Pray and Don’t Give Up!

July 5, 2026

Today we’re talking about the power of not giving up on prayer. Prayer is one of the most powerful things in the life of a Christian and in the life of a church. The power is not in our prayers. It’s in the one who hears our prayers!

If I ask, who here struggles with an inconsistent prayer life? 99% of us are going to say we struggle with an inconsistent prayer life. The other 1% might struggle with telling the truth!

The Holy Spirit works in powerful ways in believers when they pray. But it’s not like believers pray, and their life is magically great and in everything they are successful! No, they still have problems. The Holy Spirit helps us pray even though. And that’s a powerful thing, when you pray, even though. Even though you worry about paying the bills, you pray to God. Even though you are worried about a family member who is going in the wrong direction, you persist in prayer. When everybody on social media seems to have it all and be living the best life, but your life seems much humbler, you pray even though! You pray because you know you matter to God and that the Holy Spirit can still use you in very significant ways.

In the story from Acts 12 today, there is an amazing church In Jerusalem that loves one another and meets together in homes breaking bread together. But something terrible happened.

We meet King Herod in this story. Did you know there are actually six King Herods in the New Testament? There’s King Herod, who is Herod the Great. He’s the one who, when Jesus was born, decided all the male Hebrew babies must be killed. He was horrible! Herod the Great’s son was Herod Antipas. He was the King Herod who had John the Baptist’s head cut off and was eager to see Jesus before he was crucified. He wanted Jesus to perform miracles for him. But Jesus would not, he wouldn’t even speak to Herod. The Herod in our story today from Acts 12, Herod Agrippa, is the grandson of Herod the Great. These King Herods were all bad news for the Christians! We sometimes name babies after people in the Bible. But it seems like no one ever names their kid Herod!

This King Herod in Acts wants to gain political favor with the Jews, so he goes after one of the early church leaders, James the brother of John, and has him beheaded. Some of the Jews like that, (the Christians definitely didn’t, but they were in the minority.) King Herod decides, I’ll kill another church leader: Peter. He has him put in jail, intending to put him on trial after Passover.

Verse 5 says, “So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him.” The church didn’t give up! James has been killed, but they pray for Peter! Verse 6 says, “The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries stood guard at the entrance.” The security is so tight, he’s in chains with soldiers and sentries guarding him, there is no way Peter is going to escape!

Remarkably, Peter is a great sleeper, even in prison. Some people can fall asleep easily, and anywhere. When I was a kid, our family would go out where a friend of my dad’s, who had a little place on Indian Lake, a big lake in Ohio. We’d all get in his motorboat; he’d take us around the lake. I would always fall asleep. I was good at that! Anybody here who can sleep anywhere? I’m going to watch you today!

Peter can sleep anywhere. In Luke 9 Jesus is transfigured, he’s dazzling! And Jesus is talking to Moses and Elijah, who come down from heaven! But Peter is very sleepy. Another time, in Matthew, Jesus asks his three followers to stay and pray. But they fell asleep. Here, in Acts 12, Peter’s not stressed, he’s sleeping like a baby in jail!

A miracle is about to happen. The miracle starts with the church praying earnestly and constantly for Peter. They pray from the heart, and they keep at it. Soon, an angel of the Lord comes to Peter in prison! But Peter is sleeping, snoring away. So, the angel strikes him! Peter finally wakes up! The angel says, “Quick, get dressed!” and breaks the chains holding Peter. Then the angel leads him through the prison, past the sentries. Peter thinks this is a dream. He’s good at sleeping, and he thinks, maybe I’m not awake yet! The angel leads Peter out of the prison, through the iron gate. He discovers that what he thought was just a dream or a vision is real! The angel leaves, and Peter looks around realizing, now I know the Lord sent his angel to rescue me from the clutches of King Herod!

Peter goes straight to a house where the Christians are gathered together, praying. He knocks at the door. And the maid, Rhoda, comes. She is just overjoyed! She runs back to the Christians, leaving Peter outside! She tells the church: “Peter is here!” The Christians tell her, “You’re crazy!” She says, “It’s true!” They say that he must have died and it’s his angel.

They don’t believe Peter is there! This is really encouraging for us. Because even the early church struggled with doubts that their prayers would work!

 Peter keeps knocking, they all go to the door, and there’s Peter! He tells them how the angel saved him!!

Even the church that prayed earnestly and often, couldn’t believe God had worked a miracle! Why is it hard to believe our prayers will work? Because horrible things happen! For the church, Stephen had already been killed by stoning. More recently, Herod beheaded James. Terrible things had happened. But they still gather to pray for Peter. They pray anyway.

But the power of prayer is not in our prayers. It’s in the One who hears our prayers. It’s not like we have to tell God what we need. Jesus said in Matthew 6:8, “Your father knows what you need, even before you ask.” We don’t pray to give God the news about what’s got us feeling down. He already knows. Prayer is for us. It’s for us to talk to our Father in heaven, to rest in him, knowing he hears and answers prayer. Prayer is a way of trusting that God will care for us, even though. And sometimes God performs a miracle!  

When you pray and don’t give up, prayer changes you! It gives you hope and peace. You gain spiritual endurance. You are sticking with God in a tough time. You build spiritual muscles that get you through tough times and keep you on the right path.

When God answers your prayer, you have a wonderful reminder of how awesome, powerful and loving God is! When you pray and don’t give up, it changes you.

My challenge for you this week is to not give up praying! Bring your concerns and worries to God daily. I am a list person. Instead of avoiding the things that fill you with worry, instead of thinking, God can’t help, this week, write your worries down. Then pray to God for those needs.  

Jesus taught his disciples in Luke 18:1 that they should always pray and not give up! Prayer is powerful, because through prayer we communicate with our Father in heaven. We bring our burdens to him. God is always delighted when we pray to Him! He hears every word. When you pray and don’t give up, you put your faith in God, and you grow closer to him! Sometimes you experience the miracle of answered prayer! God is good! That makes you so glad you prayed and never gave up!

Amen!