concerned that Peter had been imprisoned by Herod.  'Peter was therefore kept

in prison: but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for

him' (Acts 12:5).  God was graciously pleased to answer this prayer and

release His servant, who thereupon came to the house of Mary the mother of

John, where 'many were gathered together praying' (verse 12), and knocked at

the door of the gate.  When the damsel Rhoda, who recognized Peter's voice,

ran to tell them, they said to her 'thou art mad' (verse 15).  'But Peter

continued knocking: and when they had opened the door, and saw him, they were

astonished' (verse 16).

Now this was praying, but it was certainly not watching and praying,

for when the answer came, they were unprepared for it.  However, we have no

stones to throw at these believers, for how many times in the experience of

both the writer and reader has this not been repeated?  May God keep us wide

awake to recognize immediately His answers to our petitions:

'Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving' (Col.

We know little of Epaphras and his ministry, but of two things we can

be certain; his keenness and practical love for the saints at Colosse and

Laodicea (Col. 4:13), and his vital prayer life:

'Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, saluteth you, always

labouring fervently for you in prayers, that ye may stand perfect and

complete in all the will of God' (Col. 4:12).

'Labouring fervently' is a translation of the Greek word agonizomai.

While it would be going too far to translate this word 'agonize' as some have

done, it has in its composition the word agon meaning 'a race or contest',

and it brings before our mind the fact that effective praying has behind it

an intensity of effort compared to an athlete running a race.  Does this

characteristic truthfully describe our praying?  An apathetic or spasmodic

prayer life accomplishes nothing, and often we may be convicted of laxity in

this respect.

In the New Testament, prayer is always directed to God the Father (Eph.

3:14), offered in the name of the Lord Jesus (Eph. 3:21) and interpreted by

the Holy Spirit (Rom. 8:26).  How often have we heard in public, prayer

finished with the phrase 'for Christ's sake, Amen' and so rushed over as

though it was of little importance and merely a formal or correct way of

concluding.  Do we realize that it is only because of the Lord Jesus Christ

and His precious redemptive work that prayer is possible at all?  If we do,

then we shall be very conscious of this supreme fact as we pray and ask that

all His fragrance should be cast over all our spiritual breathings to God.

The Lord Jesus, looking ahead to Peter's denial of Himself, says to

him: 'Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat; but I

have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not' (Luke 22:31,32).  Literally

the words read, 'I have prayed (peri) around thee'.  Peter was, as it were,

surrounded with a wall of protective prayer by the Lord and in spite of his