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26.10.2018 Feature Article

Pray Expectantly (ACTS 12:1-19)

Pray Expectantly ACTS 12:1-19
26.10.2018 LISTEN

PRAY EXPECTANTLY (ACTS 12:1-19)
The story is told of a man who got a permit to open the first tavern (drinking bar) in a small town. The members of a local church were strongly opposed to the bar, so they began to pray that God intervenes. A few days before the tavern was scheduled to open, lightning hit the structure and it burned to the ground. The people of the church were surprised but pleased—until they received a notice that the would-be tavern owner was suing them.

He contended that their prayers were responsible for the burning of the building. They denied the charge. At the conclusion of the preliminary hearing, the judge wryly remarked, “At this point, I don’t know what my decision will be, but it seems that the tavern owner believes in the power of prayer and these church people don’t.”

When the apostle Peter was put into prison a group of Christians met to pray for him. When their prayer was answered, they didn’t believe it. I am afraid we are like these first century Christians. We pray but we really don’t expect much to happen (Our Daily Bread, August 26, 1992).

SPIRITUAL WARFARE
The story has been told of a mental hospital that many years ago devised an unusual test to determine when their patients were ready to go back into the world. They brought a candidate for release to a room where a water faucet was left on so that the sink overflowed and was pouring water all over the floor. Then they handed the patient a mop and told him to mop up the water. If the patient had enough sense to turn off the faucet before mopping up the water, he was ready to be released. But if as in the case of many, the patient started mopping while the water was still flowing, they kept the patient for more treatment. As Christians, we live in a world where we are confronted and need to do battle with the evil which dominates it. But, like the patients in the mental hospital, until we realize where the source of that evil is, we will make no real contribution. To see less evil in the world means that we must conquer the evil that is pouring forth from our own heart. That is conversion. Then, to deal with the evil around us, we need a “mop and bucket,” the spiritual armor that God has provided for us (Ephesians 6:10-18).

ONE SINNER MORE
“The first link between my soul and Christ is not my goodness but my badness, not my merit but my misery, not my standing but my failing, not my riches but my need” (Charles Spurgeon).

“The worst form of badness is human goodness when it becomes a substitute for the new birth” (Dr. Adrian Rogers).

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