The Promise of Power

Message: In Acts 1 there were 120 Jesus followers gathered and praying together in unity. The only instructions they had were to stay in Jerusalem and wait for the power of the Holy Spirit. They didn’t know what this meant or what it would look like. They just obeyed and united themselves together.

Command: Unite together in obedience to God’s direction and pray!!!

Promise: The promise to them was power through the baptism of the Holy Spirit. It came through their unity in both obedience and prayer. The same promise to us is power through the Holy Spirit and that comes to us when we are united in our obedience to God and we are united in prayer.

Warning: You can’t have power without unity, or obedience and certainly not with prayer. If any of these things are missing the power has no means to flow through. We understand this concept with electronics. Something has to be plugged in, but it also has to be turned on and most likely it needs a command to be selected in order for that to function. The device will not work if only one or two of the three functions is activated. It absolutely needs all three! We are the same. We have to be obedient, united and in prayer together for the power to flow through us and function as it was intended.

Application: This is such a huge reminder to me that I can’t function by myself, I can’t function with disobedience and I certainly can’t function without prayer. God never intended to work through us as individuals. We are accountable as individuals but we weren’t intended to do this stuff alone. WE were called to be united in purpose, obedience and prayer. That is where the power comes from and not one of these elements can be missing from the equation.

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