Acts 12:5

I go in for surgery tomorrow, Tuesday, April 30th, 2024, and I must admit that I am somewhat apprehensive. They (the doctors) try to allay my fears by telling me that it is minor surgery, but I can’t help but wonder – is any surgery really minor? Even though in my heart, I know some surgeries are minor compared to others, I’m still trying to convey that to myself, especially the night before.

The fact is, I have had minor surgeries before and even though they told me, I may feel some soreness, it was not minor. Call me a coward if you want to, but they all hurt. I wonder why they do that? They were indeed all what you refer to as out-patient procedures, but I think on every occasion it hurt something crazy after the anesthesia wore off.

It hurt so much that at that moment I really couldn’t even pray. That’s why it’s so important to pray when you can, to store up prayers, to do like what Jesus did in the garden of Gethsemane – pray before the process, pray over the procedure and really pray before the ordeal and trial by fire.

We cannot wait until the crisis happens to pray. Before the crisis we must do our pre-op assessment. We must make sure to prep ourselves and soak ourselves in pre-crisis praying. It is also in times like these that you earnestly thank God for the prayers of the saints.

How do individuals face painful physical ordeals or any real ordeal without the effectual fervent prayers of the saints, fortifying them? For real, the Scriptures affirm we need the prayers of those we love. The author of the Early genesis of the Christian church documents this for us in such a vivid way when he declared “Peter was kept in prison: but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him” (Acts 12:5). It is one of the prominent themes of the Christian church. We fervently pray for one another!
As much as Peter prayed and could be classified as a real man of prayer, (Acts 3:1;10:9), the time came when in addition to his own sincere prayers, he needed the robust, uninterrupted prayers of the saints on his behalf. Not only did they pray but they prayed “without ceasing” (Acts 12:5). I surmise that if the devil could only see what he sets in motion with his mischievous antics against the church and the brethren, he probably wouldn’t try so hard to upset us. I still contend he doesn’t realize that the church functions more and better in adversity. We usually pray satisfactorily, but when Hell breaks loose upon us, we pray even more, not just for ourselves but increasingly more intently for one another.
So, I just wanted to pen these few words to say thank you for your prayers, not just for me only but for all those who are presently really hurting and in need. We help each other out in prayer. We genuinely storm heaven on behalf of each other. The lyrics of Hezekiah Walker’s song “You pray for me – I pray for you, I love you, I need you to survive” are truly appropriate. Our survivability is seriously dependent upon each other. We will make it through every ordeal as we lovingly “Bear one another’s burden” (Galatians 6:2). The prayers of those we love are essential.