Study through Acts

Yeah, there's no verse for this post. That's because, instead of giving a treatise on a particular aspect of the Christian life, I want to tell you about what I've been enjoying in the Word recently.

My devotionals have consisted recently of going through the book of Acts one chapter at a time and taking notes in my journal. I would say "one chapter a day" but I still have not attained a disciplined attitude toward reading the Bible on a consistent basis, which I am very embarrassed by.

Anyway, Acts has been a real eye-opener for me. One thing that has really stuck out at me is how much the first Christians prayed. We are taught as children to say our prayers before we go to bed. We pray before and after a sermon. We pray before meals. All these things are wonderful and godly and I do not want in any way to criticize such practices. However, what I see in the book of Acts is a reliance upon prayer that was almost completely foreign to my life several months ago. Luke uses phrases like "continually devoting themselves to prayer" (Acts 1:14) and prayer "being made fervently" (Acts 12:5). A lot of times I pray because I feel that I'm supposed to. In a sense, that is true. Jesus did command us to pray (Luke 18:1). However, these early Christians believed in the power of prayer. That quote I gave from Acts 12:5 was from when Peter was thrown in prison by Herod to be executed. The saints were up all night praying for him. What happened? He was released! "The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much." (James 5:16) Keep in mind that what they were praying for was, by all worldly measures, impossible. Herod had already killed James the son of Zebedee and was planning on doing the same to Peter. Peter was under lock and key with guards sleeping next to him. There was no earthly way that circumstances would come together so that Peter would be released. An angel had to come and physically remove Peter from his chains, open the gates of the prison, all the while keeping the guards from waking up. No problem for God. Pray for the "impossible" and do it often.

One last thing. I was planning on reading through Psalms after I finished Acts. However, with seven chapters left to go I became impatient and did my study on Psalm 1 earlier tonight. Wow! If this Psalm is typical of the rest of the book, I am in for a real treat! I'll probably post something about it later this week.

For Christ,
Daniel