12:5
So we see how God orchestrated the circumstances. Herod was intent on killing Peter, but because of the timing of the festival he kept Peter imprisoned for a time. During this time constant prayer was offered up for Peter. We will see later that their faith was, in some ways, not that great, for when Peter was actually released they didn’t believe it! So we can learn somethings from all this. The first, and most important, is that we should pray. Sometime ago I listened to a debate on prayer between two “Christians” (I have my doubts about one of them). One, an open theist (or referred to himself as an adherent of “process theology”) seemed to be saying that God doesn't need our prayers to convince Him to look after us. There is a very simple answer to this, and the general question of why does God “need” our prayers, or why do we need to pray. God has told us to pray, so we should pray. Jesus said that our Father in heaven knows what we need before we ask, but He never told us not to pray. Indeed, in the Lord’s prayer we are told to ask for our daily needs. So, just do it!
12:6
Peter was chained to two soldiers. This means that it was impossible for Peter to escape without some outside intervention. So what we are about to read is a clear miracle, it is not matter of someone forgetting to lock things properly, or forgetting to tie Peter up properly. Moreover, Peter was asleep. This in itself is quite amazing as, in the normal course of events, Peter would be executed in a day or two. There were also guards on the door. Peter was well and truly imprisoned.
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