06/28/1 He Was Praying There

READING: Job 11-13, Acts 9:1-21

“. . . since he is praying there.”

Acts 9:11

It’s an image that I hope is etched in my mind – the picture of Saul praying to God when Ananias approached him and told him his next steps. God had told Ananias, “Get up and go to the street called Straight, to the house of Judas, and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, since he is praying there” (Acts 9:11). Not long before, Saul had been on his way to arrest and kill believers in Damascus. Now, Christ had met him in a miraculous way through a blinding light. “Get up and go into the city,” He told him, “and you will be told what you must do” (Acts 9:6). Led by men who took him by the hand, Paul made his way to Damascus – where he prayed. Meanwhile, God instructed Ananias to find Paul and lay his hands on him to bring him physical and spiritual healing.

Again, there he would find Paul praying. In fact, the text implies that Paul prayed and fasted continually for three days. He had been “breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord” (Acts 9:1), but now he was focused on speaking to God. In some ways, that shouldn’t surprise us if we’ve read the rest of the book of Acts (see 16:25; 20:36; 22:17) and the letters of Paul. Paul was a man of prayer who sought God regularly on behalf of the churches and disciples with whom he ministered. You almost get the sense that had you happened upon him at any point like Ananias did, you were likely to find him praying.

That’s the way I want to live my life – to spend regular time with God, to be found praying more often than not, to have prayer in my spiritual DNA. I would long for God to say to others, “Go, visit Chuck. You’ll find him praying, since that’s who he is and what he does.”

ACTION STEPS: 

  • Evaluate how regularly you pray.  
  • Set a time today to spend particular time alone with God.   

PRAYER: “God, I want others to find me praying. Let that change in my life start today.”

TOMORROW’S READING:  Job 14-16, Acts 9:22-43

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