September 28, 2025

Peter found himself stuck in a prison cell—with no way out. King Herod was laying his “violent hands on some who belonged to the church” (Acts 12:1). He had already killed James, John’s brother. And now he had “seized” Peter and “put him in prison,” enlisting “four squads of soldiers to guard him” (12:4). He made sure there would be no escape.

But King Herod didn’t count on who he was up against: Peter’s heavenly Father. The Bible says that “earnest prayer for [Peter] was made . . . by the church” (12:5), and God heard those prayers. Peter was asleep in prison, bound in chains between two guards. Suddenly, a light shone in the cell, his chains fell off, and an angel told Peter to get up and follow him. Peter escaped! But Peter thought it was all just a vision. It wasn’t until he walked past all the guards and the iron gate out of the city opened by itself that he knew that God rescued him: “Now I am sure that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod” (12:11). Peter went to the house where the church was praying for Peter to be freed. He knocked on the door. A girl named Rhoda saw Peter, but she didn’t open the door. She was so excited, she forgot! She just ran to tell everyone that Peter was free. They said, “You’re crazy. It must be a dream.” Peter kept knocking until they finally saw him and let him in. They were amazed. Even though God had done exactly what they were asking him to do, they found it hard to believe. They barely believed God could answer their prayers, but that didn’t stop God from answering them.

The next day, Herod couldn’t find Peter anywhere. So he punished the prison guards by killing them. Soon after, God struck down the proud king. And so Peter lived to preach another day, because God rescued him from the wicked king. And “the word of God increased and multiplied” (12:24), which is another way to say that the church kept growing and growing.