2-8-14. Acts 1:12-26.  The Vessel of Prayer is Mended-my devotional

Acts 1:12-26                                                                                                                                         Kevin E. Jesmer

Key verse 1:14a                                                                                                                                   2-8-14

               “All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer…”

     Dear Lord, heavenly Father, thank you for opening doors for us when we think that all the doors are closed. There are things in our lives that leave us feeling hopeless. We feel that there is no way to move forward. But you open the way. Just as you parted the Red Sea for Moses and the Israelites, telling them to stand firm and they will see the glory of God, so too, do you urge us to stand firm and see your glory shine forth as you come through in our own predicaments. Lord, you are the way maker. You are the builder of networks and relationships. You open doors. Lord, we bring to you all of our impossible situations. Reveal to us the way that we must go. We trust in you. Please fill my heart with your word. I pray in the name of the Way, the Truth and the Life, Jesus Christ.

Part 1: They All Joined Together In Prayer (12-14).

Verses 12-14, “Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey away. 13 And when they had entered, they went up to the upper room, where they were staying, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot and Judas the son of James. 14 All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.”

After receiving the promise of the Holy Spirit and Jesus’ world mission command, they went back to Jerusalem. There were 120 disciples including the Eleven and Jesus’ mother and brothers. What could they do? They began by gathering together to pray.

The work of God can blossom and flourish when believers pray with one accord. We can see it here in this passage. Yes, God can work on his own and he does. The work of God goes on according to his plan. But he chooses to work through his people who pray.

God wants to reveal the power of faith through people who pray. God is not just looking for people who are really skilled and know all the right things to say and do. He is not looking for people who have memorized the entire operating manual. He is looking for people with faith and who can operate with faith in their hearts, especially faith expressed through prayer.

There is always something that believers can do. Sometimes the task God has put before us is too vast. We can never imagine that we could do it. Think about how the disciples felt. They were faced with the world mission command of Jesus. Let’s read this command in Matthew 28:18-20, “18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in[b] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Even, early in this chapter we can see echoes of Jesus’ world mission command. Look at Acts 1:8, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” This is such a tall command. This is an impossible command to be accomplished by a band of undereducated disciples. They could have thrown up their hands and said, “Impossible” and not even tried to embrace all that Jesus had for them. But they didn’t. They could gather together and pray.

Prayer should not be the last resort, but the first resort. Prayer is the most important work in the gospel work. I think about Frank and Marie Drown, 30 years ago. They began to pray for the Indigenous people of NW Ontario. They tried their best to minister to the people. They did what they could, but most of all they prayed. Then ten years ago God sparked a desire in the hearts of Steve L. and then David S. to embrace the 22 First Nations communities in NW Ontario. The leaders at KBC began to pray for the mission to the North as one. They prayed for ten years. The receiving church was praying for decades for First Nation people. They prayed for a congregation that reflects he percentage of First Nation people in the community. Charles W. was praying for his people in CatLake. In that time God was preparing two young families. He sparked in their heart a desire for missions, especially a desire for missions to the Canada. In the right time they began to receive missionary training and they prayed with the people at “To Every Tribe.”  God continued to work. He was training me and Julie in UBF ministry. He was breaking me so that we could humbly trust and obey him as church liaisons for the mission to the North. In time God brought two dozen people together, people willing to trust God and trust one another…people willing to work together and especially gather to pray. God is surely working through the prayers of his people.

Prayer does not come naturally. The people in this passage, gathered to pray. They were very pointful and purposeful. They put it in their schedule. It is not easy to get people to come together for a common purpose and pray. I have seen it happen. In the movie, “Faith Like Potatoes” the preacher gathered a whole stadium of people together to pray for a break in the drought. And he planted a crop of potatoes, by faith, even before it rained. I hope that all the people working together, on both sides of the border, and both sides of the cultural divide can come together to pray for the work of God.

Part 2: Judas’ Place Must Be Filled (15-26).

Verses 15-26, “In those days Peter stood up among the brothers (the company of persons was in all about 120) and said, 16 “Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus. 17 For he was numbered among us and was allotted his share in this ministry.” 18 (Now this man acquired a field with the reward of his wickedness, and falling headlong he burst open in the middle and all his bowels gushed out. 19 And it became known to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the field was called in their own language Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood.) 20 “For it is written in the Book of Psalms, “‘May his camp become desolate, and let there be no one to dwell in it’; and “‘Let another take his office.’ 21 So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, 22 beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us—one of these men must become with us a witness to his resurrection.” 23 And they put forward two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also called Justus, and Matthias. 24 And they prayed and said, “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen 25 to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.” 26 And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.”

Judas’ betrayal was an unsolved problem in their hearts. It really hurt that a person they considered a friend could have betrayed their Savior Jesus and also betrayed them and their cause. That hurts. It was also hard for them to see a, “once trusted” friend succumb to such an untimely death by suicide. They disciples needed some healing from this unanticipated trauma. And what better way to heal this trauma than to replace Judas with a loyal friend and fellow gospel worker, Matthias? God provided a way for them to forget about the past and move forward. As they prayed, God moved Peter and he spoke up. He confronted the silent problem of Judas with Scripture and the vessel of the Spirit was mended. They found another to take his place who had also been a witness of the Lord. By replacing Judas with Matthias and keeping the number, the disciples will know that they there is no such thing as losing ground in Christ. There are difficult times, to be certain, but there is always an advancement of the kingdom of God.

God is always concerned about our hearts and the spiritual and emotional condition of his people, especially those who are involved in the leadership of the church. He cares. He is the shepherd of our hearts. He wants to make ways for healing to happen.

Why keep the number 12? It was symbolic. The 12 apostles were to the church as the 12 tribes were to Israel. They were unique witnesses to Jesus’ life, death and resurrection. In the Jewish Christian’s heart, keeping the number of the Apostles at 12 was meaningful.

Just as God is concerned about encouraging our hearts, we need to encourage each other. The Bible tells us to “Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.” (1 Thess 5:11; ESV) This is especially important when there are missionary teams in isolated areas. They must encourage one another. The sending church must encourage the missionaries. I want to dedicate my life to not only encouraging the believers in DeKalb/Sycamore, but also encouraging the missionaries in the North. When we do send people up North to be missionaries, there must be a very vibrant, compassionate, sensitive and concerned support team formed to consistently support the missionary team.

On the flip side we also need to be concerned of being sources of discouragement, like Judas was. He was a suffering and tormented soul, yes. But he was a source of discouragement. The Bible said that he was thief of the disciples’ money. He betrayed Jesus to the death. This is not good. But God loved him still and Jesus tried hard to get him to turn his heart heavenward.

We should not be hyper concerned about discouraging people. I remember how I took this to the extreme, where I felt I could never miss a Sunday worship service for any reason (except vomiting, fracture, serious health issue or death in the family), or I could never publically talk about plans for a family vacation, or I would be hesitant to visit a missionary for fear that I might be a discouragement to them or I would never speak publically of what was on my mind, for fear that I might be a discouragement to others. These are extreme attempts at trying to not be a discouragement to missionaries and other believers that really drains us of life and vitality and especially initiative. And so we can see that there are limits to everything.

Lastly, I am amazed at God’s grace. Who was Matthias? He definitely was not one of the original Twelve. But now, here he was, counted as one of the Twelve. God has his way of raising up his people and using them in his work. Who am I? I am many things. But I am not worthy of being part of a missionary team. But God put me here by his grace and for that I am eternally thankful. Thank you Lord, calling that which was “not” as if it “is”. Thank you for your grace.

Lord, help us to unite in prayer until you send your Spirit.

One word: Pray together