Pastor Peckham spoke to the ladies at our Bible Study last month on how the church in Macedonia began as a Ladies Prayer meeting...here are just a few more thoughts I had on that subject...
Acts 16:13-14 "On the Sabbath, we left the city and went down along the river where we had heard there was to be a prayer meeting. We took our place with the women who had gathered there and talked with them. One woman, Lydia, was from Thyatira and a dealer in expensive textiles, known to be a God-fearing woman. As she listened with intensity to what was being said, the Master gave her a trusting heart—and she believed!" (The Message)
Paul and Silas went to Macedonia to build a church. When they got to town they heard about a prayer meeting that was known to take place down by the river and went there with the express purpose of witnessing to these God-fearing people. There were only women at this prayer meeting...it was this prayer meeting that was the talk of the town and that shook the spirit world so powerfully that God sent Paul a vision (Acts 16:9). Sometimes, as women, we feel insignificant, but if we come under the authority of Christ we can become a powerful weapon in God's kingdom! Lydia is a perfect example.
Lydia was so excited about what Paul and Silas taught that she begged them to stay on longer (Acts 16:15). It was Lydia's instistance that they stay that made way for a young lady to be delivered from demon possession (Acts 16:16-18). It was this deliverance that caused Paul and Silas to be thrown in prison. It was Paul and Silas' spirit of worship while in prison that created an atmosphere for God to deliver them and save the keeper of the prison and his family (Acts 16:25-34)...and thus began the church in Macedonia.
So, what if the women of Macedonia had better things to do than meet for prayer? What if Lydia was too tired from working all day that she chose to stay home that night?
Getting back to the thought of women feeling insignificant in the church...as we see in Acts 16, it was women who prayed their way to having an Apostolic church established in their city. In Luke 7:12-15 it was a woman that Jesus had compassion on and raised her only son from the dead. In Mark 5:24-34 it was a woman whose faith for her healing got the attention of Jesus in a crowd of people. Matthew 15:22-28 tells of a woman who refused to take no for an answer when she wanted her daughter to be healed. It was a woman who took the time to quietly sit at Jesus' feet (Luke 10:39-42) instead of being too busy with household duties. A woman was moved to anoint Jesus' feet with her precious ointment and wipe His feet with her hair (Luke 7:37-38). And...it was women who first heard of the resurrection of Jesus (Mark 16:1-8) as well as being the first that Jesus appeared to after His ressurection (Mark 16:9). As we can see, women play an important role in God's church!
Then why do we feel we are nothing unless we become some powerful speaker or rise to some higher position in the church? Let us desire to be used in the prayer closet fighting for lost souls, deliverence and healing! We need to remember what a privelege it is to even be called to live for God and what a greater privelege it is to have unlimited access to His throne...to me, there is no higher calling.
No comments:
Post a Comment