In our last visit we became familiar with what Acts 10 described. Now let’s try to understand what it means.
One significant thing in the account is the importance of prayer. Cornelius was praying when the angel appeared to him. It’s not clear if he really knew much about prayer, or whether he was just going through the motions. Either way, prayer was a part of his regular routine in life. God noticed and now was ready to give him an answer to a question he probably hadn’t asked - how do you enter into a personal relationship with God?
Peter also was in prayer. He had seen answers to prayer in his life. It’s not clear what he was praying about, but while in prayer he became hungry. Has that ever happened to you? It also implies he fell asleep. It’s embarrassing to realize you’ve fallen asleep while praying. In his sleep he had a vision. God spoke to him rather clearly.
The lesson I learn from these observations is that though both of their prayer times might have been deficient, they at least were attempting to pray about things. God takes note of that. So many of us get discouraged because we might think our prayer life is not that great or effective and we tend to give up on prayer.
Don’t give up on prayer. God isn’t looking at how effectively you pray. He’s looking to see if you are making the effort to pray. Their imperfect prayers were not only heard by God. He did far more than they asked or even thought, just as He has promised to do (Ephesians 3:19-20).
If you want to have an encounter with the living God be sure to make prayer a part of your life.
