What do you do when you want to take a major decision in your life or any other decision for that matter. We normally rely on our wisdom or the wisdom of others without even consulting God in prayer. The Book of Acts in its entirety teaches us that we need to rely on the power and guidance of the Holy Spirit in every decision that we take in our lives as God's children.
Acts 1:12-26 teaches us the following:
(1) The early Christian church was a praying church. They met together for prayer meetings and were very consistent in that (verse 14). They were not lazzy or did not disregard meeting with other believers for prayer;
(2) They were very specific in their prayers - they had specific prayer requests offered, in this case it was the replacement of Judas as an apostle.
(3) Their prayer requests were consistant with God's revelation in Scriptures thereby reminding us that we need to pray acording to God's will. God's will in this instance was for Judas to be replace. Judas was a man who, even when he had the priveledge to be close to the truth (gospel about Christ), he was not necessarily committed or changed by this truth. According to the will of God, Judas had to be replaced (verse 20b);
(4) Praying according to God's will is also made manifest in that specific criteria for the replacement of Judas Iscariot was made - he had to be a person who was a witness of the ministry of Christ from his baptism until his resurrection. Eye witnesses were needed to fill the vacancy of apostleship. This in a way asserts the meaning of the word apostle which refers to those eye witnesses who are sent to bear testimony for the resurrected Christ in the world;
(5) In prayer, the early Christian church relied solely on the power and guidance of the Holy Spirit. They knew that it was God's work and therefore only God should make a choice as to who serves him in the capacity of being an apostle.
We should therefore learn to rely on the power and guidance of the Holy Spirit in our lives as Christians. This will teach us to be a praying church that seeks God's face in whatever we go through in this world. We are not only expected to pray, as we rely on the power and guidance of the Holy Spirit, but also should pray according to God's will. God's will is revealed in Scriptures and therefore knowledge of the Word of God will help us to pray inline with what God really want from us. To God be the glory!
Acts 1:12-26 teaches us the following:
(1) The early Christian church was a praying church. They met together for prayer meetings and were very consistent in that (verse 14). They were not lazzy or did not disregard meeting with other believers for prayer;
(2) They were very specific in their prayers - they had specific prayer requests offered, in this case it was the replacement of Judas as an apostle.
(3) Their prayer requests were consistant with God's revelation in Scriptures thereby reminding us that we need to pray acording to God's will. God's will in this instance was for Judas to be replace. Judas was a man who, even when he had the priveledge to be close to the truth (gospel about Christ), he was not necessarily committed or changed by this truth. According to the will of God, Judas had to be replaced (verse 20b);
(4) Praying according to God's will is also made manifest in that specific criteria for the replacement of Judas Iscariot was made - he had to be a person who was a witness of the ministry of Christ from his baptism until his resurrection. Eye witnesses were needed to fill the vacancy of apostleship. This in a way asserts the meaning of the word apostle which refers to those eye witnesses who are sent to bear testimony for the resurrected Christ in the world;
(5) In prayer, the early Christian church relied solely on the power and guidance of the Holy Spirit. They knew that it was God's work and therefore only God should make a choice as to who serves him in the capacity of being an apostle.
We should therefore learn to rely on the power and guidance of the Holy Spirit in our lives as Christians. This will teach us to be a praying church that seeks God's face in whatever we go through in this world. We are not only expected to pray, as we rely on the power and guidance of the Holy Spirit, but also should pray according to God's will. God's will is revealed in Scriptures and therefore knowledge of the Word of God will help us to pray inline with what God really want from us. To God be the glory!