Acts 1: 6 – 9, 12 - 14The Ascension of Jesus “So when they had come together, they asked him, ‘Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?’ He replied, ‘It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.’ When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight....Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey away. When they had entered the city, they went to the room upstairs where they were staying, Peter, and John, and James, and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. All these were constantly devoting themselves to prayer, together with certain women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, as well as his brothers."
Thoughts on Today's Verse...
What do you do after witnessing a miracle? Do you pick up the phone or jump onto Facebook to tell all your friends? Do you sit down and take detailed notes on the experience, to be able to study the new phenomenon? Do you contact the National Enquirer or some reality TV show and ask them to make you an exclusive offer for the rights to your story? If you’re one of the apostles of Jesus Christ, what you do is start praying. That’s what we read in Acts 1:14: “All these were constantly devoting themselves to prayer ....” These people have just witnessed the ascension of Jesus. Imagine what a wonder that must have been! Jesus had been hinting to them all along that things were going to end in some spectacular way, but they had no idea it was going to be like this. We don’t know exactly what it is those early believers witnessed at the Ascension. Most likely, what they experienced was something so wonderful, it can’t fully be put into words. They described it the best way they knew how. From a spiritual point of view, we can still imagine what a thrill it must have been to see their Lord and Master — whom they’d already seen miraculously return from the grave — enter into heaven before their very eyes. Their old uncertainties and doubts seemed swept away. They had seen it! They knew that heaven exists and that, by the grace of God in Jesus Christ, life is without limits! So, what do they do? They pray. Think about it. They’ve just been entrusted with a personal experience the whole world would be eager to share, and what do they do? They gather in community and start praying. They know they’ve been entrusted with a gift precious beyond all calculation. Now, they just have to try to figure out what the Lord wants them to do with it.
Not everyone in our culture would say they made the right decision. Not everyone looks on prayer as an activity that accomplishes much of anything. “Oh, sure,” say these common-sense, realist types, “go ahead and pray if it makes you feel good. But, not me. I’m a person of action!” This begs the obvious question: What’s prayer good for? What does it accomplish? Does prayer really change things? When asked if she thought prayer changed anything, a wise old believer once said, “I don’t know if prayer changes much about the things I pray for. But, I am certain of one thing: Prayer changes me!”
That’s the heart of it. Prayer is transformative. Prayer changes us. The more we pray, the more we become attuned to the ways of God. We put our desires and requests into God’s hands, but we also understand God may have in mind a very different solution to the problem than anything we can envision. As we pray, we may imagine we’re striving to move God. What we’re really doing, in fact — though it may not seem so at the time — is moving ourselves Godward. Prayer is conversation. Prayer is relationship. We dare to undertake this conversation because Jesus invites us to do so, because he has promised to be our mediator, our friend.
Dare to become a praying man, a praying woman. Dare to trust the Holy Spirit to bring about real change in your life, and in the lives of those you love. Dare to believe that, as we come together in community and are so bold as to ask, “Lord, hear our prayers,” that we are touching the very heart of this God-created universe, and that this heart is love!
Prayer...
Lord, hear our prayers and make us praying people willing to offer ourselves as witnesses to the glory of your love in all our ways.