In a time of loss and transition, how did the disciples of Jesus know what to do next? After Jesus resurrected from the dead, He appeared alive many times over a forty day period. “During these encounters, He taught them the truths of God’s Kingdom realm and shared meals with them.” (Acts 1:3 TPT) He gave them some instructions to wait for the promise of Holy Spirit to come, and then ascended.
Poof.
Gone.
How many times have I felt like that? Transition. Loss. Maybe some revelation. And then poof. Where did He go? What’s next?
Well first, the disciples did the last thing He told them. They waited. But they did not wait and do nothing while waiting.
They prayed, “united in prayer, gripped with one passion, interceding night and day.” (Acts 1:14 TPT) Sometimes we are more keen on the idea of praying than on actually praying. And corporate prayer? It is almost a lost art in this nation. I stay so far away from chain emails and the media these days I almost missed the national call to prayer yesterday from the Mall of Washington, DC. But by His grace, we turned on the Live broadcast of the Return, and abandoned every other thing on our calendar to join the nation in a corporate cry of repentance and desire for revival.
Shattering our underwhelming cultural national model for prayer, no one minister dominated the stage, and no one platform shone brighter than our expressed need for God to come, to forgive, to restore our hearts and our land. Like popcorn, one minister after another took the microphone; Native American, Palestinian, Jew, Iranian, Latinos, American blacks, Europeans, Africans, whites young and old, men and women all gripped with one passion, united in prayer.
Acts 1 goes on to describe what else the disciples did while they waited. They chose a new Apostle to replace Judas. Why? Did Jesus say, “Hey, fellows, as soon as I am gone, I need you to run an ad. You are one Apostle short!” No. Actually, they recognized their story in Scripture. In union with God, abiding with Christ in prayer, they looked at passages in Psalms and read about Judas, “Let another take His ministry.” (Acts 1:20 TPT) And they acted.
We are in a time of loss, and transition too. We also may have received some revelation in this season as our foundations have been shaken, and we re-orient ourselves to follow after Him more closely, acknowledging Jesus Christ as our only true, secure Foundation. And we are waiting on Revival, on a powerful manifestation of His Spirit poured out for a great end time harvest.
But we are not positioned to merely WAIT. We already have the promised Holy Spirit. It is time to pray, united in prayer, gripped with one passion, interceding night and day.
It is time to see where we are in Scripture, and abiding in Christ to activate to do what He says we are doing in our day.
Poof.
Gone.
How many times have I felt like that? Transition. Loss. Maybe some revelation. And then poof. Where did He go? What’s next?
Well first, the disciples did the last thing He told them. They waited. But they did not wait and do nothing while waiting.
They prayed, “united in prayer, gripped with one passion, interceding night and day.” (Acts 1:14 TPT) Sometimes we are more keen on the idea of praying than on actually praying. And corporate prayer? It is almost a lost art in this nation. I stay so far away from chain emails and the media these days I almost missed the national call to prayer yesterday from the Mall of Washington, DC. But by His grace, we turned on the Live broadcast of the Return, and abandoned every other thing on our calendar to join the nation in a corporate cry of repentance and desire for revival.
Shattering our underwhelming cultural national model for prayer, no one minister dominated the stage, and no one platform shone brighter than our expressed need for God to come, to forgive, to restore our hearts and our land. Like popcorn, one minister after another took the microphone; Native American, Palestinian, Jew, Iranian, Latinos, American blacks, Europeans, Africans, whites young and old, men and women all gripped with one passion, united in prayer.
Acts 1 goes on to describe what else the disciples did while they waited. They chose a new Apostle to replace Judas. Why? Did Jesus say, “Hey, fellows, as soon as I am gone, I need you to run an ad. You are one Apostle short!” No. Actually, they recognized their story in Scripture. In union with God, abiding with Christ in prayer, they looked at passages in Psalms and read about Judas, “Let another take His ministry.” (Acts 1:20 TPT) And they acted.
We are in a time of loss, and transition too. We also may have received some revelation in this season as our foundations have been shaken, and we re-orient ourselves to follow after Him more closely, acknowledging Jesus Christ as our only true, secure Foundation. And we are waiting on Revival, on a powerful manifestation of His Spirit poured out for a great end time harvest.
But we are not positioned to merely WAIT. We already have the promised Holy Spirit. It is time to pray, united in prayer, gripped with one passion, interceding night and day.
It is time to see where we are in Scripture, and abiding in Christ to activate to do what He says we are doing in our day.
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