There is a theme throughout the Bible: we serve a sovereign God. At the same time, we may struggle as we wonder, In the sovereign plan and purpose of God, what role does prayer play? If God is sovereign and does whatever He wants, does it matter if I pray or not?

In the beginning of Acts 12, we read about how King Herod was persecuting the church. He executed James, the brother of John. "And because he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to seize Peter also" (v. 3).

If you've read the Bible, you know Peter would escape from prison. Well, James was just as dedicated and godly as Peter; he loved Jesus as much as Peter did. So why is it that one got killed and the other didn't?

Sometimes we're mystified when we see good, godly men or women suffer and die. We think of the years of service and ministry they could've had, and we don't understand. We know God is sovereign, but sometimes it's not easy to deal with. And yet, God said, "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts" (Isaiah 55:9). So we have to stop right there and say, "You're sovereign. You're God. I'm not."

Now look at verse 5: "Peter was therefore kept in prison, but constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church." We should apply constant prayer to situations within our church, like lost jobs, illnesses, etc., because it will change the outcome. That doesn't mean God changes His mind, but God somehow loves to partner with His people to get His will done on Earth. And He does operate mysteriously, according to our prayer.

Even when other doors are shut, one door always remains open, and that's the door of prayer. It's our secret weapon. Yet some of us believers don't engage much in prayer with real faith, because we fail to believe that.

The prayer meeting in Acts 12 worked. As Thomas Watson, the great Puritan, once wrote, "The angel fetched Peter out of prison, but it was prayer that fetched the angel." It was God's will to deliver Peter, but God got them cooperating with His will. Now, they probably prayed as fervently for James as they did for Peter. But God said no.

Here's the point. God is still sovereign. When you pray, you can't demand from Him. God is not a slave to your faith-formed words. You can't "claim it in Jesus' name." That's nonsense. God has editing rights over your prayer life.

The group in Acts 12 didn't have enough faith that Peter would be delivered. But God did it anyway. Martha and Mary didn't have faith that Lazarus would be raised from the dead. But Jesus did it.

We should be like the man who told Jesus, "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!" (Mark 9:24). When we pray, sometimes we have faith that God can do anything, we're just not sure He will do something now.

God is in charge. He rules—and He overrules. So can we rest in the care of God (see 1 Peter 5:7)? Or are we going to live lives that lack confidence and certainty because we won't believe the promises of the Word?

One of my favorite Scriptures is Isaiah 26:3: "You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You." As J. Oswald Sanders said, "Peace is not the absence of trouble, but the presence of God."