They Prayed for Peter and Called Rhoda Mad: Only Believe

Sermon outline

God's promises are yes and amen to those who believe, so pray believing, receive the answer the moment you say amen, and guard your words so that unbelief does not cancel what God has already granted.

1. All the promises of God are yes and amen

   However many God's promises are, they all find their yes in Christ, and we say the amen to the glory of God. They are yes and amen to those who believe, so the believer's part is faith.

   “I showed you how to get a hold of the treasures of God. There's only one way and the way is faith.”

   • 2 Corinthians 1:20

2. Faith is the title deed: walk with a trouble-free mind

   He reads Hebrews 11 from the Amplified: faith is the title deed of things hoped for, the worlds were framed by the word of God, and without faith it is impossible to please Him. Abraham went out not knowing or troubling his mind about where he was going, and waited expectantly for the city whose architect and builder is God. Determine to walk with a trouble-free mind and a stance of expectancy, because God is building you and He is never late.

   Illustration: The invisible spirit world created the tangible physical world, and that is how you build your life.

   “You have to walk this life with a trouble-free mind.”

   • Hebrews 11:1-10

3. Praying people who did not believe

   Herod killed James and imprisoned Peter, and the church prayed fervently and persistently. God heard them and sent an angel, not a sheriff or a centurion, and the iron city gate opened of its own accord. But when Rhoda the maid said Peter was at the gate, the praying people told her she was mad and said it must be his angel, and were amazed when they opened the door. Rhoda became the first preacher of the episode. If you believe God answered when you prayed, why would you be amazed?

   Illustration: Peter keeps knocking at the gate while the prayer meeting inside argues with Rhoda that she is crazy.

   “Why would you be amazed if you believed that when you prayed, God answered your prayer?”

   • Acts 12:1-17
   • Mark 11:24

4. Zechariah: unbelief silenced

   Zechariah was a priest who knew the Scriptures about angels, yet when the angel appeared fear took hold of him. Told his petition was heard and his wife would bear a son, he asked for a sign and used the same excuse as Abraham: 'I'm an old man.' Gabriel, who stands in God's presence, made him silent until the promise came to pass, which actually helped him, because he would have talked himself out of the miracle.

   Illustration: If an angel showed up and said he was Gabriel, sent from the presence of the Lord, he would simply say, 'Yes, sir.'

   “Fear opens the door to the enemy to come and run rampage in your life.”

   • Luke 1:10-22

5. The premium God places on words

   You will have whatever you say. The tongue is like the small rudder that steers a big ship, so whatever you say will construct something for you or break it down. Complaining and murmuring destroy your future, and rash words are seed in the ground that bring a harvest of thorns. There is power in prayer and power in talking, so a praying person who still talks wrong is still in trouble.

   Illustration: Rash words grow into thorns, thistles and a thicket in the garden, and you wonder when it came.

   “You will have today what you said yesterday and you will have tomorrow what you will say today.”

   • Mark 11:23-24
   • James 3:4

6. When you say amen, you've got it

   Prayer can become a religious duty and a ritual instead of intimate communion, and we can pray in gross unbelief. Prayer must be accompanied by believing: when you say amen you have taken hold of it, whether it takes a day or five years, so leave your prayer closet rejoicing even if people think you are crazy. A double-minded man receives nothing, so maintain a strong confession in the storm. Angels are already at work on your answer, and wrong words immobilise them.

   Illustration: He has had several angelic visitations and is very aware that angels go with you when you drive and watch over you when you set the alarm and go to bed. Elisha's servant had his eyes opened to see horses and chariots of fire all around.

   “The moment you start to speak words that are not conducive to bring you the result, you immobilise your angels.”

   • James 1:6-8
   • Hebrews 1:14
   • 2 Kings 6:16-17

7. Mary: be it unto me according to your word

   Mary's question, 'How can this be?', was a legitimate question from a virgin, not unbelief, and the angel answered that the Holy Spirit would overshadow her. Elizabeth, who was called barren, had conceived, for with God nothing is impossible and no word from God is without power. Mary's response, 'Let it be done to me according to your word', should be the believer's response.

   “With God nothing is ever impossible and no word from God shall be without power or impossible of fulfilment.”

   • Luke 1:26-38

8. Refuse unbelief and practise the Word

   These accounts are recorded so that we do not repeat their mistakes. Every time something negative hits you, say that God's promises are yes and amen and that with God nothing is impossible. Respect doctors, who fight the same enemy scientifically, but when their knowledge expires God takes over, and statistics are not greater than God. Experiment with spiritual things and keep laying hands on the sick until it works, because little results grow little faith into strong faith.

   Illustration: During a severe financial struggle, with both him and his wife working, his card was declined at a hypermarket and he walked out without the groceries. He told his brother-in-law he refused to accept it, then stood up in a large church to pledge by faith towards tarring the car park, and within two weeks God put the money in his hands.

   “Spiritual things are there for you to experiment with.”

   • Matthew 19:26
   • Malachi 3:10