INTRO

Good morning, family!

It’s good to be with you again this morning.

We’ve been walking through Acts, asking what it means to be the church—not just a place we go on Sundays, but a people who carry the name of Jesus, live by His Spirit, and through whom He wants to shake the world.

So today, we have to look at prayer. We have to! We have to. And if you don’t know Acts 12 off the top of your head, that might actually surprise you too.

Prayer is one of the most staggering privileges given to human beings—it’s calling heaven down to earth, and asking that the earth be filled with the glory of God’s name.

Every great awakening in church history has begun with intense, persistent, united prayer. When the Spirit of God moves with undeniable power—transforming not just individuals, but communities, cities, even nations—prayer has always come first.

We stand in a long line of nameless saints who knelt down and saw heaven open. And I wonder—what if God wants to write the next chapter of revival here? Not through a better preacher or a cooler event—but through a praying church?

A people who say: God, we want You.

We want Your Kingdom. Lives to change. Chains to break.

We want our town to know Jesus is alive.

So today, as we open Acts 12, we’re going to ask:

What kind of prayer does God listen to?

And how do we become a church that actually prays like it matters?

But before we dive in, let me share a quick story. When Jenny and I were preparing to move overseas as missionaries to Moldova, we had to raise support—as missionaries often do. It is a humbling experience to ask people to financially support your family for an undetermined amount of time with no hope of repayment.

So I had this thick directory of churches, and I started calling through them alphabetically. Hundreds of churches. Voicemail after voicemail.

Eventually I got into such a rhythm I could do it on autopilot. Same script, over and over. And the thing about autopilot is… your brain shuts off. You don’t always know what you’re saying.

So on more than one occasion—no joke—I ended a voicemail with: “...in Jesus’ name I pray, amen.” More than once. Too many times, honestly.

Needless to say, those churches didn’t support us.

That was weird. But honestly—we say some weird things when we pray, don’t we?

Prayer can become a performance. We say things like, “God, I just want to echo what Brent said,” and someone else echoes the echo. Or we start stacking up “just” prayers: “Lord, I just want to ask… just be with us… just…” You ever wonder what we’re doing?

I came across an article from Midwest Christian Outreach—so for some of you this might hit close to home. It was titled, “How to Have an Annoying Prayer Life.”

“We may not consciously judge people on other things, but we judge people on how they do prayer. If you want to have an annoying prayer life, by all means inculcate a habit of silently criticizing others and how they pray and make sure you follow the prayer rules to the letter. You must close your eyes and bow your head unless you really want to be spiritual then you will raise your head so high you risk a pinched nerve if the prayer is too long. But you never ever should open your eyes (except to see if everyone else has their eyes closed)... If you are leading the prayer, you should make sure to pray for the 50 or so prayer requests mentioning every minute detail of Aunt Sally’s surgery. If you leave someone’s request out by accident, the prayer doesn’t count.”

We laugh because it’s ridiculous—but also because it’s relatable. Have you ever sat through a prayer that just goes on and on? I don’t want to sit through that. I’m pretty sure Jesus said something against that.

And it got me thinking—are there prayers God doesn’t want to listen to?

Are there things we pray that don’t go past our own breath—not because God’s annoyed or checked out, but because maybe… we’re not really praying?

Prayer is one of the most staggering privileges we’ve been given.

We get to speak with the God of the universe.

We get to ask Him to move.

We get to call heaven down to earth.

We get to take part in the filling of the earth with His glory.

But are there prayers God doesn’t hear?

Are we filling the air with empty words that never leave the room—because maybe… we’re not really praying?

IS PRAYER CONDITIONAL?

We love to say things like, “Prayer is powerful,” or “God hears us”—and yes, those things are true. But Scripture also says some things that should stop us in our tracks. Like, maybe we shouldn’t treat prayer so casually.

James writes: “You don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it. And even when you ask, you don’t get it because your motives are all wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure.” (James 4:2–3)

Later he says, “Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.” (James 5:16)

Not every prayer is powerful. Not every request gets through.

Hebrews 5:7 says this about Jesus: “While Jesus was here on earth, He offered prayers and pleadings, with loud cries and tears, to the one who could rescue Him from death. And God heard His prayers because of His deep reverence.”

He wasn’t heard because He was dramatic. Or because He repeated Himself.

He was heard because of His reverence—His deep, holy submission to the Father.

One of the clearest verses on this is 2 Chronicles 7:14: “If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”

So—is God not attentive unless those conditions are met?

Does that mean prayer is conditional?

This is an if/then statement. If they humble themselves… seek Him… turn from sin—then He will hear, then He will forgive, then He will heal.

So is prayer conditional?

In one sense—yes, because prayer is relational.

Prayer is an invitation to walk with God, to commune with Him—not just to get things from Him. And just like in any relationship, the posture of your heart matters. How you live matters. How you love matters. It matters whether you're listening to God when you're asking Him to listen to you.

But in another sense—no prayer is not conditional.

If God only answered the prayers of the sinless, none of us would be heard. If effectiveness required perfection, we’d all be disqualified.

But God is gracious. In His mercy, He often answers prayer in spite of our sin—not because of our worthiness. He may withhold at times. But if He only responded based on sinlessness, we’d all be silenced.

So let’s be careful: answered prayer is not proof of righteousness. And unanswered prayer is not necessarily proof of guilt. God is not manipulated by our so-called "perfection," but neither is He indifferent to the posture of our hearts.

In one sense—yes, God always hears. He is faithful and attentive.

But in another sense, we are often too distracted to notice.

We live independently from Him—wanting divine help without divine surrender.

We want God to show up on our terms.

The hard truth is that we are often the saboteurs of our own prayers.

It’s not that God doesn’t want to move. It’s that we don’t ask (James 4:2). Or we ask with selfish motives (James 4:3). Or we ask with our lips while our lives run in the opposite direction.

God longs to respond. But He also longs for our hearts, not just our requests.

So we hinder our prayers—not God.

Unanswered prayer doesn’t always mean “no.”

But it should cause us to pause and ask:

Am I praying with reverence?

Am I aligned with His will?

Am I walking with Him—or squeezing Him into my schedule?

Let’s be honest—we live distracted spiritual lives. We try to drag God along like a carry-on in our overbooked agendas, and then wonder why He feels distant.

Prayer is one of the most shocking, undeserved privileges God has given us… And yet—most of us don’t do it.

WHY DON’T WE PRAY?

D.A. Carson once wrote, “If you really want to embarrass the average Christian, ask them to tell you in detail about their personal prayer life.” (A Call to Spiritual Reformation, p. 16)

That’s painful, right? It causes most Christians to squirm. Not because we don’t believe in prayer—but because we don’t actually do it with any consistency or depth.

We talk about it. We plan to pray. But do we actually pray?

According to the Center for Mission Mobilization, only 6% of students preparing for overseas missions—the future missionaries, the ones who’ve said “Here I am, send me”—could say they had a consistent, daily prayer life.

Just 6%.

These are the people preparing to bring the gospel to unreached peoples, and most of them are heading out spiritually unarmed.

What about us? What is your personal prayer time like? Not to cause shame within us.

Because I’m telling you—God has more for you. He’s not looking for a performance. He’s not grading your eloquence. He wants your presence. Your honesty. Your heart.

But let’s be honest—prayer often becomes mechanical.

I have a list of daily prayer tasks, reminders meant to encourage me to pray. But over time, they’ve become boxes to check—easily ignored, easily forgotten.

Michael Reeves writes: “Prayer becomes impersonal when we run through a list of names or sit and kneel or stand in such and such a place. We take God out of the routine of prayer… The problem is not so much that we are too busy, or that we find prayer hard. The problem is that we don’t enjoy God. And if we don’t enjoy God, we won’t enjoy prayer.” (Enjoy Your Prayer Life, p. 8, 17)

It’s not just that we’re bad at prayer. It’s that we’ve lost the wonder of God. If prayer is communion with someone we find boring, distant, or irrelevant, of course it becomes a task. But if prayer is communion with our Father who loves us—who sings over us and wants to walk with us—then prayer becomes joy.

We don’t pray.

We don’t make time.

We don’t gather with others to seek God’s face.

And then we wonder why our churches are dry, our hearts feel cold, and our spiritual lives feel disconnected.

What if God has more for you than what you’ve settled for?

He’s not scolding—He’s inviting. What if He’s just waiting for you to stop scrolling, stop running, and start listening?

Samuel Chadwick once wrote: “The one concern of the devil is to keep the saints from prayer. He fears nothing from prayerless studies, prayerless work, prayerless religion. He laughs at our toil, mocks at our wisdom, but trembles when we pray.” (The Path of Prayer, p. 29)

Prayer is not one spiritual discipline among many—it’s the frontline of spiritual warfare. And the enemy will do anything to keep you from it.

Let’s be the kind of church the devil worries about.

Not because we’re loud or impressive—but because our lives are defined by prayer.

WHAT WERE THEY PRAYING FOR?

Let’s set the scene in Acts 12.

Peter has been arrested. James—one of the apostles, one of Jesus’ inner three—is already dead. Herod sees that persecuting leaders wins him favor, so now Peter is in prison, awaiting execution. And the church knows it.

And what does the church do?

They pray.

They gather in a house and cry out through the night.

Here’s the thing—we don’t know who they were. None of the apostles are mentioned. No well-known leaders. Just a nameless group of faithful saints, crying out in the dark. The only name we get is a servant girl named Rhoda.

And I love that.

Because God doesn’t need celebrity Christians.

He listens to unnamed, unseen saints who are just desperate enough to believe He still moves.

And here’s the twist: God answers their prayer—but they don’t believe it. Peter doesn’t even believe it—he thinks it’s a dream. When he shows up at the gate, Rhoda hears his voice and is so excited she forgets to open the door. She runs back in shouting, “Peter’s at the gate!”

The people praying don’t believe her. “It must be his angel,” they say—because they think Peter has already been executed. It couldn’t possibly be him. He’s dead. It must be his angel.

Which raises an important question:

If they didn’t expect Peter to be rescued… what were they actually praying for?

Probably not for a jailbreak. Probably not even for rescue.

They were likely praying for what the early church always prayed in suffering: That the Spirit would move in power. That they would be strengthened, not shaken. That Peter would remain faithful to the end. That fear wouldn’t win. That the mission would go forward, no matter what happened next.

Eugene Peterson writes that the Psalms teach us to pray with the rhythms of life—especially in two forms: evening prayers and morning prayers.

In Psalm 4, the psalmist comes to God at night with his anger, sadness, anxiety—all the weight of the day. He vents. He remembers God’s promises. And then he says: “In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, Lord, make me dwell in safety.” (Psalm 4:8)

Peterson says this is what we do when we’re overwhelmed: “You’re worrying about these things now, God—so I can sleep.”

Evening prayer is about release. Laying it down. Trusting that God is awake so we don’t have to be.

Then there’s Psalm 5. Morning prayer. A different tone entirely. “In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly.” (Psalm 5:3)

This is bold prayer. Expectant prayer. Prayer that says, “God, today is Yours. Advance Your Kingdom. Act decisively. Move with power.”

Peterson calls this "launching prayer"—the kind that doesn’t just survive the night but storms the day.

So what were they praying for in Acts 12? Maybe a little bit of both…

Some were praying evening prayers, "God, we don’t understand. We’re scared. James is dead. Peter might be next. But we know You’re good. So we give this to You.”

Others were praying morning prayers, “God, advance the gospel. Strengthen our leaders. Make Peter faithful. Empower us with boldness like You have continued to do”

They were a people, praying as if their lives depended on it. This may be their last night after all. So these must have been some powerful, desperate prayers—like Jesus in the garden type prayers.

PRAYING AS IF YOUR LIFE DEPENDS ON IT

When you pray—if you pray—do you pray like your life depends on it?

What would you pray for if you knew today was your last day on earth?

Most of the time, our prayers assume we’ve got time. We pray to prolong our future—or someone else’s. We pray for health, success, safety, opportunity.

But they didn’t have the luxury of long-term planning. They honestly believed Jesus could return at any moment—and they longed for it.

There’s this undercurrent all through the New Testament—in Paul, Peter, James: Jesus could return at any moment. The Kingdom was imminent. The clock was ticking. And their prayers carried that desperation.

Peter writes, “The end of the world is coming soon. Therefore, be earnest and disciplined in your prayers.” (1 Peter 4:7)

So if it were us in that house in Acts 12—if tonight we stood before the Creator of the universe—how would we pray?

Would your prayers shrink or expand?

Would you pray for the stuff that won’t matter tomorrow?

Or would you beg God to pour out His Spirit?

Would you plead for your family to know Christ?

Would you cry out for holiness, boldness, revival?

I don’t want to waste my final prayers asking God for things that only matter if I get more time here. I want to pray, “God, whatever time I’ve got left—use it. Make it count. Make me faithful. Shake the world through my little life.”

The people in Acts 12 didn’t know if they’d survive the week.

But they did know that God was real, that Jesus was alive, and that prayer was the only path forward.

So they prayed like their lives depended on it… Because maybe they did.

OPPORTUNITIES TO PRAY

And maybe ours do too.

What if God wants to do something more in this church family?

What if God wants to do more in this church family?

What if He’s ready to move—but He’s waiting for persistent, humble prayer that pleases His heart?

Near the end of his life, Tim Keller was asked if he’d do anything differently in ministry. He said, “Absolutely. I should have prayed more.” One of the most thoughtful, faithful pastors of our time said: “I missed it.”

Let’s not make the same mistake.

First—this starts with you. You must become a person of prayer. Not just in crisis. Not just when someone else is leading. But with regular rhythms of stopping and seeking God.

Set aside a time. Set aside a place.

Turn off your phone. Open the Scriptures. And pray.

Let your Bible reading become prayer. Don’t just read to check a box—read to hear from God. Turn every verse into a conversation.

Pray in concentric circles. Outward in or inward out. Start with yourself—ask God to revive your heart. Then your family—pray by name for your spouse, your kids, your friends. Then your church—ask for unity, boldness, holiness, mission. Then your town—for justice, salvation, spiritual hunger. Then the nations—that the name of Jesus would be known where it’s not.

We don’t start with technique—we start with awe.

Trembling joy. The holy privilege of approaching God at all.

A guy I knew once said, “I don’t want this to make us feel guilty… I do want it to make us feel a little dumb.”

I’m not trying to guilt you into prayer. But maybe we need to see how crazy it is that we have access to the God who spoke galaxies into being, who raises the dead, who calls us His children… And we’re too busy? Too distracted?

That’s not guilt. That’s insanity. Because here’s the truth: If we don’t eat, we starve. If we don’t drink, we die. If we don’t move, we atrophy. And if we don’t pray—we suffocate.

Prayer is not a bonus feature of spiritual life.

It is the spiritual life.

If we are not experiencing the life of God, it may be because we’re choking on a prayerless existence.

Jesus said: “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you.” (Matthew 7:7)

And in the Greek, that’s keep on asking. Keep on seeking. Keep on knocking.

Persistent prayer.

Ongoing prayer.

Desperate prayer.

Faithful prayer.

Cultivate a life of prayer—alone and together. So let’s step into this. Here are some ways we can pray together as a church:

Next Sunday will be a Prayer & Praise Sunday—an entire service centered on crying out to God together. In the first few weeks of August, we’ll have another Prayer 7 Praise Sunday.

We are going to do another 24-hour, maybe more, prayer time as we prepare for the return of students.

Throughout the summer, there will be a couple of prayer nights on a Friday or Saturday evening—dates and locations TBD.

This isn’t extra credit. This is survival. This is spiritual hunger.

So let’s not miss it. Let’s not assume someone else will do the praying.

Let’s be the ones who say with open hands and expectant hearts: “Lord, teach us to pray.”

We’re ready.

Resources (*the views expressed within the following content are solely the author's and may not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of Mountainside Church):

Midtown Downtown (Acts Series)

Summit Church (Acts Series)

Seven ways to sabotage your prayer life

Do my sins hinder my prayers

How can I jumpstart my prayer life

How to keep praying

If God is sovereign are my prayers pointless

Finding the confidece to pray

Desiring God - Prayer

Midwest Christian Outreach - How to have an annoying prayer life