Good morning Lord Jesus, Father and Spirt, with all of my heart and all of my soul i love and desire your presence in my life.
Acts 9 contains one of the most amazing stories in the NT, what we call the conversion of Saul to Paul on the road to Damascus. In my prayer time over this two verses stood out to me.
First, The Lord tells Ananais concerning Paul, "For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name".... v.16
We serve a suffering Savior. It was through suffering Jesus established his kingdom on earth. It was by enduring suffering and hardship that Paul further established the kingdom of God. It is through our sufferiing that God's kingdom will be further established on earth. I prayed the hard prayer for me, God show me how much I need to suffer, and give me the strength and ability to accept and suffer for your kingdom, for you are worthy of it. We need to pray this together as a church.
Second verse, "And laying his hands on him he (Ananias) said, "Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you came here, has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” v. 17.
God sent Ananias to Paul. It was through Ananais laying hands on Paul and praying over him that he received the power of the Holy Spirit to open his eyes to Jesus, enable him to be obedient to God, endure the suffering and hardship, and proclaim the Gospel to the Gentiles. All throughout this chapter and the Bible people are coming to Paul's aid and assisting him. Without their help, Paul would not have succeeded.
God sent you to me. God sent me to you. God sent us to each other. We are to be "Ananias" to each other. To lay hands and pray over each other, to receive to anoint each other with the Holy Spirit, to encourage each other to open our eyes to Jesus, and to support and enable us to be obedient to God, endure the hardship and suffering, and proclaim the Gospel to our neighbors.
My family, This morning I prayed over and thanked God for all of you who have been an “Ananias” to me at different seasons of my life and blessed me with your love, prayers and helping open my eyes to see Christ. I need you. I am so thankful for my wife Nancy who ministers to me daily. I prayed over the blessings I received in my helping you when you need it. I prayed over our help for each other today, as I still need it. I prayed over helping each other and our churches to be filled with the Holy Spirit and see scales fall from our eyes so as The Church we can see Christ. I prayed over our commitment to participate in this time of reading through Acts and our time together in prayer and fasting. I prayed over your prioritizing to start a Band accountability group, because if you are not in one you truly do not have “Ananias’s in your life, and you are intentionally forfrtting all the blessings of this passage. I pray these daily devotion blogs I write are a means of hope, love, encouragement and help to you in your walk with Jesus, in Jesus’ name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
Please share your reflections from reading Acts chapter 9. As we read through these chapters, though certain verses in each chapter stood out to me that I comment and pray on, other verses probably stood out to you. Please share this with us.
I could use your financial support for One Direction Community and my family to jump down into the pits and help lift up those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please commitment to partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758. Thank You! Thank You! .
