Category: Daily Prayer

In Acts 16:9-15 we read of Paul and his friends traveling to the Macedonian town of Philippi, a Roman colony, to spread the Gospel of Jesus. Paul had tried to go elsewhere but then had a vision of a Macedonian man asking that he “come over and help us” (Acts 16:9). They go to Philippi and meet a group of women worshipping on the Sabbath and share their testimony.

Lydia, a wealthy business woman and a leader in the community invites them to stay at her home, so they now have a place to operate from and continue their work. It sounds like they will have an easy time, but if we read further in Acts 16 – 17, we will hear that they encounter resistance and danger. Paul and his group are dependent on God for their very lives, but their faith sustains them.

If we are honest, we are in the same situation, even if we are in familiar territory. We are comfortable and things go well, but then we find ourselves thrown into turmoil and feel we have nowhere to turn. If we put our trust in God, we have nothing to fear. It doesn’t mean we will avoid all difficulties, but it does give us the assurance that our present trouble will not affect our eternal salvation. Press on in faith, God is with us even when we are troubled by worldly opposition.

Gracious God, help us to see that our current problems are only temporary. Give us the strength to rely on Your love, and see that Your plan for our lives is forever. Amen.

When she and the members of her household were baptized, she invited us to her home. “If you consider me a believer in the Lord,” she said, “come and stay at my house.” And she persuaded us.
Acts 16:15

Lydia was a business woman, and apparently a wealthy and very successful one. She must have had good judgement and a logical mind to rise to her position in the economic system and community at that time. She would not have been given to rash decisions or ill-advised actions. Yet she was willing to take in the strangers who came to share the Gospel without any reservations. Why would she take such a chance?

We are told that she was already a God-fearing woman when Paul and his friends arrived, but their testimony and behavior added to her faith. Jesus taught that part of our responsibility as His followers was to welcome the stranger and care for them. Hospitality was part of the ancient faith as far back as Abraham. Jesus visited and ate with those considered sinners and outsiders, and He calls us to do the same.

Taking a risk is difficult, but we can be certain that Jesus blesses our efforts to support those in need. There is no risk in trusting Him. He didn’t say our way would be easy, but He did promise salvation to all who believed in Him and were willing to live as He taught us.

Loving Lord, You have called us to welcome and care for those in need among us. Help us to see the people and issues that can be helped by our faithful service and Your love. Amen.

On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there. One of those listening was a woman from the city of Thyatira named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth. She was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message.
Acts 16:13-14

This passage tells us that wherever we go to share the Gospel, God is already there. He opens people’s hearts and minds that the message we bring might be heard. God doesn’t need our help for anything in His creation; why then does He call us to share His message?

God wants us to be part of the process of sharing His love so that those who are searching may see how He works in our lives. It is easier for us to understand God when we are presented with His love and grace in other people. That is why Jesus came to be with us – to relate to us in a familiar way.

He then gave us the task of being His messengers, that we would do as He had done, spreading the Good News to all God’s children. We are called to be a blessing to the whole world. Through our obedient work, His Word goes out and we are blessed as well! It is a double gift, that in giving we also receive.

Gracious God, we are grateful to be part of Your saving work. Help us when we are afraid and remind us we can never go where You are not already there. Amen.

From Troas we put out to sea and sailed straight for Samothrace, and the next day we went on to Neapolis. From there we traveled to Philippi, a Roman colony and the leading city of that district of Macedonia. And we stayed there several days.
Acts 16:11-12

The Book of Acts records the many places the followers of Jesus went in order to share the Gospel with all the world. Paul’s travels took him and those who accompanied him to a wide variety of places, meeting people of different backgrounds and beliefs. In each case, Paul was able to find common ground, something they were familiar with in order to relate the wonderful story of God’s love for all of us.

We may not be called to travel around the world as Paul did but we are all charged with sharing the Good News to those who have not heard. It might be hard to believe in this day of instant communication that some have never been told what Jesus has done for us and the promise of salvation He offers. They may have heard of Jesus, read about Jesus, but until a believer shares what a relationship with Him means, they will remain unconvinced.

Jesus wants everyone to know the love of God, and He has commissioned us to be the means for the world to hear this amazing truth. Ask for guidance and strength to share your knowledge of Him, letting everyone know what He has done for you!

Loving Lord, we are humbled by the fact that You trust us to continue Your ministry here on earth. Make us bold in the service of the Gospel, that everyone may come to learn how much they are loved and that You have a place for all. Amen.

During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.
Acts 16:9-10

Paul also received a call from God in a vision to go share the Good News. Like Peter, he encountered resistance from some of the other apostles, but as his ministry in far flung places grew, so did their respect for him. Paul was a vigorous church planter and letter writer, teaching and baptizing all over the ancient world.

In this passage Paul has been called to Macedonia to preach. Never a hesitant man, he goes to one of the cities there to begin his work. As we will hear, he meets with conflict and success while he is there. This is a lesson we should learn, that we will encounter opposition as we share God’s love, but we must persevere even when it is difficult.

Like Paul, we are called to give our testimony to an often unbelieving world. Paul endured hardships we may not be called to face, but we must remember his example when we are frustrated or dismayed in our ministry efforts. Jesus said we are blessed when people persecute us for His sake (Matthew 5:11). We are called to share the Gospel of Jesus no matter what!

Gracious God, thank You for making us part of Your saving work here on earth. When it is hard, strengthen us; when we meet resistance, make us bold. Help us to know You are always with us as we go to spread the Good News. Amen.

In Acts 11:1-18 we hear Peter’s testimony to the disciples of being called to minister to a Roman soldier’s family. His fellow believers are upset because he seems to have broken a religious law that prohibited eating with those outside the faith. Peter explains the vision he was given from God to go there, that the Holy Spirit came upon them, and that he baptized them as Christ commanded. Then the disciples understand the salvation Jesus brought was for everyone, not just a select few.

We can find hope in this story that promises Jesus’ love for all, regardless of our heritage or how we have lived previously. God’s grace is given freely to the whole world and He calls us to repent, accept His forgiveness and to make sure everyone hears the wonderful truth of redemption. This is how God will bring back all His children, through His blessings being shared by them.

How amazing is it that God would want us as part of His plan to save the world! He loves us so much, and trusts us so much that we are empowered to share the Gospel with those we meet. This our faith “job description”, the call He places on our lives – that we tell everyone about our relationship with the Heavenly Father and that they can have the same connection themselves.

Gracious God, we are humbled that You would choose us to be Your children and Your representatives. Help us to share this joy by the way we live, that others might see a glimpse of You in us. Bless us as we go from praise and worship in Your church to do Your work in Your world. Amen.

So if God gave them the same gift he gave us who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to think that I could stand in God’s way?” When they heard this, they had no further objections and praised God, saying, “So then, even to Gentiles God has granted repentance that leads to life.”
Acts 11:17-18

Peter finishes his testimony to the disciples in Jerusalem and they thank God that He has offered His grace to everyone. They remember that God had called them to be a nation of priests, to share the relationship they know with the world. Sometimes it is hard for us to be happy for the blessings of others, but God calls us to rejoice whenever someone accepts His love and becomes an active part of His plan.

Like the early Hebrews and the apostles who followed Jesus, we are called to be a nation of priests to make the Good News known everywhere. That may sound a little intimidating to realize the spread of the Gospel depends on us! We are indeed His chosen instrument, but it is His message and His love that we carry to the world. God will bless our obedient and faithful efforts, giving us the gifts necessary to carry out His plan. He also has given us brothers and sisters to strengthen our faith and support our efforts.

Let us go in the knowledge that God is with us, even when we encounter difficult situations and people. He has called us to be His messengers and He will bless us as we share His truth.

Gracious God, we are grateful that You want us to be involved in Your kingdom work. Help us to be good stewards of the gifts You give, that we may carry the message of Your love and salvation to the whole world. Amen.

“As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit came on them as he had come on us at the beginning. Then I remembered what the Lord had said: ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ So if God gave them the same gift he gave us who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to think that I could stand in God’s way?”

Acts 11:15-17

Peter relates to the disciples that God was working in ways they hadn’t expected. Even with the teachings they had received from Jesus, they were still amazed when the Holy Spirit came to people outside their culture. God often does the unexpected in the lives of others and our own.

We seem to think that because we are believers we know the mind of God and how He “should” work. This kind of attitude makes us seem judgmental and pompous. We know what God has called us to do and that must be our focus, not what we think God should be doing.

God will continue to surprise us. This doesn’t mean He changes, only that our understanding of Him is not complete. As long as we think of God in a human way, we will not be able to see the marvels of His love fully displayed. Open your heart and your mind to His greatness and He will give you grace to be part of His plan!

Loving Lord, we think we know You, but we sometimes see only what we want to see in Your amazing world. Help us to continue to grow in Your love and our connection to You that we may obey Your will and be fully aware of what You are doing in our lives. Amen.

He told us how he had seen the angel standing in his house and saying, ‘Send to Joppa and bring Simon, who is called Peter; he will give you a message by which you and your entire household will be saved.’ And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them just as it had upon us at the beginning.

Acts 11:13-15

Peter relates to the disciples in Jerusalem how he was called to go to a Roman home to share the Good News, and that the people there received the Holy Spirit. They had been visited by an angel and told to go find Peter; he had received a vision to overcome his reluctance to minister to outsiders.

It would be great if every opportunity for evangelism was set up this way, those needing the truth being sent to find someone to teach them and those bearing the message of Christ strengthened to witness. God provided the perfect opportunity for this sharing and receiving encounter.

If we are honest, we know God provides us the same opportunity. We know we are sent to seek the last, the least and the lost, and they are seeking us to hear the Good News. Perhaps they weren’t told our name and maybe we didn’t have a vision to shake us from our spiritual lethargy, but our call to reach out to them is the same as the one Peter received in Joppa.

Do you feel God’s call to share today? He asks each of us to continue Christ’s work here, to make disciples of all the world by telling His story in our words and our actions.

God of all things, You have made us in Your own image. You have chosen us for Your work here, to be partners in salvation for all people. Bless us as we go into our communities to be representatives of Your love. Amen.

At that very moment three men, sent to me from Caesarea, arrived at the house where we were. The Spirit told me to go with them and not to make a distinction between them and us. These six brothers also accompanied me, and we entered the man’s house. Acts 11:11-12

The Book of Acts is all about going and doing, hearing the call and making it happen. Peter hears the direction of the Holy Spirit and obeys, even though the ones who ask for help are foreign and pagan. God is showing him a new place for ministry and new people with whom to share the Good News.

It’s not always easy to interact with those who are different. We are sometimes uncomfortable – and they likely are as well! We need to see them as Jesus does and treat them as brothers and sisters, realizing that we are there to share His love and not to change them; they must do that for themselves.

Jesus calls us to turn our lives around and follow Him, but it is an invitation we must accept willingly. No one is forced into the kingdom, all must choose to receive the grace God offers. Our task is to ensure everyone has the opportunity to hear about Jesus and the salvation He brings us.

Gracious God, help us to see everyone as part of Your family, even though we may look and act differently. Show us how we can share Your love, and invite people to know You better. Amen.