It started with the ordination of a new brother. It wasn’t a closed meeting—it wasn’t even necessarily a meeting. It was simply a few people who decided to wait together to see if Jesus would show up.

The acoustics in the building of choice where undoubtedly not up to some people’s standards. The lighting left much to be desired and the heat from all the people being packed into one small room— in addition to the heat outside—were without question, nauseating. The voices of the onlookers outside rang through their ears. A constant barrage of insults probably shook the faith of some and made them question their decision to join in on this fool’s errand.

Let’s recap the previous few days’ and weeks’ events for those who were gathered. To start it all off, their leader had been taken to court and tried in the middle of a night by a hostile crowd that had forged accusations and rigged a verdict.  Second, the crowd had released a deranged maniac onto the streets so that they could make their conviction final. The crowd, consisting mostly of their fellow countrymen and temple pals, had marched their badly beaten leader up a rough hill, laid him down on an old, splintered, wooden cross, and drove long, cold nails through his hands. He had died, been buried, and three days later, rose and appeared to some again, promising to return.

Now, here they were, leaderless and scared that they might have imagined the whole thing, worried about the onlookers and about the long-term affect that being associated with this man Jesus was going to have on them. They were no doubt worried about their futures, literally at war with their own minds, and traveling through the darkest valley that they’d ever seen. Isolation, fear, uncertainty, and loneliness gripped their hearts.

What could they do?

They did the only thing that made sense—the exact thing Jesus had trained them to do. They righted the mistake they’d made in the garden when Jesus had wanted them to pray for one, important hour. This time they didn’t fall asleep, but instead found a place around the baseboards of the crowded room and begin to pray.

Too many times we face the uncertainties and fears of life, and we want to give up the battle before it begins. Too many times we want the blessings and the miracles, but we don’t want the valley that leads us to them. Too many times we fail to resist negative peer pressures and influences in our lives, and too many times we fail to do the only thing that will truly reconcile all problems.

Circumstances have changed from that day in the upper room two thousand years ago. Fears have changed. People have changed. The onlookers have changed. But there are some things that are written in stone. They will never change.

1. Satan will always try to attack God’s people in their minds. Control the mind, and the body will follow.
2. The effects of our prayers in our darkest hours will never fail to arrest the attention of God.

The effectual, fervent prayers of a righteous man will always bring God from His throne to answer your need! Keep your attention on God, and He will place His attention on you. Never abandon your place of prayer, and God will always meet you there.

May this blog inspire and impact you to pray without ceasing. May the lord God shelter, protect and anoint you and yours.

Until He Comes,

Josh Smith