When You Put God First…Chains Fall & Heaven Moves!

Ken Tram

Acts 12:1-24; Romans 12:1-2

When something feels impossible, a strained marriage, bills piling up, a habit you can’t break, who do you call first? Pastor Ken preaches Acts 12, where King Herod has James killed and Peter locked up, and the church’s first response is to pray earnestly. He argues that most of us treat prayer as the last resort and give God our leftovers, while Scripture invites us to give Him our first: first in prayer, in serving, and in giving. If you feel chained to something you can’t fix, this message is for you.

COMMON QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS MESSAGE

What does it mean to pray “earnestly” in Acts 12:5?

Pastor Ken explains that the Greek word behind “earnestly” is an athletic picture: a runner stretched out across the finish line with everything left. He contrasts it with quick table prayers and describes it as praying with all you have, together with others, when you have nowhere else to turn.

Should I pray first, or only when nothing else works?

The message describes how many of us try a counselor, a lawyer, books, or family first, and pray last. Pastor Ken argues God should get the first call, not the last: when someone is in the hospital, before a trip, before a new school year. In Acts 12, the church’s first move was prayer.

What does “giving God your leftovers” mean?

Using a restaurant illustration, Pastor Ken says leftovers are what remains after the main course, and that God deserves the main course. He applies it to prayer, serving, and giving, and points to Romans 12:1, offering ourselves as a living sacrifice. He also warns that debt and lifestyle spending can become the things we put first.

Why does Acts 12 end with Herod’s death?

When the crowd shouted, “This is the voice of a god,” Herod accepted it and did not give praise to God, and Acts 12:23 says an angel of the Lord struck him down. Pastor Ken sets that against the church that put God first and notes that God’s word kept spreading anyway.