Daily Scripture
“And when they had entered, they went up to the upper room, where they were staying, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot and Judas the son of James. 14 All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.”
Acts 1:13-14
daily Devotion
As we read these verses in Acts 1, we see the disciples gathered together and praying. At first glance, it may not look like much is going on. But if we read the first 12 verses before this, we see the disciples have been with Jesus since he was resurrected, and he tells them to wait for the Holy Spirit to receive power. And with these final words, Jesus ascends into heaven.
I look back on times in my life where I was waiting on something to happen. Whether it be waiting for my sick child to get better, waiting for a decision to be hired from an employer, or simply waiting at a red light in traffic. What I’ve learned about myself over the years is that I tend to wait impatiently for something. I want to take action into my own hands and make it happen now! Most of the time we have to wait for things that are out of our control. That is where we find the disciples in the beginning of Acts. They have literally just spent time with Jesus face to face. Now they are being told to wait for the promise of the Holy Spirit and what to do next. How hard it must have been to have patience in these moments. But here they are not just praying, but devoting themselves to prayer and waiting.
We are called to be a praying people. And not just people who pray before a meal or if something isn’t going our way in life. We are called to be people who devote our time and energy to prayer every single day. And to be expectant of the return of our Savior. So I encourage you today to set aside just 10 minutes of your day to block out the world and all the noise around you, and devote your time to talking with your Heavenly Father and just spending time with Him.
Brice Alumbaugh