Acts 1:14: “These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.”

March 29th, 2022 by Pastor Ed in devotional

It is interesting that Jesus’ mother and brothers were also there, praying and waiting together with the other disciples for the Holy Spirit to fall. It means they realized that they also needed to obey Jesus’ command to wait. From one perspective, we could say that they were all new believers in Jesus. At least they were new believers in the sense that they had only just come to fully understand that Jesus was God, Savior, and Lord. Just 8 months before this time, Jesus’ brothers’ unbelief was mentioned in John 7:5: “For even His brothers did not believe in Him.” Matthew 13:55 and Mark 6:3 name Jesus’ brothers, one of whom was named James. 1 Corinthians 15:7 states that after Jesus rose from the dead: “He was seen by James.” The moment of His brothers’ conversions are not recorded in the New Testament, but perhaps they happened following His post-resurrection appearance, that would be a pretty convincing experience.

We do wonder what exactly they were praying for in the upper room. Jesus had told them to wait until they were baptized with the Holy Spirit, and so they waited and prayed for God to act. The word continued means “to be devoted, to persevere, and not to faint.” It is the same word used to describe a boat Jesus asked his disciples to keep ready just in case He needed to get away from the crowd: “So He told His disciples that a small boat should be kept ready for Him because of the multitude, lest they should crush Him” (Mark 3:9). As long as Jesus might need the boat, the boat was there, and that is the lesson for us too. God is looking for people who are always ready and committed to prayer.

We find this idea of continuing connected with prayer many times. It is the same concept found in Romans 12:12: “rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer.” It is again used in Colossians 4:2: “Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving.” The idea is that we need to keep praying and not give up. What is it that we should be continuing in prayer for? Spouse? Family? Friends? Church? Yes, all these. But what we really need again this day is a fresh filling of the Holy Spirit in and over our lives so that we can be of use to the Lord spiritually.

“LORD, we want to wait on You to send the Holy Spirit upon us now, so we can serve You well this day.”