‘Your prayers and gifts for the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God.’ Acts 10:4 NIV
Have you ever wondered where your prayers go? The answer is ‘up as a memorial offering before God’. Notice that they are ‘before’ Him. They are in His hands and on His mind. Here when Cornelius prayed, God not only changed his circumstances, He changed history; for the first time, Gentiles heard the Gospel and became part of the Kingdom of God. How long had Cornelius been praying? We don’t know; the Bible just calls him ‘a devout man and one who feared God with all his household, who gave alms generously to the people, and prayed to God always.’ (Acts 10: 2 NKJV)
Prayer was not a hotline Cornelius used when he got into trouble or had a problem he couldn’t solve. He ‘prayed to God always’. He had a lifestyle of prayer. The word ‘memorial’ means God remembers what you pray about. Prayer is like putting money into your bank account. You may not draw on it today or tomorrow, but it will be there when you need it.
Don’t get caught up in religious rituals. You can pray anywhere, anytime, about anything, and God will answer you. ‘Evening and morning and at noon I will pray, and cry aloud, and He shall hear my voice.’ (Psalm 55:17 NKJV) When you run out of food, you can’t blame the cooking pots. You concentrated other things when you needed to get food. Prayer makes you conscious of God, keeps you connected to God, and positions you to receive what you need from God. So, keep praying because your prayers go ‘up as a memorial offering before God’.
SoulFood: 1 Chr 19:1–23:20, Lk 13:1–17, Ps 119:49–56, Prov 21:4–6
Renungan Hari Ini [The Word for Today] is authored by Bob and Debby Gass and published under licence from UCB International Copyright ©