The Turn (Acts 12)

The first part of today’s reading (Acts 12) is horrible. Everything is going wrong for the church. Christians are getting arrested and persecuted. James is killed. Peter is arrested and about to suffer the same fate.

But then something happens, and the rest of the chapter is completely different. Christians are getting out of jail, think they’re dreaming when it’s real, think a guy is a ghost but he’s just a guy, people are rejoicing, bad guys are getting executed (okay, I’m not sure if that’s good), the Word of God is spreading.

And the whole chapter turns on one sentence: “but the church was earnestly praying to God.” I wonder what might happen in our churches, how might things turn, if we earnestly prayed to God?