance, and a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer the door. 14 When she recognized Peter's voice, she was so overjoyed she ran back without opening it and exclaimed, "Peter is at the door!"
15 "You're out of your mind," they told her. When she kept insisting that it was so, they said, "It must be his angel."

Observation: This scripture encourages me. So often I am just like these disciples. I pray earnestly for something to happen but I am surprised when it does. Why? There seems to be no predictability in how God will choose to answer our prayers. Add to that the fact that we know we aren't perfect in our obedience to God and feel we don't deserve him to act on our behalf. Therefore, we are reticent to expect him to work wonders for us each and every time we pray. These disciples had just suffered the execution of James and now Peter is slated for the same fate. I'm sure they had prayed for James to be delivered from death but he was not. No wonder their expectations for Peter's rescue were dampened. Yet, they prayed earnestly anyway. And God answered with a mighty miracle.

Application: I need to pray earnestly for God to do the miraculous even if I have been disappointed by previous prayers not being answered in the way I had hoped. I have to realize that I will never understand why God allows certain things to happen and keep believing that he wants me to pray in faith anyway. He will give the right answer.

Prayer: Father, every prayer is an act of faith. I know you are pleased when we exercise our faith and trust you for the outcome. Thank you that you answer in spite of the fact that our expectations aren't always what they should be. I want to pray more and more and see what mighty wonders you will perform on behalf of your people. May your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
This I pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.