Preparing our Hearts for Pentecost: Day 9

All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers. (Acts 1:14, ESV)

How long does the joy of a birthday or major holiday wear off? One day? Two days? Where might your joy and wonder be waking up on the second day after Jesus ascended? When our passion or joy wears off, the challenge is to maintain whatever we were doing out of our passion.

Already on this second day, I imagine the commitment you may have made to take these 10 days is still there, but it has decreased some. Maybe the hope that these devotions would be awe inspiring or moving has not been met. That often leads to some kind of disappointment and, thus, decreased joy and passion for preparing your heart.

I use “passion” because the word for “one accord” in the verse above literally means “same passion.” The disciples were of the same passion in gathering to pray. I get the sense of urgency from looking up the Greek word. The disciples came back to wait. In the waiting they had a sense of urgency in praying and making requests. They devoted themselves not just for an hour, which in our context feels like a very long time to pray. No, they continually prayed. For hours. Whether their wonder and joy ebbed and flow, I do not know, but I know mine can.

So, in these days of preparation, let us continually devote ourselves, let us persevere in prayer. A tension will arise. You will sense the struggle in your heart: I don’t have the time, this is not worth my time, nothing is happening, I feel like I am just talking to myself. Be encouraged and do not lose heart, the Spirit of Truth is doing His mighty work in these moments. He will meet you, but in His perfect timing, not ours. When we surrender to that, then we are in a better position to hear from Him. But it begins with persevering no matter our level of joy and wonder. See Luke 18:1-8.