I wish to look at two examples of prayer in the life of the early saints during crisis situations. The first is the prayer of the saints is Mary’s house. Peter was in Jail with the certain intention of Herod to put him to death (Acts 12:1-4). But, they prayed earnestly for him (12:5). James tells us the earnest prayer of a righteous man avails much. It would seem that God heard their prayer. We are not told what they were praying for, but they could have asked for his safety, for strength to faithful unto death, or both.  The important thing that we are stressing is that verse 12 tells us that many had gathered there to pray. The stress is laid on the importance of prayer and their habit of prayer on behalf of another brother. Once again, they didn’t just say their prayers, did they?
Second, Acts 16:25 gives the example of Paul and Silas who were in prison in Philippi. They had been beaten and put in stocks of the inner prison. The text tells us that about midnight they were praying and singing hymns unto God, and that the prisoners were listening to them (16:25). God sent an earthquake that shook the foundations of the building and the doors were opened. This is similar to what Peter experienced when he walked out of the Jerusalem prison. Except, with Paul and Silas, they stayed, encouraged the jailor to do himself no harm, and while he listened, they preached the gospel message unto him. In response, he and his household were baptized.