Our Primary Concern in Suffering

Deeper Reflection
WHAT DO WE ASK GOD FOR IN PRAYER WHEN WE ARE undergoing suffering? For many of us, what immediately comes to our mind is that God will deliver us from the suffering. It is not wrong, except that, that tends to be our primary concern.In Acts 12, when Peter “was kept in prison”, the church prayed fervently to God for him (Acts 12:5). God answered their prayer almost immediately: “On the very night when Herod…” (Acts 12:6). When God had already answered their prayer (Acts 12:6-11), the church was still “praying” for Peter (Acts 12:12). And it is very strange that when Rhoda reported that Peter was at the door, the church’s response was “You are out of your mind!” (Acts 12:13-15a); and when Rhoda “kept insisting” that it was Peter, the church “kept saying” that it was not (Acts 12:15b). This strange response of the church shows that whatever they were praying for Peter, one thing for sure was, they were “not anticipating an escape”¹⁹. The backdrop to the church praying for Peter was James being killed by Herod (Acts 12:2). So, the prayer of the church “must be for God’s protection and strength in some other way, either in a positive verdict or in some type of lesser punishment”²⁰.Paul’s primary concern for the suffering Thessalonians in his prayer was their relationship with God and the growth of their faith in action (v.11). We need to discern God’s agenda and purpose in our prayer. In Acts 12, God’s agenda for Peter was deliverance, but for James, it was death.

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¹⁹ Darrell L. Bock, Acts, Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Baker, 2007), 426 ²⁰ Darrell L. Bock, 426