
Have you ever prayed? I mean you really prayed, asking God to do something special! You prayed in Jesus’ name! You prayed persistently ... and you kept on praying. You asked two or three others to agree in prayer! Ask... Seek... Knock... you did it all!
And then, to your astonishment, to your amazement, to your absolute surprise ... God answered your prayer! And then, you realize, you didn’t expect Him to do it! Wow! God really did it! Who could have dreamed it? Who thought that could happen?
In the third chapter of Acts, Peter and John went to the temple complex to pray. There at the entrance to the temple was a man, lame from birth, who was daily carried to the temple so that he could beg for a meager existence.
When the disciples walked by, they saw the 40-year-old (Acts 4:22) man. Every day, the man cried out for a few small coins. Every day they passed him by. He had become an almost permanent fixture there at the gateway. Most simply ignored his repeated requests.
But on this particular day, Peter and John took notice. Was that because the Holy Spirit prompted them? The man asked, and Peter answered, “I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!’ ” (Acts 3:6, ESV).
Peter “took him by the right hand and raised him up, and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong. And leaping up he stood and began to walk, and entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God. And all the people saw him walking and praising God” (Acts 3:7-9, ESV).
What happened stunned everyone! Certainly, it stunned the beggar. Of course, it shocked and amazed all who were on their way to the temple. They couldn’t image that God would work in such a mighty way.
That’s when Peter asked the question, “Why do you wonder?” (Acts 3:12, ESV).
I think there is a simple lesson for us today. What would happen if God’s people prayed, really believing that God was going to deliver?
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