Is the Church Ready for the Holy Spirit?

Daily Devotional – Saturday, December 30, 2023
These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.”
Acts 1:14 (NKJV)

As Christ ascended into heaven, angels assured the disciples that Christ would return. The heavenly messengers were reiterating Jesus’s promise that He would return soon to take saints home. This promise motivated the early church to evangelize the world in the first century, for they believed Jesus would return in their lifetime.

They Continued With One Accord

However, in their quest to reach every human being with the gospel, they needed a special power. Jesus had promised them the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. In this regard, the church started preparing itself for the greatest power heaven could bestow upon them to accomplish the gospel mission.

According to Luke, “they went up into the upper room where they were staying: Peter, James, John, and Andrew; Philip and Thomas; Bartholomew and Matthew; James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot; and Judas the son of James. These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women and Mary, the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers” (Acts 1:13–14).

Is the Church Ready for the Holy Spirit?

As they waited for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the disciples had a unity of purpose. They set aside all divisions and engaged in prayer and supplication. The Holy Spirit would only fall on penitent hearts. All impure thoughts, motives, and intentions had to be done away with before the disciples could receive power from heaven. Thus, on Pentecost, God fulfilled His promise.

Is the contemporary church ready to receive the Holy Spirit like the first church? Are there divisions among us that threaten the unity of the body of Christ? Are we actively confessing our sins to one another and ironing out our differences? Does the church engage in sincere, fervent prayer for God to pour out His Holy Spirit? Are we ready to deliver the last days’ message to the world before Jesus returns?

Prayer
Lord Jesus, bring a revival of true godliness in the church so that we may be ready to receive power to finish the gospel work and usher in Your return.