Read
Psalms 24 and Acts 21
“Integrity and uprightness will be more likely to preserve us than insincere compliances.”
~ Matthew Henry
S.O.A.P.
Scripture – Observation – Application - Prayer
S:
“We could not persuade him to stay away from Jerusalem. So we stopped
begging him and said, ‘We pray that
what the Lord wants will be done.’” Acts 21:14
O:
Psalms 24 tell us that EVERYTHING belongs to the LORD. Have you ever tried to persuade someone to do
or not do something they felt compelled to do?
You present the logical arguments.
You may even throw in a dose of guilt or plead to their affections, but
nothing you say can dissuade them. You
give one final try and you resort to begging.
Here Paul has his heart set on Jerusalem and no amount of persuasive
arguments or demonstrations (see verse 10-11) will dissuade Paul. The people even resorted to begging him, but
what was their final answer? Their final
answer should have been their first response, “We pray that what the LORD wants
will be done.” God can do more with one
prayer that we bring to Him than we can in arguing and begging and carrying on
with someone to try to change their minds.
A friend once said to me, “When will my first response be the right
response?” I often wonder that for
myself when after a situation or conversation has finished and I realized my
first response was NOT the right response!
I want my first response to be to PRAY FIRST!
A:
Pray first! Pray for God’s will
to be done and leave it in His hands to handle.
P:
Dear Lord, How many times do I plead and try to persuade others when I
could do more good to bring those things to You in prayer. God I pray this morning that what You want will
be done! God, I trust in You! You will protect, You will provide, You are
the One who owns everything and I leave everything in Your hand. It does not mean things will necessarily go
“my way”, but it does mean that it will be ok!
I pray that my first response will be to pray first! Through Christ and no merit of my own I bring
these prayers to Your Holy Throne. In
Jesus’ Mighty Name and to the King of Glory I pray. Amen & Amen.
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