Principles for a Powerful Prayer Meeting (Part II)

Acts 12:1–17

Principles for a Powerful Prayer Meeting

(Part II)

“About that time Herod the king laid violent hands on some who belonged to the church.  He killed James the brother of John with the sword, and when he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also.  This was during the days of Unleavened Bread.  And when he had seized him, he put him in prison, delivering him over to four squads of soldiers to guard him, intending after the Passover to bring him out to the people.  So Peter was kept in prison, but earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church.

Now when Herod was about to bring him out, on that very night, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries before the door were guarding the prison.  And behold, an angel of the Lord stood next to him, and a light shone in the cell.  He struck Peter on the side and woke him, saying, “Get up quickly.”  And the chains fell off his hands.  And the angel said to him, “Dress yourself and put on your sandals.”  And he did so.  And he said to him, “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me.”  And he went out and followed him.  He did not know that what was being done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision.  When they had passed the first and the second guard, they came to the iron gate leading into the city.  It opened for them of its own accord, and they went out and went along one street, and immediately the angel left him.  When Peter came to himself, he said, “Now I am sure that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting.

“When he realised this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John whose other name was Mark, where many were gathered together and were praying.  And when he knocked at the door of the gateway, a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer.  Recognizing Peter’s voice, in her joy she did not open the gate but ran in and reported that Peter was standing at the gate.  They said to her, “You are out of your mind.”  But she kept insisting that it was so, and they kept saying, “It is his angel!”  But Peter continued knocking, and when they opened, they saw him and were amazed.  But motioning to them with his hand to be silent, he described to them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison.  And he said, “Tell these things to James and to the brothers.”  Then he departed and went to another place.”[1]

n the printed prayer lists that are provided to direct the congregation as the membership prays, Leon Schallock has included a quote from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., “To be a Christian without prayer is no more possible than to be alive without breathing.”  Undoubtedly, the old saw that there are no atheists in a foxhole is true; and undoubtedly many people pray.  However, it is vital to remember that our prayers have only as much efficacy as authority residing in the one to whom it is presented.  It is not our fervency, but the God who hears prayer, that is important.

Indeed, Christians are a people of prayer.  Though we undoubtedly pray individually, we have seen during the previous weeks that we are called to pray together.  Failure to engage in corporate prayer indicates either deliberate rebellion against the instruction of the Word or ignorance of God’s will for us as Christians.

Background for Deliverance — Luke begins his account with the words, “About that time.”  We may well ask, “About what time?”  Timing of events is important to us, living in a culture that esteems time as we do.  In order for us to understand the timing of these events, we will need to go back at least one chapter.  Those saints in Jerusalem at the time of the persecution that arose following the martyrdom of Stephen were scattered extensively throughout the Empire.  Though the scattered saints primarily testified and preached to fellow Jews, some preached the Lord Jesus to Gentiles living in Antioch.

As result of the preaching of Christ in that city, a church was established in Antioch.  Barnabas was commissioned by the Jerusalem congregation to observe what was happening.  As result of his ministry with the Antioch church, “many people were added to the Lord.”  Barnabas apparently believed that it would be helpful to have assistance in this ministry, so he “went to Tarsus to look for Saul.”  Finding him, he brought him back to Antioch where together, they “taught a great many people.”

Prophets came from Jerusalem to Antioch, one of whom, Agabus, foretold by the Spirit that “there would be a great famine over all the world.”  Having heard the prophecy, the congregation determined to organise relief for the brothers in Judea.  Each member of the congregation, “according to his ability,” sent relief.  When the gifts had been collected, the congregation chose Barnabas and Saul to deliver the relief.

This account is important because Doctor Luke dates the prophecy by referring to the reign of Claudius [Acts 11:28].  Through comparing his account with secular history, we can set an approximate date for the time of Paul’s introduction to the ministry in Antioch.  The famine relief occurred in late 44 a.d or early in 45 a.d.[2]  Therefore we have an estimated date for all that is happening.

However, we also know from secular history that Herod Agrippa I died in 44 a.d.  Since he is the one who initiated this particular persecution, we know that the imprisonment of the Apostles must have been no later than 44 a.d.  Moreover, since the timing of Peter’s imprisonment is identified as taking place during the Days of Unleavened Bread [Acts 12:1], we know that this would have been the spring of 44 a.d.  Luke is not giving a chronological account, but rather he is focused on the events.  Western culture tends to think chronologically; we like to know the sequence of events in order to understand fully what was happening.  Other cultures, and in particular Middle Eastern cultures, both historically and presently, think in terms of events.  In other words, the event is the focus of a given account and not the sequence.

It was “Herod the king” who seized the Apostles.  This could be confusing to those unfamiliar with biblical history as there are several individuals identified as “Herod.”  This is Herod Agrippa I, grandson of Herod the Great, who ruled when Jesus was born in Bethlehem, and son of Aristobulus, murdered by his own family.  Herod Antipas ruled during most of the ministry of our Lord.

Herod Agrippa had spent his youth in Rome where he was a friend of Gaius, who is known in history as the emperor Caligula.  Because of their friendship, Caligula granted him in a.d. 37 the tetrarchies of Philip and of Lysanius in southern Syria.  Galilee and Perea were added to his realm in a.d. 39, and in a.d. 41, he was made king of Judea.  At this point, he ruled a territory about as big as his grandfather had ruled.[3]

Herod Agrippa I ruled for approximately three years, until a.d. 44.  Herod felt keenly his lack of Jewish heritage; he was Idumaean, and not Jewish.  Therefore, he did all he could to gain stature in the eyes of his subjects.  He was noted for his munificence, especially toward the Jewish populace, constructing numerous buildings in Jerusalem in an effort to curry favour with his Jewish subjects.  This vain ruler was scrupulous in observing Jewish laws, though his motives were likely less religious than they were political.[4]  What should be kept in mind as we read this account is that he was always looking for some way to ingratiate himself with the Jewish populace.

Because of his position as king, Herod felt able to do what no Roman procurator in previous years would have dared to do, namely, attack the church in Jerusalem.  Judaism had not become reconciled to the existence of the Congregation of Jesus in their midst, and further enraged by the inclusion of Gentiles, they approved of Herod’s action against the Faith.  Even when Stephen had been martyred, the Apostles did not feel so threatened as to leave the city.  However, now matters had changed radically and for the first time, Apostles were seized with the intention of killing each of them.[5]

Up to this point in the history of the Faith as recorded in Acts, persecution against the Christians had been religious both in origin and in conduct.  The incident Luke records in the text before us is significant because for the first time persecution of Christians had become political.  It was not a Roman politician that conducted this persecution; rather, it was a king identified as belonging to the Jews.  Roman persecution still lay in the distant future and was not at this time anticipated by followers of the Way.

Herod seized James, though we do not know why he did so.  This was James, the brother of John.  You will recall that Jesus called James and John “Sons of Thunder” [Mark 3:17].  Perhaps that name Jesus gave to the sons of Zebedee provides insight into the reason for his death.  It is quite possible that James was noted for bold proclamation of the message of life, working in the city to witness to the life of Jesus.  It is not likely that he was noted for his preaching skills, Peter seems to have garnered attention for that activity; but he may well have been bold in speaking to people declaring Christ’s death and resurrection as fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies.

Jesus had warned both John and James that they would face bloody deaths.  The Master had just spoken of his death, stating that he would be flogged and crucified [Matthew 20:18, 19], when their mother asked that her sons be advanced above the other disciples [Matthew 20:20 ff.].  The Lord’s response did not evidently unsettle them, though it must have been unexpected.  “You do not know what you are asking.  Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink?”  The two brothers solemnly answered him, “We are able.”  You will recall that the Master responded, “You will drink my cup’” [Matthew 20:22, 23a].  The brothers could not have realised what lay ahead, just as we cannot know what lies ahead when we state our intention to stand firmly in our faith.

Now, James is seized and put to death.  The method of execution for Romans was by beheading.  However, that particular mode of capital punishment was considered disgraceful by the Jews.  However, desecration of a body did occur in some instances in the Bible [e.g. 1 Samuel 17:46, 51; 2 Kings 10:6-8].  Some speculate that James merely had a sword run through his body, but the evidence seems to indicate that his body was purposely desecrated in order to please the Jewish leaders.  Certainly, a Jewish king had the right to carry out capital punishment, but the context leads me to conclude that Herod may well have been acting at the behest of the Sanhedrin.

Eusebius, quoting Clement, relates an interesting account of James martyrdom.  Whether it is accurate or not cannot be determined at this late state of history, but it is nevertheless fascinating.  He states that the man who delivered James to judgement was so moved by James godly bearing that he professed himself to be a Christian, and both were executed by being beheaded.  Eusebius concludes the account by noting, “On their way [to execution], [the former guard] entreated James to be forgiven of him, and James, considering a little, replied, ‘Peace be to thee,” and kissed him; and then both were beheaded at the same time.”[6]

Though James was beheaded, according to Irenaeus, John was not violently executed.  He lived in Asia to an age of almost 100 years.[7]  We do not know John’s manner of death, but we are reasonably certain that he did live to quite an old age, and his advanced age was notable for that era.

James was not seized alone; the text states that Herod “laid violent hands on some who belongs to the church.”  It would suggest that others also were killed at this same time.  Whatever the situation may have been, James is the second named martyr for the Faith of Christ the Lord.  Stephen was the first named as laying down his life because of the Faith, and James is now counted as the second one who would seal his testimony with his life.  However, it seems certain to me that other unnamed saints also were martyred.

The text states, “When he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also.”  He seized him at the beginning of the Passover Season, which lasted seven days.  He intended to hold him in prison until those days were over so that he would not violate the Sabbath principle of those days.  He was still trying to gain favour with the Jews, and so he did not wish to offend their sensibilities by carrying out an execution during the high holy days of the Paschal Season.

Peter was held under unusually strict conditions of security.  The normal custom would have been for him to be chained to one guard.  However, he was delivered to four quaternions of guards—four squads consisting of four guards each.  These guards would rotate every four hours.  Two guards would always be on watch outside the cell, and two guards would always be inside the cell, chained to the prisoner.  Perhaps Herod took this precaution because he was informed of Peter and John’s last incarceration [Acts 5:17-20].

Peter’s imprisonment is unlike the previous times of incarceration.  Previously, he had been seized along with others; this time, Peter is arrested alone.  The previous times he was given opportunity to speak of his faith; now, he will simply be delivered up to hear sentence pronounced and hustled out to his execution.  The other times of imprisonment were brief, since he was brought out the next day to stand before his captors.  Peter has been in custody throughout the Days of Passover this time.

Herod’s intention was to execute Peter as a favour to the Jews.  He intended to delay the execution until the Passover had been concluded, so as to avoid ceremonially polluting the observance for the Jews.  Before he could carry out the intended execution, Herod was thwarted by divine intervention.

Peter’s Deliverance — As the account is developed, the power of the state is juxtaposed with the power of the church (“so Peter was kept in prison” is contrasted to “earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church”).  Prayer is the only weapon given to the church; but what a powerful weapon God has entrusted to His people!

Peter has been incarcerated throughout the Passover period, and now it is the last night before the observance is concluded.  Tomorrow, he will face death at the hands of a state appointed executioner.  Bound to two guards with two chains, two other guards standing watch outside the only door to the cell, Peter is asleep.  He has apparently learned the lessons of the Word that encourage the people of God.  David testifies:

“In peace I will both lie down and sleep;

for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.”

[Psalm 4:8]

Later in life, when Peter wrote his first letter, he advised believers to whom he was writing to “cast all your anxiety on [God], because He cares for you” [1 Peter 5:7].[8]  Apparently, Peter not only gave this advice, but he had practised what he preached.  In prison, on what was supposed to be his last night alive, Peter is sound asleep.  Obviously, Peter knew what it meant to deliver his anxieties to the Lord God.

While sleeping, one of God’s angels came to Peter to set him at liberty.  Peter was so soundly asleep that the angel was forced to poke him in the side in order to waken him.  “Peter, wake up!  We’re getting out of here.  Come on!  Get up!”  Peter did waken, but he was so groggy that the angel had to tell him how to dress himself.  “Peter, tie your belt around your waist.  Peter, put on your sandals.  Peter, put your cloak around yourself.”  All the while Peter fumbles with his clothing, not fully cognizant of what is going on.

Dressed at last, he follows the angel out of the cell, all the while thinking that he is seeing a vision.  They pass the guards standing outside the cell and come to the iron gate leading into the city, which opens automatically.  The angel leads him into one street and then to another, at which point he takes his leave.  Peter at last came to himself, realising that God has delivered him, at which point he concludes that he should seek out the church to tell them of God’s deliverance.

Deliverance from prison is not the norm.  In fact, that is probably why God tells us that James, likewise imprisoned, was permitted to die.  However, such deliverance from death is not unheard of.  Dr. James Montgomery Boice tells of the Indian evangelist, Sundar Singh, who while witnessing in Nepal had been forbidden to preach in a particular city.  Nevertheless, he continued preaching; and because of his preaching was arrested.  Those arresting him put him in a dry well with a lid on the top, intending that he should die there.  In fact, he was sitting on the bones of people who had previously been placed in the well where they had been left to die.

As Singh prayed, he heard a noise.  Looking up, he saw that someone was releasing the lid.  Soon, a rope was lowered.  The rope had a loop in the end, so he put his foot in the loop and hung on.  He was drawn up and delivered from the well.  When he was on top, he looked around to see who had delivered him, but there was nobody there.

Boice writes, “His deliverance sounds perfectly natural so far because we can imagine how a sympathetic person might rescue him and then quickly run away so he would not be detected.  But when Singh looked around, he saw that the cover was back on the cistern and that it was locked again.  How had that been accomplished?  Singh was merely thinking that whoever rescued him had certainly done his job efficiently.

“However, the freed evangelist went back to the city and started preaching again.  He was arrested again the next day and was brought before the priest, the chief man in the city.  The people thought some sympathetic person had freed him, just as we would.  But when they searched to see who had the key to the cistern’s lid and how Singh might have gotten it, they found that the key was on the belt of the priest, where it had been all the time.  At this point Singh believed that God had sent His angel to deliver him.”[9]

Who can explain God’s mysterious design?  God seemingly waited until that last possible moment to rescue Peter.  Why did He wait so long?  God could have rescued Peter on any previous night, but He did not.  We cannot explain His seeming delay.  However, many of us find ourselves in situations from which we need deliverance.  Threatened by very real danger, we cry out to God for intervention, and it seems as though He is ignoring us.  We cannot understand why He seems to delay when we are so terrified at what may happen.

As we face our trials, often we are not willing to wait on Him; and so we decide to take matters into our own hands.  Usually, our feeble efforts result in making a mess of things.  Then, at the last possible moment, God delivers us.  We don’t know why He delayed and we cannot understand why we were forced to wait.

We would like God to reveal His plans to us, but He seldom informs us in advance of what He intends to do.  We don’t like that; but He does teach us to trust Him through waiting until the last moment to rescue us.

James was executed; Peter was rescued.  Why should one be delivered, and not the other?  Why would God not set both at liberty?  Or why not permit each to be martyred?  Can we really adequately explain what happened?  Though no one can predict how God will respond to the dangers that threaten His saints, I suspect that the answer lies in Peter’s observation that the Lord had “rescued” him [Acts 12:11].  Paul, in his defence before Agrippa, uses the same verb in Acts 26:17.  He uses the verb to describe God’s protecting hand on His witnesses to ensure that they fulfil their divinely appointed responsibilities.

Some, reading this account, will say, “Well, there must have been more for Peter to do!”  Undoubtedly, that is true.  However, there is no more mention in the Book of Acts of Peter being involved in major ministry.  Other than brief mention of Peter at the Jerusalem Council, Peter is no longer central to the account of the advance of the Faith.  All we can say is that God is sovereign.  This includes sovereignty over our lives; He does as He wills.  He chooses one to glorify Him with his or her life.  He chooses another to glorify Him with his or her death.  God, not we, makes that determination.  We are responsible to serve Him regardless of our circumstance.

The Prayer Meeting — Freed of the immediate threat of death, Peter hurried to Mary’s house, where he knew that he would find the church praying.  When he knocked at the door, a servant girl answered.  When she recognised his voice, she ran to tell the others that Peter was at the gate.  They were quite convinced that she was out of her mind, but eventually they concluded that he had already been executed and his angel was standing at the gate.  Rhoda, however, at last convinced them that it was really Peter.

When he at last was admitted to the house, Peter told the disciples how the Lord had delivered him out of the prison.  Then, having instructed them to tell James and the rest of the brothers, he hurried away to another place where he would be safe.

The fifth verse informs us, “Earnest prayer for [Peter] was made to God by the church.”  There are several pertinent truths that need to be stressed in reviewing those words.  The first significant point is that the Church prayed.  “Well, of course the church prayed,” you are no doubt imagining.  However, this is united prayer that is in view, not individual prayer as a group.  Undoubtedly, individuals were praying as they performed their daily duties, but Luke is describing corporate prayer.  The church met to unite their hearts for one great purpose—pleading with God to deliver Peter.

Many Christians have a pagan view of corporate prayer, seeing the quantity of prayers as what is important.  They call on as many people as possible to pray, as though convinced that if enough people pray, God will answer.  They think that if five pray, then ten will be better.  And if ten pray, then twenty will be better still.  With the advent of the Internet, Christians send out Emails soliciting prayer from as many people as possible in hopes that multiply the number praying will force the hand of God.

Clarify in your mind that the value of God’s people praying together is not that we gather many people; the value of corporate prayer is that we unite our minds and our hearts.  We have each attended many prayer meetings when people are in the same room saying prayers, but there is little unity in the requests.

Again, note that prayer was addressed to God.  Perhaps you think this is too obvious and does not need to be said.  Too many professed Christians offer horizontal prayers—they pray for the benefit of someone other than God.  Such efforts anticipate that the one praying will inform another person of their feelings, or they assume that they can say something indirectly for which they will not be held accountable, or they may even seek to impress listeners with their spiritual acumen.  Horizontal prayers are ineffective.  This is so, since the one offering a horizontal prayer has prayed with the goal of impressing another person; therefore, God has not taken note of the words of that prayer.  The words of such a prayer will have risen no further than the ceiling, and have no more effect than complaining to the wind.

Perhaps you recall a parable Jesus once told about a Pharisee and a tax collector.  In that parable, Jesus said, “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.  The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.  I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’  But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’  I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other.  For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted” [Luke 18:10-14].

In prayer, we meet with God.  We do not instruct God, but rather we meet God so that our hearts and minds can be tuned to His will.  Waiting in the presence of God, we are actually invited to ask of God what we will, knowing that he hears us and that He will give an answer in His time.  Our prayers will be revolutionised if we truly understand the privilege that we are given in prayer.  When we realise this, prayer will no longer be a duty, but a privilege.  We will no longer ask, “How much time must I spend in prayer,” but rather we will ask, “How much time may I spend in prayer without neglecting my other responsibilities in life.”

Prayer was specifically for Peter’s deliverance.  The church was not simply voicing general prayers, but there was a purpose in their petitions.  An old saw says that if we pray in general, God answers in general.  However, we can assess the impact of our prayers when we boldly seek specific answers.  Many years ago, Dr. Charles Blanchard wrote a book with the intriguing title, “Getting Things from God.”  It was a wonderful book that challenged me early in my Christ walk.  Among the questions that Dr. Blanchard asked in order to challenge the reader was, “Did the Lord Jesus ever find fault with anyone for coming too often to Him for help?”  He also asked, “Was He ever critical of anyone for asking too largely?”[10]  If I could encourage you of one thing, it would be to ask great things of God, for He is a great God.  Pray boldly.  Pray specifically.  Always, however, seek the unity of the people of God, asking that God have His way with our hearts and with our minds.

I notice, finally, that the prayer was earnest.  Older translations of the Bible state that prayer was continuous.  The word used, however, is more properly translated to mean that the prayers were fervent.  For instance, when Jesus prayed in the garden, we read that “being in an agony [Jesus] prayed more earnestly” [Luke 22:r44].  Peter urges Christians to “love one another earnestly from a pure heart” [1 Peter 1:22].  This is not to deny that they prayed continually throughout the days of Peter’s imprisonment, but if we fail to see the earnestness of their prayers, we miss the point Luke is communicating.

Peter was released at night, when almost everyone in the city was sleeping.  Nevertheless, the Christians were gathered, praying for his release.  I have no doubt that had Peter not been released, they would have continued throughout the night and into the morning.  This is an excellent example of earnest prayer, something that we know little about in our modern world.

Actually, the prayer meeting was not unlike the prayer meetings in many churches, perhaps even like prayer in our own church.  What I mean is that it was largely a prayer meeting conducted in unbelief.  Yes, the church prayed earnestly.  They addressed their request to God and they specifically sought Peter’s release.  However, they did not really believe that he would be released.

When he stood at the door knocking, it was not unlike prayer meetings in many of our homes.  It is so very frequent that as we begin to pray, the phone rings.  The one praying ignores the electronic jangle and continues to petition God.  The others present are thinking, “Why doesn’t someone answer that phone?”

Something like that happened here.

Knock, knock, knock.

“Please save Peter.  Please set Peter free.”

Knock, knock, knock.

“Oh, God, You know that Peter will be executed in the morning.  Save him.”

Knock, knock, knock.

Peter knocked, and knocked, and knocked.  People were so busy asking God to deliver Peter that no one answered the door; but all were wondering who was at the door.  First one, and then another, began to glance furtively around.  Perhaps Mary indicated to Rhoda that she should see who was at the door.  Perhaps she nodded or motioned.  In any case, Rhoda answered the door, and when she told the assembly that it was Peter, no one believed her.  Those present, praying fervently that God would deliver Peter, did not really believe that God would do what they asked.

Eventually, they did answer the door and Peter came in.  He told his story and left.  I am not condemning these saints as though they were so terribly different from us.  They were very much like us.  What is important is that they did pray and God did answer their prayer.

If their prayer, offered in unbelief, was effective, do you not imagine that our prayers, even when we pray in unbelief, are just as effective?  You see, it is not how we craft our prayers or the language that we use, nor even the fervency of our requests; it is the God to whom we offer prayer that ensures the efficacy of prayer.  James states, “Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth.  Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit” [James 5:17, 18].

Do we really pray?  Do we unite our hearts as one with other believers?  Do we pray to God?  Do we specifically ask God for what is needed?  Do we pray fervently?  These are the questions we need to ask.  Let’s learn to pray.  Then, let’s pray together.  Amen.

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[1] Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.  Used by permission.  All rights reserved.

[2] Cf. A. T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament, Vol. III (Broadman Press, Nashville, TN 1930) 164; see also, Charles F. Pfeiffer and Everett Falconer Harrison, The Wycliffe Bible Commentary: New Testament (Moody, Chicago 1962) Logos Electronic Edition

[3] Mal Couch, A Bible Handbook to the Acts of the Apostles (Kregel, Grand Rapids, MI 1999) 296

[4] Flavius Josephus, Antiquities, XIX.VII.3 (Kregel, Grand Rapids, MI 1960) 411-2

[5] See Everett F. Harrison, Acts: The Expanding Church (Moody, Chicago, IL1975) 189-90

[6] Eusebius Pamphilus, Ecclesiastical History, Popular Edition, II. IX. (Baker, Grand Rapids, MI 1955) 58

[7] Irenaeus, Haer, 2.22.5, in The Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 1 (Logos Research Systems, Oak Harbor, WA)

[8] New Revised Standard Version of the Bible

[9] James Montgomery Boice, Acts:  An Expositional Commentary (Baker, Grand Rapids, MI 1997) 207

[10] Charles Blanchard, Getting Things from God (Moody, Chicago, IL 1915, 1934)