waiting and praying

"they all joined together constantly in prayer."

i love this picture of the early church. we are told that the 120 believers "all joined together constantly in prayer". mr. stott states that they prayed because a) Jesus had commanded them to pray and b) Jesus had promised the Holy Spirit.

the interesting thing is that Jesus promises the gift of the Holy Spirit, then commands the believers to pray for the gift. the promise is essentially given before the command to pray.

i suppose herein lies the secret of the power of prayer: the command to pray and the promise.

Jesus knows exactly what is going to happen to us; He knows all the difficulties and sorrows that we will go through in our lives. consider this most amazing verse from psalm 139:16: "all the days ordained for me were written in Your book before one of them came to pass".

before (sometimes years before) He delivers us from these evils, He gives us the faith and the inclination to pray--that's the command to pray.

when rescue and deliverance comes--that's the promise fulfilled.

whenever you have been given the inclination, the desire, and the faith to pray--it is the prelude, the assurance of the promise fulfilled.

i suppose the lesson is that we are never to give up praying--the answer is on its way.

waiting and praying is the story of the early church, and it is the description of the lives of faithful believers in Christ.