12:12,13
Having realised what was happening, Peter makes his way to the house of Mary, where many people were gathering. The house would be quite large, and it was owned by a woman. Many believers were there praying for Peter. Rhoda, a servant, came to the door. Notice that Luke makes sure that women are mentioned by name, it they matter, even servant girls.
12:14,15
The girl was so delighted that she ran back without even letting Peter in! One can imagine how he felt at this point. She told the others that Peter was at the door. The reaction of the believers was one of unbelief. So we see that the notion that when we pray we have to be full of faith is, at least in one sense, bogus. It is more important that we pray than that we believe. Now is it better that we are full of faith? Of course it is, but we can so easily make prayer religious. Prayer is a conversation between us and God, that means we come with all our shortcomings and doubts. Better to pray with doubt, than not at all. This also reminds us that the source of answered prayer is God, not our faith. Now faith is a spiritual gift, so sometimes people will have faith for the most unlikely things to happen. I am not saying we should not believe, but the more we pray the more faith we will have. So the “believers” (or “doubters” in this case) thought the girl was mad and that she had seen an angel. Or more accurately Peter’s angel, meaning he was dead.
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