It’s easy to read the account of Peter’s miraculous rescue from prison and leave the story at just that—a story about a miracle. To do so, however, is to ignore the entirety of the story that begins with a brief but tragic sentence:  “He (Herod) had James, the brother of John, executed with a sword."  Once one slows down to process this, one recognizes that wrapped up in this passage is an experience parallel to what many of us go through in our lives. The walk of faith is complicated. There are moments where God intervenes dramatically. There are also those other moments where God seems utterly silent and tragedy strikes no matter how much we’ve prayed. We are constantly left with questions, wondering why God chooses to do what He does. This week as we look at the story of James, we will explore faith, prayer, and unanswered questions. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
The Bible Exposition Commentary by W. W.  Wiersbe. Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains by J. P. Louw & E. A. Nida. 
Prayer by Timothy Keller. 
Prayer: Does it Make Any Difference? by Philip Yancey.