Acts 12 tells of King Herod's persecution of Christ followers, namely James and Peter. When Peter was arrested and imprisoned, Herod placed sixteen soldiers to guard him ! Maybe Herod had some concerns about the power of Peter's God. It says that the brethren prayed earnestly without ceasing unto God for Peter. Then it happened. Even 16 soldiers were not enough to hinder God's work to free Peter. Peter finds himself outside of the prison before he realized that it wasn't just a dream (that an angel of the Lord had released his chains and led him past all the guards). It must have been quite a remarkable revelation that God had actually delivered him from Herod. He then went to a house where many of the brethren had been praying for his deliverance. When a servant had opened the door and told the brethren who had arrived, their initial reaction was unbelief. They couldn't believe it was really Peter. They said to the servant, "you're out of your mind"(v.15). She insisted and they then said, "it must be his guardian angel". Peter kept knocking and when they finally let him in and saw that it was truly him, v.16 says they were "astonished".

These people had earnestly and unceasingly prayed for Peter's release, yet when God answered their prayers, they had a really hard time believing it was true. Can you relate to this? I (unfortunately) can too. I think that often when things work out according to our prayers, we fail to acknowledge and give God the glory and thanksgiving He deserves. Once the brethren finally acknowledged that Peter was really standing before them, Peter told them how the Lord had brought him out of prison and he asked them to "tell this to James and the brothers." Peter demonstrates that we should affirm God's activity in our lives by acknowledging answered prayer and sharing our praises to God with the body of Christ.

I think. He knows. What do you think?