At its core, prayer is a conversation with God. It’s not about eloquence or the right words—it’s about a heart fully surrendered to His will. A heart that longs to see Him move. Prayer is an invitation for God to intervene in our lives and circumstances (James 5:16). But if we’re honest, we don’t always pray with unwavering faith.
Have you ever found yourself seeking God’s guidance, praying earnestly, yet deep inside, doubting that heaven will actually move? You know the right thing to do is to pray, but you struggle to believe that God will act.
The early church in Acts 12 found themselves in a similar situation. King Herod had just executed James, the brother of John. Seeing how the people approved, he arrested Peter next, intending to do the same. Fear and uncertainty must have filled the believers’ hearts. Would God intervene this time? Would their prayers change anything?
Read Acts 12:1-19
The Tension in the Text
Why did God rescue Peter but allow James to die? Does God answer some prayers and not others? Is there a secret to getting God to respond?
The answer is simple yet profound: God answers prayers that align with His will. This doesn’t mean unanswered prayers are ignored or that God is indifferent. It means that His sovereign plan is at work, even when we don’t understand it. His ways are higher than ours (Isaiah 55:8-9).
So, how should we pray? How do we keep seeking Him when we feel like we’re repeating the same requests over and over again?
The Persistence of Faith
Jesus gave us a powerful lesson on prayer in Luke 18. He told the story of a persistent widow who repeatedly sought justice from a judge. Eventually, the judge granted her request—not because he cared, but because of her relentless pursuit.
The lesson isn’t that if we keep nagging God, He will eventually say yes. The point is this: we must keep seeking His desires above our own. As Psalm 37:4 says, “Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.” When our delight is in Him, our prayers will reflect His will.
Spiritual Warfare: How to Recognize and Resist the Devil’s Two Main Tactics
A Call to Bold Prayer
You already know this—normal begets normal, but crazy begets crazy. If we want to see God do extraordinary things, we need to pray extraordinary prayers.
Because bold prayers honor God, and God honors bold prayers.
So let’s pray. Let’s seek Him with unwavering faith. Let’s ask for the impossible—because nothing is impossible for our God.
Are you ready to pray bold prayers?
It was a joy to share God’s Word with the congregation at Faith Bible Church in Winnipeg. You can listen to these sermons by visiting: https://faithbiblechurch.ca/sermon-speaker/samuel-bernard/
Hey remember, Keep trusting, keep believing. If you’re still above ground, God’s not done with you yet!
Samuel Bernard (aka Sammy) is originally from Haiti, where
he grew up practicing voodoo with his mother and was
rejected by his father before birth. He survived the
devastating 2010 earthquake in Haiti that claimed over
300,000 lives. Sammy is a graduate of Millar College of the
Bible with a Bachelor’s degree in Biblical Studies and holds a
Master of Divinity (M.Div) from the Canadian Southern
Baptist Seminary. He is the author of Warrior in Training for
men Bible study. He is married to Leah, and together they
have three beautiful children.
