Series: What About James? 
Message: What About James?
Preacher: Mic Thurber
Daily Walk: David Smith

Refresh: Open with prayer. Read or listen to Psalm 68:7-18.

Read: Acts 12:1-19 (ESV). Re-read in the English Standard Version for new insights/questions. 

Reflect: One of the earliest things we are taught about prayer is the phrase “Thy will be done." This, of course, is a good and healthy concept to understand. After all, we don’t want to trust that our own desires are necessarily the best desires. We’ll conclude a prayer with “if it be your will” as a way of submitting to God’s will rather than our own. This can at times be a cop out. 
I must confess to occasions where I’ve been with a group, praying for what seemed to me to be an impossible outcome, but used the “if it be your will” conclusion to save face. In other words, I’d feel like a fool to pray boldly for intervention only to have the prayer go unanswered. By adding “if it be your will," it makes it easier to swallow any outcome and claim it was God’s will.
I can’t help but wonder if in Acts 12 the group had a similar approach to prayer. They were praying fervently for what would seem like an impossible outcome. They had already experienced the loss of James. Perhaps they would close each prayer with “if it be your will." But then the impossible happens and Peter shows up at their doorstop. Yet when Rhoda reports that Peter is standing right outside, the response of the people is, “you have lost your mind!”.
The Bible Exposition Commentary speaks to this situation when it says: 
We must face the fact that even in the most fervent prayer meetings there is sometimes a spirit of doubt and unbelief. . . . These Jerusalem saints believed that God could answer their prayers, so they kept at it night and day. But, when the answer came right to their door, they refused to believe it. God graciously honors even the weakest faith, but how much more He would do if only we would trust Him.

Recalibrate: ​ 

1. If prayer doesn't always result in what you are asking for, what good is it?
2. How can you balance the idea of submitting to the will of God (meaning that His answers may look different than you want) with belief?

Respond: Pray for God to give you more faith in His ability and willingness to intervene in your life.

Research: What are some prayers found in the Bible where the supplicant prays “not my will, but yours”.