Knock Knock

Summary

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Podcast Summary: Elevation with Steven Furtick

Episode Title: Knock Knock
Air Date: May 15, 2026
Host: Pastor Steven Furtick

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Episode Overview

In this episode titled "Knock Knock," Pastor Steven Furtick explores Acts 12, focusing on Peter's imprisonment and miraculous release. Furtick uses the story as a metaphor for recognizing God's presence and purpose, discerning spiritual "knocks" in our lives, and differentiating between opposition and opportunity. The core message emphasizes persistent, faith-filled prayer, obedience ahead of understanding, and the importance of opening the right doors in our spiritual journey, especially after disappointment or hardship.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Context: Acts 12 and the Power of Prayer

• Furtick reads Acts 12, describing Herod's persecution of the early church, James’ execution, and Peter's imprisonment (03:11).
• The church responds not with despair but with "earnest prayer" for Peter's deliverance.
• Key Insight: "It's Herod's prison versus the church's prayers. It's a cage match between Herod's intention and God's purpose." (04:30)

2. Interpreting the 'Knocks' in Life

• Furtick uses his children's unique ways of knocking to illustrate how we learn to discern God's voice and intentions (06:20).
  • "I know my kids by their knock. Isn't that weird? As a parent, you learn to identify which kid because Abbey has a very polite knock...Elijah’s knock was undeniable...Graham is the one who doesn't knock." (06:35)
• Spiritual Application: Over time, we also learn to discern when it’s God knocking in our lives versus when it’s the enemy or our own desires (08:23).
• "If God lives in your heart, over time, you'll learn to discern his knock." (08:40)

3. When Opposition and Opportunity Knock Together

• Sometimes what appears as trouble or opposition is actually God's method of developing faith and character (09:11).
  • "A lot of times what you will initially think is the devil knocking on your door to attack you is actually God knocking on your door to develop you." (09:11)
• Furtick humorously advises against praying for patience, knowing God often answers by sending challenging situations (10:30).

4. Faith During Uncertainty: Peter's Rest in Prison

• Peter is found sleeping on the night before his probable execution (17:16).
  • "How are you going to sleep when your life is on the line?" (17:16)
• Furtick contrasts this with Peter's earlier experiences—impulsive and anxious vs. a learned confidence and rest in God's sovereignty (19:22).
• Quote: "God said, I can do more while you're sleeping than you can while you're straining." (21:06)

5. Obedience Before Freedom

• The angel’s instructions to Peter involve a sequence: get up, then the chains fall off. The invite is to obey first, understanding comes later (24:53–26:20).
  • "Obedience comes before freedom. You have to answer the door and knock, even if you're not sure it's God." (26:20)
• Many people, Furtick suggests, miss miracles because they wait for visible results before acting in faith (27:40).

6. Taking Steps Without All the Answers

• The journey out of prison is marked by trust: Peter dresses and follows the angel without knowing the destination (29:42).
  • "Faith is getting dressed even when you don't know where you're going." (29:42)
• Broader Application: Many are imprisoned by mindsets, trauma, isolation, or patterns, not just by literal chains. Freedom starts with taking the next step (31:06–33:03).

7. Going Through Open Doors

• Even after a miracle, we must act—Peter must walk through the open gate himself (34:10).
  • "Do you know how many people…are standing and knocking at a door that's already open?...You have to go through it." (34:10)
• Insight: "The power of God did not prevent the attack, but it protected Peter within it and it enabled him to go through it." (35:30)

8. Knowing Where to Knock

• After escaping, Peter knows to go to John Mark’s mother’s house—"knocking" where faith and community reside (38:05).
  • "It’s very important that you know where to knock." (38:03)
• Furtick encourages listeners that they've "knocked on the right door today" by seeking God’s presence (38:26).

9. Persistence in Prayer Even After Loss

• The church prays for Peter even after losing James, showing remarkable faith and perseverance (39:36).
  • "If I prayed for James and they cut his head off, I don't know if I would have faith to pray for Peter." (39:36)

10. When the Answer is at the Door

• Peter knocks persistently; even when the answer arrives, those inside struggle to believe it (42:11).
  • "Their prayer request is standing in the form of an answer on the other side of the door." (42:16)
• Sometimes it’s "easier to believe that you are worthless...than it is for you to believe dry bones can live again at the word of the Lord." (43:53)
• Encouragement: "Don’t stop knocking. You’re at the right door." (43:53)

11. Christ Stands and Knocks

• Furtick relates Revelation 3:20—Jesus "stands at the door and knocks," challenging listeners to open up again to faith and hope after disappointment (43:53–47:11).
• Memorable Imagery: "Peter said, boo. Rhoda said, boo hoo. Peter said, don't cry. I'm alive. Open the door." (46:48)

12. God’s Persistence and Final Victory

• God’s purposes cannot be thwarted by human (or demonic) opposition; trials are used to free us and draw us to deeper trust (47:50).
  • "The only reason God allowed the trial was to free you from what was holding you captive." (47:54)
• The challenge: Respond to God’s persistent knocking, no matter how many times you have failed, because "if your heart is still beating, God is still knocking." (48:23)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

"You also learn that a lot of times what you will initially think is the devil knocking on your door to attack you is actually God knocking on your door to develop you."

— Steven Furtick (09:11)

"Obedience comes before freedom... Freedom from needing to know the outcome before you take the step."

— Steven Furtick (26:20)

"God said, I can do more while you're sleeping than you can while you're straining."

— Steven Furtick (21:06)

"Do you know how many people…are standing and knocking at a door that's already open?...You have to go through it."

— Steven Furtick (34:10)

"If your heart is still beating, God is still knocking."

— Steven Furtick (48:23)

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Important Timestamps

• 02:27 – Introduction to the message: Acts 12 & the theme of God’s overriding purpose
• 04:30 – Herod’s intentions vs. God’s purposes; the power of prayer
• 06:20 – Identifying God’s ‘knock’ vs. other voices
• 10:30 – Humorous moment on praying for patience and how God answers
• 17:16 – Peter’s surprising rest while imprisoned
• 21:06 – Faith & rest: "God can do more while you're sleeping than you can while you're straining"
• 24:53 – The principle: "get up, then the chains fall off" – obedience before freedom
• 29:42 – Obedience amid uncertainty; following God's leading step by step
• 34:10 – The open gate: the need to act on miracle opportunities
• 38:26 – Knocking on the right door; the importance of spiritual community and fellowship
• 43:53 – Persistence in prayer; keep knocking even with imperfect faith
• 47:11 – Jesus’ invitation: Open the door for newness and restoration
• 48:23 – God’s persistence: Keep responding to His knock

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Episode Takeaway

"Knock Knock" is an encouragement to discern God’s invitations in unexpected forms, persist in prayer and community after disappointment, and move forward in obedient faith before clarity or deliverance is visible. Pastor Furtick challenges listeners not to overthink the next step, but to simply "get up" and trust God’s process—knocking, opening, and walking through every door He makes available.

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Transcript

[Steven Furtick]

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[Steven Furtick]

hey this is Steven Furtick. I'm the pastor of Elevation Church and this is our podcast. I wanted to thank you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you, hope it builds your faith. Hope it gives you perspective to see God is moving in your life. Enjoy the message. The message I have to share with you comes from Acts chapter 12. Why I want to share this passage today is because God told me to. How's that? No other logic, no other reason. I found myself coming to this passage for our time together today. I want you to give your attention this story in the Bible may relate to the situation in your life. Acts 12.

[Steven Furtick (Assistant or Co-speaker)]

1.

[Steven Furtick]

It was about this time that King Herod arrested some who belonged to the church, intending to persecute them. He intended to persecute them. Yet God's purpose will always overrule human intention. No matter what people do to you and no matter what people conspire against you. All of it is working for the purpose of the God who is greater than any person.

[Steven Furtick (Assistant or Co-speaker)]

That's what it means to say, if

[Steven Furtick]

God is for me, who can be against me? You can try to stand against me, but in the end, it will be God's purpose for me that will prevail.

[Steven Furtick (Assistant or Co-speaker)]

How many believe that?

[Steven Furtick]

Y' all have to calm down because that was one verse and it's a long chapter. I'm just so glad to be back. I love the Bible. It says that Herod intended to persecute them. It says in verse two he had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword. When he saw that this pleased the Jews and gained him political clout, he proceeded to seize Peter also. This happened during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. After arresting him, he put him in prison, handing him over to be guarded by four squads of four soldiers. Herod intended to bring him to public trial after the Passover. So verse five, Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him. Now we have a showdown. It's Herod's prison versus the church's prayers. It's a cage match between Herod's intention and God's purpose. It says they were earnestly praying to God. It doesn't mean they were saying one of those nice quiet whisper prayers. It means they wouldn't stop. It means that even though it hurt, they prayed. Even though they were disappointed, they prayed. Even though they had no clue if it was working, they prayed. It's the same word that describes prayer. When Jesus knelt in the Garden of Gethsemane and and said, not what I will, but what you will be done, they prayed like that. It's the kind of prayer Jesus described in Matthew, chapter 7, verse 7. He said, Ask and it will be given to you. Seek and you will Find knock, and the door will be open to you. That's my topic for today. The title of this message is knock, knock. Look at your neighbor. Say who's there? You may be seated. One of the weird things about living with other human beings in the same house is the idiosyncrasies. You notice about them whether you want to or not. Oh, that sounded tender. External processor over here. Watch out. Yeah, because like my kids, I can tell which one of them is knocking on the door just by the way they knock, just by how they use their knuckles. I know my kids by their knock. Isn't that weird? As a parent, you learn to identify which kid because Abbey has a very polite knock. It's a very gentle knock. It's a very delicate knock. It's a beautiful knock. It's a knock that says, if you have the time to open the door and this is the opportune time, would it be possible that you do? So it's just a very gentle knock. It's a tender knock. Then Elijah was totally different. Now he's very chill. But when he was smaller, his knock was undeniable, meaning he's not stopping until you open the door. Even back then, he's actually really good at making beats. He's making a lot of beats these days. Do the dash on YouTube, by the way. You owe me for that. That's a big plug, man. This is international. But when you used to knock on the door, you used to make beats on the door. That's when you started making your beats just on the door. And they were relentless. He's not stopping. It's like a trap beat on the door just to get him to let you in. Then Graham is the one who doesn't knock. You don't even know he was at the door until three weeks later when he says something he overheard in the conversation that he wasn't supposed to hear. You get to know somebody when you're living with them, so you can tell who's at the door just by how the knock sounds. Living in relationship with God, you learn to discern when it's him knocking.

[Steven Furtick (Assistant or Co-speaker)]

If you don't, you'll open the door

[Steven Furtick]

to people who don't have the best intentions in mind. And you'll open the door to the enemy who may bring you what you want in your feelings that is destructive to your faith.

[Steven Furtick (Assistant or Co-speaker)]

If God lives in your heart, over

[Steven Furtick]

time, you'll learn to discern his knock.

[Steven Furtick (Assistant or Co-speaker)]

At first, you think God knocks with

[Steven Furtick]

a sledgehammer because that's what church teaches you about God pretty early on. At least in the southeastern United States. If it's a fired up church, they teach about God coming through the door. Have you ever seen this kind of God? He is a battering ram. People say things like, oh, I love that sermon today, Pastor.

[Steven Furtick (Assistant or Co-speaker)]

God was just kicking my butt all over the place.

[Steven Furtick]

Yet you learn that when you really live with God, his knock doesn't take much because you know his knock. Knock, knock, knock, knock. You also learn that a lot of times what you will initially think is the devil knocking on your door to attack you is actually God knocking on your door to develop you.

[Steven Furtick (Assistant or Co-speaker)]

What knocks on the door looking like

[Steven Furtick]

trouble sometimes is training to teach you

[Steven Furtick (Assistant or Co-speaker)]

to trust in God. This takes time walking with God to learn that sometimes, even if you don't like what's standing at the door when you hear the knock, that by the time God gets done working in your situation, even what the enemy meant for evil, God will turn it for good. It enables you to live with a kind of faith that is very peculiar to people who think everything God brings into your life looks nice. Because sometimes when you pray for an opportunity, you'll be surprised to open the door and find opposition instead. Have you ever prayed for patience?

[Steven Furtick]

That's a dumb idea. I never pray for patience because I

[Steven Furtick (Assistant or Co-speaker)]

know exactly what God is going to

[Steven Furtick]

send to the door if I do trouble.

[Steven Furtick (Assistant or Co-speaker)]

God is going to send something to get on my nerves so bad. God is going to send a bad driver in front of me on Providence Road with an elevation sticker, y'.

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All.

[Steven Furtick (Assistant or Co-speaker)]

The other day I was coming to church and I was singing in the car and I was singing this is I'm Going to See a Victory or something like that. One of these good songs we sing around here. And the person in front of me was such a bad driver, I lost all of the Holy spirit. I lost 12% of my anointing per minute that I was behind this person. I was so mad I came right up on them. Then I passed them and I slowed down just to teach them a lesson. Then they turned into the parking lot with me and they were coming to church and they were a volunteer. So I'm having to learn.

[Steven Furtick]

You might not like the package your prayer request shows up in when it comes to your door.

[Steven Furtick (Assistant or Co-speaker)]

Knock, knock.

[Steven Furtick]

But no matter the delivery system, you can trust that God is the one who is superintending. The early church had to believe this

[Steven Furtick (Assistant or Co-speaker)]

in a way that very few of

[Steven Furtick]

us will ever have to lay hold of it because they were experiencing such a time of Persecution and a time where they had to trust God for their very provision. Especially in Jerusalem, there's a famine in chapter 11. They're taking up offerings just so the church can make it. Around about that time, they're getting the famine sorted out. The writer here, Luke of Acts, says about that same time, he connects the events. He said, while they're dealing with the famine, on one hand they have to deal with the fight on the other hand. Now Herod starts throwing their leaders in jail. Some of the disciples, if they were thrown in jail, you probably wouldn't miss them. Bartholomew really sure is a good guy, but James is one of the three.

[Steven Furtick (Assistant or Co-speaker)]

When Jesus got ready to go up

[Steven Furtick]

on the mountain and transfigure in front of them to reveal his glory, James, John and Peter got to go up and see it. One of the sons of Zebedee, the sons of thunder. James was one of the guys, and he's dead. Now they have Peter too. Remember, Peter is their preacher. So it's one thing to lose James, it's painful. But to lose Peter threatens the very purpose of God. There's so much opportunity because the kingdom of God is spreading and advancing and there's so much opposition. There's so much opportunity and there's so much opposition. Don't you know that when opportunity comes to the door, opposition comes with it? Don't you know that sometimes they are one and the same? This is what I'm learning. I'm learning that a lot of times when I open the door and see something I would love to send away in my life, a challenge I wish didn't come, it is actually the opportunity for God to teach me to trust him. Kind of hard to say amen to that because usually you want God to knock and come in with a flower bouquet. It's kind of hard to know it's God knocking. Unless you walk with him a while. Then you hear the knock the next time. And you know, whatever is at the door, even if God didn't send it, he's going to use it. The church is praying for Peter, but they're still brokenhearted about James. Did you notice that part in the passage where it said he had just killed James with the sword? That means he cut his head off. That means he was coming after the head. He was trying to stop the movement of Christianity because he knew it would appease the Jews. He knew that in this great time of opportunity for the church, it was a time of opportunity for him to advance his human agenda. The church is praying. The church is Knocking on the door of heaven, asking God to do something in the situation. Peter is in prison while the church is praying. Now, one interesting thing about this text. Is it all right if I teach

[Steven Furtick (Assistant or Co-speaker)]

the Bible for a minute?

[Steven Furtick]

It's interesting to note that Peter has no idea at this moment what the people are doing, and the people have no idea how Peter is doing. Sometimes you have to pray by faith, not even knowing if it's doing any

[Steven Furtick (Assistant or Co-speaker)]

good in your life. Sometimes the proof that your prayers and faith are working is that the opposition increases. Good God, help me get this message

[Steven Furtick]

to the back row.

[Steven Furtick (Assistant or Co-speaker)]

Somebody has been wondering, is God even still with me? Is God using me? Is this even worth it? But there's something about that that should let you know that if the devil showed up in the first place, there must be something important. And he must be defending his territory, or else he wouldn't bother with you.

[Steven Furtick]

So Peter was in prison, but the church was praying. Now would be a good time for us to check on Peter. We know what the church was doing. They gathered together for a prayer meeting, and they got in there and started joining their faith together. Peter is in prison, and he's just hours away from his trial. If it turns out the same way James turned out, this will be his last night on the planet. So it's that kind of pressure. Let's see what he's doing. Let's check in on a nanny cam on Peter the Rock. Let's check on Peter. On the eve of his potential probable execution, the night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was. I need somebody to fix that in the back. That can't be what the verse says. How are you going to sleep when your life is on the line? Y' all need to fix that verse, because that's not possible, is it?

[Steven Furtick (Assistant or Co-speaker)]

The night before Herod was to bring

[Steven Furtick]

him to trial, Peter was what? Pacing?

[Steven Furtick (Assistant or Co-speaker)]

Praising?

[Steven Furtick]

Praying? How can you sleep at a time like this? That really got me because I did not expect Peter to be sleeping at this moment. Let me tell you this right now, and this is just a confession.

[Steven Furtick (Assistant or Co-speaker)]

There is not enough Lunesta in the pharmacy. There is not enough Ambien on Earth that I could sleep, Especially after what happened to James, especially knowing this might not turn out well. We prayed for James and look what happened to him. And now they got me, too. Peter, put it back up. There is sleeping between two soldiers. How about that? Have you ever had to sleep in between?

[Steven Furtick]

Come on, y'.

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All.

[Steven Furtick (Assistant or Co-speaker)]

I came back to preach. I didn't come back to have coffee. Have you ever had to sleep between? I don't know how this is going to turn out, but I have to sleep in between. I have to sleep. I don't really know if this situation is going to get better or what the doctor is going to say next time I go back, but I have to sleep in between. I'm in a tight space and I don't know if I'm going to make it out, but I have to sleep in between. Peter was sleeping in between. He has come a long way, hasn't he? Remember when Jesus was telling Peter, you have to go to the cross? And Peter is arguing with Jesus, and he's trying to tell Jesus you'll never go to the cross. He's trying to give Jesus his plan for Jesus. He's trying to create the itinerary for the Son of God who created time and space. And now he's sleeping.

[Steven Furtick]

What did Peter know that enabled him to sleep between two soldiers? He was sleeping. Put it back up. I'm not done with that verse. He was sleeping in the greatest trial of his life. He was sleeping between two soldiers bound with two chains. Some scholars think Lil Wayne could have been in the next cell. A lot of people were there. Sentries stood guard at the entrance. So he was sleeping.

[Steven Furtick (Assistant or Co-speaker)]

What did he know

[Steven Furtick]

that enabled him to sleep in between? Maybe suggestion. He wasn't sleeping because of something he knew with his senses. Maybe he was sleeping because of something he saw in his spirit. Maybe what he saw in his spirit was a direct reflection of. Of an experience he had with Jesus. Remember in the boat one night when they were going to the other side? But then in between where they were and where they were going, they hit a storm. Sometimes you set out for the destination, but it's in between that your faith has to kick in to believe God.

[Steven Furtick (Assistant or Co-speaker)]

When all the disciples were straining, the Bible says they were straining at the oar.

[Steven Furtick]

They were straining against the wind. They were straining against the waves.

[Steven Furtick (Assistant or Co-speaker)]

While they were straining, they went down to check out Jesus. They were surprised to find out that while they were straining, Jesus was sleeping. So maybe when Peter found out they might kill me, he decided there's only so much I can do about this. When I get to the other side, I'm going to need all my strength. So I'm going to sleep in between. This is God's word for somebody. God said, I can do more while you're sleeping than you can while you're straining. And if you will get out of the way and out of your flesh. And out of your anxiety, The disciples said, jesus, don't you care we're in this storm? Jesus said, this is how I fight my.

[Steven Furtick]

My friend Joseph Prince says, rip, rest is power. It's a beautiful picture that he would sleep and trust God. When Herod comes knocking, Peter's faith answers the door. Knock, knock. They're coming to get you, Peter. But he has learned something. He has learned that obedience always comes before freedom. I mention this because I see a lot of people on Instagram. I haven't been on Instagram in two months. And let me tell you, it's amazing. The birds are chirping, the sun is beautiful.

[Steven Furtick (Assistant or Co-speaker)]

You'd be shooting shocked how nice the

[Steven Furtick]

world looks when there's not a screen in front of your face. A pretend universe.

[Steven Furtick (Assistant or Co-speaker)]

Just a thought.

[Steven Furtick]

I've had a great summer. I got tan, I detoxed from everybody's pretend life, and I'm just happy about it. Then Peter has to do something that's very difficult to do because we all want opportunities to come our way. Opportunities are weird because they don't show up looking like opportunities when they knock. They just look like obedience. Everybody will say, I want to kill my Goliath. I want to take down my giant. You know, in church we say stuff like that. They probably don't say that if they don't go to church. Well, Goliath didn't come knocking on David's door. Hey, David, I'm Goliath. If you come here today, you come to become the king of Israel and have great status and wealth. David's dad came to his door. He said, get this bread down to your brothers. Because when opportunity knocks, it just looks like obedience. That's all it looks like. It doesn't look like something big. It doesn't look like something extraordinary.

[Steven Furtick (Assistant or Co-speaker)]

Peter is about to get a big miracle.

[Steven Furtick]

But I want you to notice how he gets it. Most of us would not have gotten it because, spoiler alert, Peter is about to get out of jail. He's not going to die. He still has work to do. Peter is not going to die in this moment because God still has a purpose. Because Peter is invincible until God's purpose for him is completed.

[Steven Furtick (Assistant or Co-speaker)]

Peter is not going to die in this.

[Steven Furtick]

But he doesn't know that yet. As far as he knows, it's over. But he's sleeping. While he's asleep, look at verse 6 and how God interrupts his REM cycle. Peter is in a deep sleep.

[Steven Furtick (Assistant or Co-speaker)]

I'll show you in a minute.

[Steven Furtick]

It's in the text. The Bible is so fun to read. I want you to read it between Sundays. It's really good. It's really good without me here talking about it. It's really good. It Sundays, suddenly, verse seven, just like in a deep sleep, suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared. And he didn't knock, he just came in. A light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up. I guess Peter wasn't all the way awake because the angel said, quick, get up, and the chains fell off Peter's wrists. Please leave that verse on the screen because I want to show you something. It said, quick, get up, and the chains fell off Peter's wrist. Now the natural sequence would be the chains fell off Peter's wrist. And so he got up. But it doesn't say that. It says the angel told him, get up. And when he got up, the chains fell off his wrist. Do you see it? We think the chains are going to fall off and it's going to get easier and we're going to feel free and then we can obey God. No, you get up and then chains fall off.

[Steven Furtick (Assistant or Co-speaker)]

Because obedience comes before freedom. You have to answer the door and knock, even if you're not sure it's God. You have to be kind to people even if you don't know if they're going to do anything for you in return. It's obedience that creates freedom. Freedom from what? Freedom from needing to know the outcome before you take the step. So if he doesn't get up, the chains stay on. If you don't do what God has told you to do right now, God can't do what he's going to do that you don't know he's going to do. God already intended to take his chains off, but if he waits until the chains fall off to get up, he's never going to get up because the chains aren't going to fall off. When I get my financial situation in order, I'll tell you I'm going to put God first. Because I've heard about that and praising the Lord and putting him first with the first fruits of my womb and all the things the Bible says. I'm going to do it. No, you're not. Not if you won't do it with a little, because he who is faithful in a little. So it's that first step. It's getting up. Get up, and the chains will fall off. Get up, you say. God, take the chains off and I'll get up. No, get up and the chains will fall off.

[Steven Furtick]

I love this Part, because there is no indication in this text that Peter had faith to be free from prison. All he's doing is going through the motions. Sometimes that's all you can do. Sometimes all you can do, come to church and faith it until you feel it. Now, most of us wouldn't have gotten a miracle if we were in Acts, chapter 12. If we were in Herod Agrippa I prison, we'd stay right there because we wouldn't. We wouldn't follow instructions until we knew details. We'd be like, get up.

[Steven Furtick (Assistant or Co-speaker)]

Why?

[Steven Furtick]

Who are you? We see some identification. No, no, no. Is this God? No, no. Get up.

[Steven Furtick (Assistant or Co-speaker)]

Get up. When you're in a place of rest, you're able to respond without overthinking it. Just get up. Some of y' all think too hard. When we're worshiping in here, you know, you're thinking too hard. You're thinking too hard. I'm going to see you, Victory.

[Steven Furtick]

I can't sing that.

[Steven Furtick (Assistant or Co-speaker)]

I don't know if I really am. You need to start singing it so you can start seeing it. Because faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen.

[Steven Furtick]

So help me show them, God.

[Steven Furtick (Assistant or Co-speaker)]

The old Peter. Remember the old Peter who argued all the time? The old Peter would have been like, get up for what? Go up for what? I don't understand. I was getting some sleep. Why don't you interrupt my sleep?

[Steven Furtick]

I'm trying to get a good night's sleep. I have a big day tomorrow.

[Steven Furtick (Assistant or Co-speaker)]

It's a really important day. I need to be sharp so I can defend myself. But he just did it in this place.

[Steven Furtick]

In fact, that's exactly what the Bible said.

[Steven Furtick (Assistant or Co-speaker)]

Said, quick, get up.

[Steven Furtick]

And the chains fell off. Then the angel said to him, put on your clothes and sandals. He has still not told him his destination. But faith is getting dressed even when you don't know where you're going. Peter did. So he got dressed with no destination. Is this God? I hope so. No details, just obedience. Knock, knock. Hey, Peter, get up. Get dressed. Do you know how God knocks? Just little things, and you know it's him. You know it's him. Just little things. The littlest thing can happen. Get up.

[Steven Furtick (Assistant or Co-speaker)]

Get dressed.

[Steven Furtick]

Put on your cloak and sandals. To me, this whole thing seems very small. Like, I don't mind getting out of here in my underwear. If we're getting out of prison, why am I getting dressed for it? But that's us trying to make sense of things. This is a different kind of freedom. This is not a freedom that can be achieved in your mind. The angel said to him, put on your clothes and sandals. And Peter did so, just that simple.

[Steven Furtick (Assistant or Co-speaker)]

Wrap your cloak around you and follow me.

[Steven Furtick]

The angel told him.

[Steven Furtick (Assistant or Co-speaker)]

Notice what?

[Steven Furtick]

Peter didn't ask, where are we going? Just follow. I'm just following Grace. I'm just following Mercy. I'm just cooperating with God. I'm getting my heart in harmony with what he's doing in this season. I'm coming into agreement and acceptance of the situation he has placed me in, step by step. You know the thing on your gps, if you put it on, at least on mine, I use Google Maps looking for sponsorship. It just tells you the next turn. But then if you click on and you can see details, that will tell you every turn. For somebody like me, that has no sense of direction. I never put on the details because it'll get me lost. I can't think seven turns ahead. I just need to know the next one. We all, like sheep, have gone astray. So all Peter has to do is the next thing. That's all you have to do. Anything else is too much right now. You don't have to be Peter to be in prison. You don't have to be some important apostle to be in prison. Addiction is a prison. Depression is a prison. You don't have to be Peter to be in prison. Mindsets are a prison. Rumination is a prison. Trauma can be a prison. Isolation can be a prison. Never really engaging in real relationships can be a prison. Hiding and concealing can be a prison. But if you've been in prison lately, all you need to do is the next thing. You can't predict the path of your freedom. You can only respond to the light you have that shone in yourself when Peter got up.

[Steven Furtick (Assistant or Co-speaker)]

This is a very profound moment in Peter's life, and he doesn't know it yet.

[Steven Furtick]

For all he knows, he's just dreaming. He doesn't even know yet. Read it in the passage with me.

[Steven Furtick (Assistant or Co-speaker)]

Peter followed him out of the prison, but he had no idea that what the angel was doing was really happening. He thought he was seeing a vision. You know, most of the time, you don't even know it was God until after the fact. While you're in it, it feels so confusing and so uncertain, and you're like, I don't even know. I don't know what this is right now. It is only after you have been through it that Romans 8, 28 makes sense. Then you can say, all things work together for the good. But it's hard to Say that in the process of it, Peter is just going through the motions. He's just worshiping, he's just moving, he's just obeying, he's just doing the next practical thing.

[Steven Furtick]

Then he kind of has this moment

[Steven Furtick (Assistant or Co-speaker)]

when he passes verse 10, the first and second guards and came to the iron gate leading to the city.

[Steven Furtick]

Watch what happened to the gate. It opened for them by itself. Do you know God will do for you what you can't do for you. Now, y' all aren't going to clap for this one, but he won't do for you what you can do for you. So God opened the gate for Peter, but watch what Peter did when they had walked through it, they walked through it. The angel didn't carry Peter through the gate piggyback style. Peter is too big to be carried through the gate. Now you have to go through it. Do me a real true favor. Look at your neighbor with eye contact. Say you have to go through it. You know how many people who are listening to me preach right now are standing and knocking at a door that's already open? The gate was open. You can stand there and knock all you want, but you have to go through it. Every second we spend not going through it, every second we spend wishing it wasn't there, every second we spend waiting

[Steven Furtick (Assistant or Co-speaker)]

for something miraculous to happen, it already happened. It already happened. The worst thing that could happen already happened on the cross. It was already transformed into resurrection power in your spirit. So it already happened. It's already open. But you have to go through it. When you go through it, that is the proof you trust God even while you're in it. That you stay in the fire, that you stay in the furnace, and you still survive. He walked through the gate. Now, the power of God did not prevent the attack, but it protected Peter within it and it enabled him to go through it. God is going to get me through this. I don't know how, I don't know when, but God is going to get me through this. The gate is open. The way is made. Faith has already provided for me the grace I need.

[Steven Furtick]

When they had walked the length of one street, suddenly the angel left him. Now he has to figure out where to go. Suddenly he wakes up and comes to this moment I believe we come to sometimes when we. When God knocks on our situation or when the enemy knocks to come get us. But God won't let him. He comes to this realization. He's like, I have to go. I wonder what door he's going to knock on. See it's really important that you know where to knock when you're in trouble. That's how some of us have our hearts broken and our minds messed up because we knocked on the wrong door. You know what's really weird about it? Sometimes we run back to the same door that disappointed us last time,

[Steven Furtick (Assistant or Co-speaker)]

knocking

[Steven Furtick]

on it as if there's anything inside that's crazy. And Christians will do this.

[Steven Furtick (Assistant or Co-speaker)]

They'll pray the devil away when he knocks on the door, leave it wide open for him to come in and put out a fruit basket and welcome him as a guest with a monogram towel. Just leaving yourself wide open to everything. But when you run around knocking on the wrong doors and the wrong people and the wrong patterns and you keep

[Steven Furtick]

going back to that place, it's very

[Steven Furtick (Assistant or Co-speaker)]

important that you know where to knock.

[Steven Furtick]

And thank God that Peter knew where to knock.

[Steven Furtick (Assistant or Co-speaker)]

See, he knew about John Mark's mother's house.

[Steven Furtick]

Apparently this was the same place they

[Steven Furtick (Assistant or Co-speaker)]

had been praying for James. He knew that if he would knock on that door, there would be some praying people.

[Steven Furtick]

I want to say something to everybody who came to church today. I don't know what your life is like right now, and I don't know what you need God to do, but you knocked on the right door today.

[Steven Furtick (Assistant or Co-speaker)]

Because everything you need is in the presence of God. Come on, look at somebody and say, you knocked on the right door today. God has got what you need. The fridge is full, the bed is made. There's a prayer meeting going on. There's a fire in the kitchen. Watch this. I have to show you something. Knock, knock, knock. Peter said, now I know without a doubt it was the Lord coming into my prison cell. It wasn't Herod's intention that brought me here. It was God's purpose. The Lord sent his angel and rescued me from Herod's clutches and from everything

[Steven Furtick]

the Jewish people were anticipating.

[Steven Furtick (Assistant or Co-speaker)]

Do you know what he was saying? Herod came knocking. He came to get me. It came to kill me, but it couldn't have me. That's how I know God was with me. Because it came for me, but it couldn't kill me. It came for me, but it couldn't take me out. It came for me, but it couldn't have me. And now I know God was with

[Steven Furtick]

me when this had dawned on him. Verse 12. He went to the house of Mary, the mother of John, also called Mark, where many people had gathered and were praying. Isn't it amazing that they were still praying, still asking, still seeking, still knocking? Because, like, really, I Don't know if I would have. If I prayed for James and they cut his head off, I don't know if I would have faith to pray for Peter. I think a lot of us pray for things or hope for things or secretly wish for things we really don't believe could even happen. We sing things that we no longer believe really happen. We sing of freedom. But we've learned a long time ago to stop dreaming about it. Peter is out of prison, but they don't know it yet, but they're still praying. It takes faith to pray for Peter when you just lost James. It takes faith to believe in this situation. When you've seen him move the mountain and you believe he can do it again, it's one thing. But when that mountain is still there and you have to pray about that one, this is a difficult moment. Yet it didn't stop their prayer. It didn't stop their persistence. So Peter shows up and they're still praying when he got there. Verse 13. The Bible says, Peter, My knuckle is so sore I'm going to have to ice it before the 11:30. Peter. Well, come on. This is Peter. Y' all know Peter is loud. Peter. Peter is not knocking like Abbey. Peter's banging on the door because they're still looking for him. He just broke out of prison. You knock different when you're desperate. You pray different when you know you need God. Peter knocked at the outer entrance and a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer the door. While they were praying for Peter and

[Steven Furtick (Assistant or Co-speaker)]

he's at the door,

[Steven Furtick]

their prayer request

[Steven Furtick (Assistant or Co-speaker)]

is standing in the form of an

[Steven Furtick]

answer on the other side of the door.

[Steven Furtick (Assistant or Co-speaker)]

Look at 14. When she recognized Peter's voice, I think

[Steven Furtick]

she recognized as not. And nobody knocking as loud as Peter. Nobody knocks like Peter.

[Steven Furtick (Assistant or Co-speaker)]

Nobody is persistent like Peter. Nobody makes it through denying him three

[Steven Furtick]

times and comes back to preach on Pentecost.

[Steven Furtick (Assistant or Co-speaker)]

My failures taught me persistence. Nobody knocks like Peter. Nobody knocks like the one who knows that even through my mistakes, God is working miracles in this moment. Nobody knocks like Peter. When she recognized Peter, his voice, she was so overjoyed that she ran back without opening it and told the people, peter is at the door, is Peter, y'. All. Hey guys, it's Peter. Hey guys, it's Peter Rhodes.

[Steven Furtick]

A 14 year old white girl in my mind.

[Steven Furtick (Assistant or Co-speaker)]

Hey guys, it's Peter. Watch what they say. You're out of your mind. Well, that's a compliment because my mind has been my prison all along. That's what I've been trying to get out of my mind. That's what's making me miserable, being in my mind and my thoughts. For his thoughts are higher than my thoughts and his ways are higher than my ways. I'm out of my mind.

[Steven Furtick]

Rhoda said, no, no. She kept insisting that it was so. They said, watch how much faith they had. It must be his angel. It was easier for them to believe that Peter died and his angel came to the door than it was actually him. Sometimes it is easier for you to believe that you are worthless. It is easier for you to believe that it's over than it is for you to believe dry bones can live again at the word of the Lord. But Peter kept on knocking. I hear God saying to somebody today, don't stop knocking. You're at the right door. Don't stop knocking. Just because Rhoda ran back, the people didn't believe. God can use even the imperfect faith of a hurting church to break Peter out of prison. If you keep knocking, keep asking. I know you don't have the answers yet. But now you're learning the questions. If you keep seeking, if you keep knocking, I declare in the name of Jesus, Peter is at the door. Peter is at the door. The only way for you to find out is to open it. But when James died, you stop believing in this season of your life. I believe Revelation 3:20, that Jesus stands at the door and knocks. I would have to think that today, somewhere in this building, online, at one of our locations that meet all across this nation, I have to believe that God is knocking on the door of someone's faith to believe again in an area of your life where it has been easier for you to just lock the door. You've just been going through motions, just kind of holding to the facade of your faith. But I sensed the spirit of the Lord. Nag na. Who's there? Peter said, boo. Rhoda said, boo hoo. Peter said, don't cry.

[Steven Furtick (Assistant or Co-speaker)]

I'm alive.

[Steven Furtick]

Open the door. In this moment, yeah.

[Steven Furtick (Assistant or Co-speaker)]

It's hard to trust people again when

[Steven Furtick]

people have let you down. But what are you going to do?

[Steven Furtick (Assistant or Co-speaker)]

Stay in there and die and just pretend like you're living and really on the inside? No. I stand at the door and knock.

[Steven Furtick]

If you, you will open the door to me.

[Steven Furtick (Assistant or Co-speaker)]

Jesus said, I will sit down and I will eat with you, and I have prepared a table for you in the presence of your enemies. I am your shepherd, and I am your angel. I am your light, and I am your defender. I am your hope, and I am your promise. Upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. For I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. I died and I live. Peter is at the door.

[Steven Furtick]

Guess what church at the end of

[Steven Furtick (Assistant or Co-speaker)]

Acts chapter 12 Peter wasn't dead. Herod was. Let me tell you why. The only reason God allowed the trial was to free you from what was holding you captive. God is a mighty warrior.

[Steven Furtick]

When God knocks, He keeps knocking. He doesn't give up on people. God doesn't knock one time, two times. You failed. That's all right. He's still knocking. If your heart is still beating, God is still knocking.

[Steven Furtick (Assistant or Co-speaker)]

He is not going to let you

[Steven Furtick]

go until he accomplishes his purpose for your life. Thank you for joining us. Special thanks to those of you who give generously to this ministry. Because of you that this ministry is possible. You can click the link in the description to Give now or visit elevationchurch.orgpodcast for more information. And if you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe. You can share it with your friends. You can click the Share button, take a screenshot and share it on your social stories and tag us evationchurch. Thanks again for listening. God bless you.

[Sean Duffy]

I'm U.S. transportation Secretary Sean Duffy. The Sound of a Seatbelt it's one of the most important sounds in our car. It means everyone is ready and everyone is safe. The more our kids see us put on our seat belts, the more natural it is for them to put theirs on too. Make it a priority. Buckle up every time. Hear the sound. Make it a habit.

[Steven Furtick]

Paid for by NHTSA.

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[Kohler Cast Iron Ambassador]

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[Steven Furtick]

This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.