The book of Acts begins with the first 50 days after Jesus’ resurrection. He appears to His disciples many times over the course of 40 days and gives them instructions about the coming Holy Spirit. Then Jesus ascends to heaven in front of His disciples. (Can you imagine what that would have been like?!) After that, there’s a 10-day lull before the Holy Spirit arrives at Pentecost. So what do the disciples do during these 10 days as they’re waiting for the Holy Spirit? They “joined together constantly in prayer” (Acts 1:14). When they were confused, scared and waiting for God to respond, they turned to Him in prayer.
Even before this week’s lesson, I had determined that during BSF this year I would focus on prayer. As a co-assistant children’s supervisor, I have a special privilege to pray for the children’s program in my BSF class. As a wife, I have a special privilege to pray for my amazing husband. As a mother, I have a special privilege to pray for my sweet daughter. I could go on and on because as Christians, we’ve been called to be prayer warriors.
I don’t take advantage of my prayer relationship with God quite enough. Often I can’t concentrate when my to-do list is running through my mind. And honestly it’s difficult to talk to someone who isn’t in the same room as me, even though I can feel and sense God’s presence. I should enjoy and anticipate my times of talking to my heavenly Father, the Creator and the Ruler of the universe! And what peace I have knowing that He listens to me!
This year I want to become a better pray-er. I want to have more focused and effective prayers, so I am making thorough lists of prayer requests. I want to have a more consistent prayer life, so I am making daily prayer appointments with God and trying to keep in touch with Him with “arrow prayers” during the day. And ultimately, I want to teach Avery how to pray (more than just at meals).
How ’bout you? How would you rate your prayer life? What are you doing to improve it?