We are past pentecost. Both in the annual calendar of the church and historically: Luke wrote his history of the acts following his gospel. And he did have a methodology: at the beginning of the gospel he said that he had talked to the eyewitnesses to these events. Those he did not witness himself.
This warms my stony heart. I have been taught to look first at the methods section in a paper, and then read the results if the methodology is valid. And in this there is nothing new.
So to begin: Luke gives us the number of days Christ walked among us as risen, and his paraphrase of Christ’s final teaching.
In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.
And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. 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.” And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”
Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey away. 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. All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.
Now, before pentecost, what did the disciples do? They had been taught by Christ for at least three years. They knew his methods. They were trained.
They stayed together. And they prayed. There is great value in personal prayer, but many of us (this blogger included) find it difficult and have to use aids. Corporate prayer is somewhat easier.
If we look at church history, we find that before revival there was prayer. Over and over again. There was a group who hungered not for the praise of man or success, but for the will of God. And they prayed.
And as these times turn bleaker, so need we to do.
