"Peter was therefore kept in prison, but constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church."
The church's prayers are important to God, and He is often pleased to answer them in accord with what we ask of Him. Herod put Peter in prison, and the church started praying for him. The Lord did not im-
mediately release Peter, as soon as the church began to pray--but He did, in His good time.
Perhaps the church was especially cognizant of Peter's dire situation, in that God had allowed Herod to murder James, John's brother, in
v. 2 of this same chapter. Sometimes, it is our calamities and hard-
ships that spur and spark the churchmen's prayers--as was the case with Peter (here).
[Puritan quote of the day: "A godly man's care and trouble is especially about his soul . . . " --Richard Sibbes, in, "The Soul's Conflict with Itself"]
