God Changes People
Jesus commanded his disciples at the time of his heavenward ascension to wait in Jerusalem for a promised gift that the Heavenly Father had for them. What would happen as a result of their “waiting” would have monumental significance. I’ll call it the “outpouring of the Holy Spirit.” You can read about this in Acts 1:4 – 2:47.
Three things grab me about what took place with those early disciples when they prayerfully waited upon God. And I believe we can expect these same kinds of things to take place in our lives now . . . today . . . as we wait upon HIM. The three things are: 1) the powerful outpouring of the Holy Spirit; 2) the radical transformation of Peter; and 3) the number of people who put their trust in the Lord Jesus Christ.
So powerful was the anointing upon Peter when stood to “preach” that he seemed like a completely different person . . . which he was because of what the Spirit of God was doing within him. Just a matter of weeks before he had slept through Jesus’ repeated requests to join Him in prayer so that he and the others would not give in to temptation. He was the one who had violently swung the sword at those coming to arrest Jesus – severing the ear of a guy named Malchus. He also vehemently renounced belonging to or knowing the Lord even to the point of brashly cursing a young girl. He had succumbed to his own weakness by disowning and betraying the Lord Jesus.
Peter’s broken humanity had caught up with him. He couldn’t help himself. Despondently he wept over his condition and disappeared into the night. You can read about it in Matthew 26:69–75.
Hope for Peter returned on resurrection morning when Jesus’ declared, “and go tell Peter.” Better words could not have been spoken. Jesus would soon reinstate Peter and instruct him in how he would live out his life. Later, Peter and the disciples would obediently spend ten excruciatingly long days in united prayer . . . and then they had the powerful encounter, experience and expression with and of the Holy Spirit.
I hope that Peter and the disciples’ experience makes you hungry for a move of God in your life. Let’s pray that God would do similarly for us! Here are a number of Scriptures to pray about today.
Not by might nor by power but by my spirit, says the Lord. Zechariah 4:6
I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. (1 Corinthians 2:3-5)
Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. (2 Corinthians 3:5-6)
Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. (2 Corinthians 3:17)
And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, that I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh. (Acts 2:17)
Prayer Prompts:
As you join me today, let’s utilize the content of these verses to direct us in prayer. Ask God anew and afresh for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon your life. Seek God to transform your “humanness” (like Peter’s) into a Godly, supernatural “humanness.” And plead with God to make you a powerful witness of His.
My prayer for you:
Father God, pour out Your Spirit upon each and everyone who is joining with me during these days of prayer. Help them to not rely upon their own limited strength, energy and ability but rather upon Your Holy Spirit’s power. May the Spirit anoint their words to “turn the lights on for those around them” and as they speak that they would see people stepping out of what holds them back – whether it’s spiritual, physical, emotional or psychological. Give them life transforming experiences today. In Jesus’ name! Amen.
God is with you!
–John Tolle