May 8: Acts 9:36-43

Key Verse: Acts 9:40
Peter sent them all out of the room; then he got down on his knees and prayed. Turning towards the dead woman, he said, ‘Tabitha, get up.’ She opened her eyes, and seeing Peter she sat up.

Devotion:
The eagle eyed of you would have realised yesterdays “Acts 116” should have been “Psalm 116!” But hey, we all make mistakes when we are tired and I did leave it a bit late in the day to do the devotion.

This always reminds me of the time when Jesus went to raise Lazarus from the dead and how some were annoyed Jesus had taken too long to come because Lazarus had died! Sometimes God wants us to take a step back from our physical limitations we impose on our lives and take a leap of faith which makes no sense if we try to look at it in a worldly manner!

Tabitha was a believer who had spent her time helping the poor and caring for others; yet she was the one who died when we think there were more people who deserved to die before she did because of the works she was doing. We tend to measure our worth in worldly ways and that runs into our spiritual lives without us realising. God wanted to make people stop and see how He is willing to do many things which don’t make sense in the physical world!

Peter had learned to always believe in God’s power. He had spent a varied life with Jesus and learned through the ups and downs of that time that God was always in control and would answer prayers! Peter must have been impressed with what Tabitha had been doing and wanted God to change things up a bit. After sending everyone out of the room (they would probably have been doing a lot of crying and wailing) he got down on his knees and prayed to God. His faith was absolute because he turned to the woman and told her to get up. He believed she would, and she did!

Points to Ponder:
How often do your prayers get to God with confidence?

Will you try to assume God will answer your prayers today?