Day 2: Wisdom and revelation
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” (Acts 13:2).
Our Father and our Lord, King Jehoshaphat appealed to you, "Are You not the God in heaven?... We do not know what to do but our eyes are on You (2 Chronicles 20:6,12).
In answer You sent Your Spirit on Jahaziel with a prophetic message of encouragement for Jehoshaphat and the people. And You fought their battle as You had promised (2 Chronicles 20:15-28).
Father, we too, today, need Your help and guidance, and we are grateful that You invite us to seek You and to cry out to You. And that You still help us by Your Spirit. Only now, because the Lord Jesus came to dwell among us, You have have given Your church Your Spirit to reside with us permanently.
Our Lord gave His faithful promise, "I will ask the Father, and He will give you another advocate to help you and to be with you forever—the Spirit of truth (John 14:16-17). We know that at Pentecost this promise was fulfilled when You poured out Your Spirit over Your church (Acts 2), and Scripture tells us that You have set Your seal of ownership on us, and put Your Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come (2 Corinthians 1:22).
O Lord, help us to grasp the astounding reality of Your Spirit with us—in us. Open our hearts and minds to know His power and His permanence. Often as we try to figure out life, we cry out to You like King Jehoshaphat, "We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on You” (2 Chronicles 20:12). We thank You for hearing those prayers.
But our mindset, too often, is to seek guidance at intervals, sporadically and selectively. We long to hear You say in the moment, This is the way. And sometimes, You do give us clear direction in the moment.
But Your desire for us is that Your Spirit fill us at all times and govern our actions, our thoughts, our behaviors, our worship. We see the example of the early church, where, as they were worshipping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit gave them clear direction and guidance (Acts 13:2).
The apostle Paul prayed for the Ephesian believers: I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know Him better. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance in His holy people, and His incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength He exerted when He raised Christ from the dead… (Ephesians 1:17-20).
We too, pray for Your Spirit of wisdom and revelation. Help us to so live by the Spirit, that our work, our worship, our fellowship, our entire life would be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God (Ephesians 3:19).
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