PRAYER AND THE WILL OF GOD - Acts 13:1-4

Without a youth director at church this year, I found myself volunteering to teach the junior high Sunday school class.  It has been a joy for me to work with these very insightful young people, so much so that I can’t wait for Sunday to roll around!

We began studying the book of Acts together in September and yesterday landed on chapter 13:1-4, which reads:

“In the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch) and Saul.  While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, ‘Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.’  So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off.”

We discussed what it might have been that these men were praying and fasting about when the Holy Spirit spoke.  One of the seventh grade girls suggested, with great discernment, I think, that since the Greeks were also responding to the gospel (Acts 11:20-21), perhaps they were praying for God’s guidance as to how to reach them and where to go next.  Considering how the Spirit spoke, I think she just might have been right!

Certainly the Lord had already made Saul’s (whose name would soon be changed to Paul) mission clear back in Acts 9 when He said of him:

“This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles, and their kings,

and before the people of Israel.”

Now the Spirit gave specific commissioning instructions for Barnabas and Saul and sent them on their way to fulfill Saul’s God-given mission to reach the Gentiles with the gospel.

How exciting it must have been for those men to pray for wisdom and direction and then have the Spirit lead in such a clear way.  We read that they were sent out, went to this place and that, preaching and teaching about Jesus as they went.  

Their port of call was the island of Cyrus in the Mediterranean and when they arrived, “they traveled through the whole island”.  

Imagine the unknowns they faced.  Mingling mostly with Gentiles, whom Jews had avoided for centuries.   What would that be like?  How to present the gospel in a way that would reach them?  Would their message be well received?  Would the people they met reject the gospel – and them?  

What confidence it must have given them to know that the Spirit had set them apart exactly FOR this and He was doing the leading and the filling for the power to speak!  What confidence must it have given them, when opposition did arise, to know that they were exactly where the Holy Spirit led them?  Opposition or not, they were in the center of God’s will - where He led, doing what He led them to do.

In addition to working with junior high this year, I also have the privilege of working with the senior high in youth group.  They’re still young.  Even so, they have some important decisions to make as those senior high years come to a close.   

I wonder – are they considering what the Lord might have in mind for their life’s work?   Are they seeking God in prayer to know His will for them – for the college to go to, the work He is uniquely preparing and equipping them to do – that suits their God given personality, and gifts, and life experiences?  

When we ask, as Barnabas and Saul, and the leaders of the church in Antioch did, the Lord answers with the leading of His Holy Spirit in a way we can KNOW, just as they did.  He “speaks” through His Word, through open and closed doors, through others who know us well, through the confirming “voice” of His Spirit.

This morning I met my sweet young friend, Alyssa, who expressed to me last summer that she had a longing in her heart to do a foreign mission assignment.  The longing was so strong that she began to do some research, God opened doors, and the Spirit provided an opportunity to serve as a nursing assistant in Kenya for two months this summer. 

She faces her own unknowns.  A culture very different from ours.  Living arrangements devoid of the usual creature comforts – like washing machines and irons.  Going out not knowing what her living arrangements will look like or what exactly her work will be, or where exactly in Kenya she'll be living.  Desiring to show the love of God, but not being sure what that will look like until she gets there.  Will there be language and/or cultural barriers to get over before that's possible?

Where is her confidence in the face of these unknowns?  In the One who calls her, who equips her, who will never leave or forsake her, who knows the unknowns and they are NOT unknown to Him, who even prepared her for this very thing, and who will use the experience to shape the rest of her life. 

I can’t wait to share the experience with her of seeing the Lord provide as each unknown becomes a known.  I think living life back here in NJ after two months in Africa just might create a life long longing for the excitement of living in dependence on the Lord!  

Whether you are a junior or senior high student, a young adult like Alyssa, or even an older adult like me – it’s never too soon, or too late – to pray for the Lord’s direction for your life and mission.  If we really want to know God’s will, because we really want to DO God’s will, then He will lead us, as He led Barnabas and Saul, and as He has led Alyssa.

If you’ve never prayed for the Lord to lead you into His will for your life and choices – why not start now and see where He takes you.  I guarantee you, there IS no greater adventure!

A friend posted this comment on Facebook today.  The Lord gave it to her and it fit so well with this blog that I asked if I could include it.  So here it is!

"Prayer is the link from what is intended to be played out as the will of God and SEEING His will in real time."                                          Thanks for sharing that Jeannine!