Pray To Be A Faithful Witness
4“Gathering them together, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised, “Which,” He said, “you heard of from Me; 5for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
6So when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, “Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?” 7He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; 8but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.””
ACTS 1:1-14
We can only affect a small portion of the world, our family, coworkers, small group members, neighbors, badminton friends, people we have lunch with, Jollibee servers, and the like. As we give our lives in service for others, we can have such a beautiful and positive effect on this portion of world. And this is only secured on the fact that God believes that we ourselves are worth dying for.
We cannot do this unless we pray. But what do we pray for?
PRAY TO BE A FAITHFUL WITNESS
- 1. Who Shares the Truth
- 2. Who Lives the Truth
It is not enough that we are praying. Our prayer must extend into our actions through sharing the gospel and living out the truth of the Gospel.
God loves the world. We need take the Word to a world that is dying. Whether they want to hear it or not, we are to reach out one life at a time sharing to them the guarantee of eternal life. Read John 20:30-31 and Acts 1:3. Jesus suffered and died but did not stay dead. He resurrected. He claims the work done. It is finished. He has already won.
But it is not enough that Jesus is victorious. Read 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17. Our lives are very short compared to the length of eternity. We need to make sure that we will be with the Lord forever. And we can know that we are going to have that opportunity to be with the Lord forever, the evidence of such confidence is a transformed life. This same transformation in our lives can happen to other people. We need to be in prayer. We need to pray to be a faithful witness.
Faithfulness does not come easy. Read Acts 1:12-13. But if you have ever let Jesus down, join the club. God uses imperfect people to further the kingdom of heaven. When Jesus said that He will leave the work to the disciples, the angels were probably thinking if Jesus had a Plan B. There is no Plan B. We are it.
Just look at how God used His disciples. Peter denied Jesus 3 times. But in his ministry he speaks to Jerusalem about Jesus and 3,000 are added to the church. God uses imperfect people like Peter, he can use you too.
James and John were so selfish, they asked their mother to ask Jesus for special placement in heaven, they wanted to sit on the left or right side of Jesus. But in his life and ministry, when James was about to be executed, he gave a powerful testimony of Jesus. The person restraining him was a closet Christian. And when he heard James’ testimony, he felt so ashamed and confessed Jesus himself. He and James were both executed. John reached a very old age and was exiled in Patmos. Even as he was old and frail, he was able to write the Book of Revelation.
Thomas had reverted to sight over faith as he proclaimed he would not believe in Jesus’ resurrection until he put his hands where the nails were in Jesus’s hands and sides. But in his ministry, he reached India going far beyond proclaiming the name of Jesus as he went.
Just like the disciples, we are saved to do more than just exist. Jesus did not die for us so that we could have a comfortable faith. Is God challenging you? Ask Jesus which part of this world He wants you to be a witness to Him.
The Book of Acts is about the unfinished work of telling the world about the finished work of Christ.
We all have our part to play.
- from 4W's