Focus

Let yourself become open to God and the knowledge that comes from the Word. Ask God for a peace at this time.

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Read

Acts 5:12-16 (NRSV)

Now many signs and wonders were done among the people through the apostles. And they were all together in Solomon’s Portico. None of the rest dared to join them, but the people held them in high esteem. Yet more than ever believers were added to the Lord, great numbers of both men and women, so that they even carried out the sick into the streets, and laid them on cots and mats, in order that Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he came by. A great number of people would also gather from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those tormented by unclean spirits, and they were all cured.

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Reflect

When was the last time “a great number of people” showed up at your church? How long has it been since “believers were added to the Lord, great numbers of both men and women” at a church function you attended? Such things don’t seem to happen much anymore (at least not in the United States). This fact may be a logical result of the Church being old and familiar in a culture where people are always fascinated by and drawn to new things; or, it may be a sign that the Church pays little attention—real attention, as opposed to lip service or shallow acknowledgement—to the activity and power of the Holy Spirit.

We can grasp the ideas of God as parent and of God as the Son more easily than we can the Holy Spirit, so the latter gets less attention. (Note, though, that even our concepts of parent and son fall far short of accurately describing God). How much attention do you pay to the Holy Spirit in your daily spiritual life? Consider using the following rubric to frame your prayers: pray to God, in the name the Son, by the power of the Holy Spirit.

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Pray

Open me, triune God, to the power and guidance of the Holy Spirit. May I recognize and acknowledge the Holy Spirit at work, both in my life and in the world around me. Come, Holy Spirit, come.

Go with God.