“for, behold, he prayeth.”
Acts 9:11
God saved you and me for fellowship. That’s why God sent Jesus into the world. Jesus didn’t just die to keep us out of Hell, He died so as to restore our fellowship with God. God desires us to have a daily relationship with him.
Paul had just been saved. On the road to Damascus, an amazing thing happened. As Saul of Tarsus traveled that road with orders to persecute believers, he had an encounter with the resurrected Saviour! Jesus interrupts Saul’s day and in so doing, changes his eternity! Saul goes down a persecutor and rises up a preacher! He goes down lost and rises up saved! The grace of God changed this hateful man into a man who would have the love of God shed abroad within him.
Paul is a new convert as we read the rest of Chapter 9. He has just been born again. He is a new creature in Christ. He doesn’t know deep theology yet. He is not a well-experienced soul winner yet. He has not preached a sermon yet. He has not planted any churches yet. He is simply a new Christian.
A man named Ananias has a vision from the Lord. Ananias is a Christian man living in Damascus. The Lord reveals to Ananias that Saul had been saved! His life had been changed. The most striking thing I found in this report was the description given of this new Christian, Saul. The Lord said, “for, behold he prayed.”
Saul had been saved, but days, and already he was involved in serious supplication and prayer. This new convert was still learning to walk the Christian walk. His spiritual muscles were still yet forming, but he was already settled on the need and benefit of prayer.
For the Christian prayer ought to be primary. By that, I mean prayer ought to be the first act. From the first breath of a newborn Christian our petitions, cares, praise, and needs ought to be carried to the throne of grace. Prayer is an awesome privilege and also a command. We are to pray without ceasing and we have confidence in the fact that our God hears and answers prayer. Have you prayed today?
It is interesting to note that the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray. They did not ask for schooling in the area of preaching or some other work of the ministry. They wanted to learn how to pray. Prayer is the Christian’s primary fellowship.
“The man who mobilizes the Christian church to pray will make the greatest contribution to world evangelization in history.” -Andrew Murray
How right you are! We need to be men and women of prayer. I never seen this verse the way you just described it, how convicting that Paul as a new convert would already have prayer as a priority on his life! Thank you, I needed this reminder