Actively Wait in Prayer
While staying with them, Jesus ordered them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for the promise of the Father. . . “you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you.” Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet . . . All these were constantly devoting themselves to prayer. (Acts 1:4-14, NRSV)
One of the benefits of working from home is watching deer in my backyard.
I can’t control when they come. But I can do things that create an environment the deer want to come to. Lots of people have bird feeders. I have deer feeders – flat concrete blocks where I place raw vegetable scraps and smother them in cracked corn! Deer love it.
As I was writing this morning, four young bucks came up for breakfast. I can prepare for them, but I have no control over when they actually come.
We can’t control when the spiritual power of the Holy Spirit comes. But we can create an inner environment for the Holy Spirit to fill our lives.
The disciples of Jesus “all joined together constantly in prayer.” We can’t join together right now, but you can prepare your heart at home through prayer. You can create a spiritual environment for God to act in your life. The disciples didn’t just wait passively for the Holy Spirit to act – they prepared. They prayed and sought God’s presence in their lives.
We all have times when we seek the promised presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. The presence of the Holy Spirit is not something we can control. We must wait for the Spirit to act, and while we are waiting patiently there is something we can do to prepare.
We can pray.
Jesus told his followers to wait patiently. He promised the Holy Spirit would come to them and give them power. As they waited they devoted themselves to prayer.
Patience, promise, prayer, and power. Jesus still calls us, his followers today, to do the same.
Today, as we wait for the COVID-19 danger to pass, we can devote ourselves to prayer. Pray for the Holy Spirit to come into our lives, bringing comfort for today, and spiritual power for tomorrow.
Greg Smith, Director of Legacy Ministry, First Baptist Church of Decatur