Prayer brings God's Move To Your Life

The story of Cornelius' salvation is a story of prayer.

First, Cornelius is in prayer when God's angel shows up with instructions to call on Peter:

Acts 10:3–4 (ESV) About the ninth hour of the day he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God come in and say to him, “Cornelius.” 4 And he stared at him in terror and said, “What is it, Lord?” And he said to him, “Your prayers and your alms have ascended as a memorial before God.

Second, Peter was in prayer at the time God reveals His plan for gentiles to be incorporated into the family of God:
Acts 10:9–16 (ESV) The next day, as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the housetop about the sixth hour to pray. 10 And he became hungry and wanted something to eat, but while they were preparing it, he fell into a trance 11 and saw the heavens opened and something like a great sheet descending, being let down by its four corners upon the earth. 12 In it were all kinds of animals and reptiles and birds of the air. 13 And there came a voice to him: “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.” 14 But Peter said, “By no means, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean.” 15 And the voice came to him again a second time, “What God has made clean, do not call common.” 16 This happened three times, and the thing was taken up at once to heaven.

I think one of the main hindrances to prayer in the lives of many Christians is the doubt that God hears them or that they go to Him. Nothing could be further from the truth. We have ample evidence that God WANTS us to pray, (asking, seeking, knocking), to God hearing and answering our prayer.

1 John 5:14–15 (NLT) And we are confident that he hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases him. 15 And since we know he hears us when we make our requests, we also know that he will give us what we ask for.

Prayer moves God. And I love the description from the angel to Cornelius: "Your prayers and your alms have ascended as a memorial before God."

Do you pray with confidence that God is hearing you and will give to you what you ask? Or are you unsure? 

It's time to believe again! It's time to communicate with a Father who loves you and wants to answer you. Every prayer you make is a memorial before God! The word for memorial is the word for "memory." Prayer puts you on God's mind. 

Secondly, and more importantly, prayer paves the way for God's work in your life. And God's main activity in the world is His speaking life into the midst of death. Cornelius was a man of good works but was not saved. How many people cannot hear God's Word because they think they are saved by their good works.  Cornelius's heart was prepped for the message of salvation because he was a man of prayer. Do you want to hear from God? Get on your knees in prayer and THEN open His word.

Finally, Cornelius was quickly filled with the Holy Spirit during Peter's message no doubt in part because his heart was tender toward the things of God because of time spent in prayer. He was receptive and open and his life was dramatically empowered by God because of prayer.

What a beautiful picture of the power of prayer in our lives. It puts us on God's mind and prepares our hearts for God's Word and work in our lives. 

Forever Cornelius will be the man God used to send the Gospel beyond Judaism. And it started with prayer and changed the church forever.

PRAYER:

Father I want to be ready for your word. I want to have a heart tender toward the voice of the Holy Spirit. May I never become hardened to think I have arrived or that I've made it. Help me maintain a receptive heart toward all that You say, Your WORD is Light and LIFE! Amen.