Acts 1:12-14
14 All these were constantly devoting themselves to prayer, together with certain women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, as well as his brothers.
After the Ascension, the followers returned to Jerusalem to wait for God to fulfill his promise. Yesterday we pondered how hard it is to wait for big events to happen. There is that period between the proposal and the wedding. There is the time between the conception and the birth. There is the time between packing up to move and moving in to our new setting. I like the word “liminal” that talks about inbetween times and spaces. Perhaps the picture is like standing on a line or a balance beam and trying not to fall off. As the future calls to us, the past reminds us who we are and whose we are.
The followers returned to Jerusalem but Luke, the author of Acts, tells us that they “were contantly devoting themselves to prayer.” That catches my eye. I would be constantly planning. Picking a name for the baby and getting the clothes ready. Bugging my husband about the windows in the house and what kind of curtains I would need. Checking out the reading list for the course to try and get ahead. Watching the soil to see if it was time to start organizing my garden and what I would plant this year. But these followers filled their time with prayer. These are the same followers who went to Jesus and asked him to teach them to pray. They saw that prayer was a secret to Jesus’ strength and they knew it was strategic now. So let us honestly reflect for a moment. How strategic is prayer in our lives right now. Is it more formal and with our friends on Sunday in church? Is it part of quiet times in mornings or evenings when we draw aside? Perhaps it is more like a 911 call when we get in trouble. Perhaps we have good prayer habits but perhaps we need a reminder to up our game cause we serve a risen Lord who cares about our lives and his Spirit is always ready to intercede for us. Liminal spaces are not invisible spaces but good places to strengthen our prayer life!
On the Way to Wonder 