Miracles | Midyear Prayer, Fasting, and Consecration (Family Devotional)Sample

CONNECT

On your way to school (or any place you will go to this week), take time to look at the road signs you will see along the way. See if you can correctly tell what they mean. Check your answers on the internet.

Signs are meant to convey a message or point us to something. Let’s check what the signs in our Bible story today are pointing us to.

READ THE WORD

The apostles did many signs and wonders among the people. All the believers used to meet together at Solomon’s Porch. No outsider dared to join them. But the people thought highly of them. More and more men and women believed in the Lord. They joined the other believers. So people brought those who were sick into the streets. They placed them on beds and mats. They hoped that at least Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he walked by. Crowds even gathered from the towns around Jerusalem. They brought their sick people. They also brought those who were suffering because of evil spirits. All of them were healed. Acts 5:12–16

What a picture of the early church! The apostles were ordinary men, yet they were performing signs and wonders, resulting in many people believing in God. Whenever the church would come together, amazing things happened among them. Everywhere they went, people brought those who were sick to the apostles and they were healed. This is truly the miraculous work of the Holy Spirit, and the same Holy Spirit is available to us now. When we have the Holy Spirit, we can also do mighty works, just as the disciples did, so that we, too, can be witnesses for God!

HUDDLE

Parents to Kids

2–6 years old

• Do you know what a witness means? (Parents can explain to their kids that a witness is someone who can provide information, or tell others, about something they have actually seen, heard or experienced.)

7–12 years old

• Is there anyone around you in your family, school, or neighborhood, who needs to experience a miracle? Will you be bold enough to pray for that person?

Kids to Parents

• Have you experienced the Holy Spirit at work in your life? Tell us about it.
• How will we know the Holy Spirit is in us?

Through the Holy Spirit, we too can experience God’s signs and wonders in our schools, offices, and the people around us. Along with these miracles, we have a message that needs to be shared and we have the Holy Spirit’s power to share it. People around us need to hear it. Will you be bold, stand up for Jesus, and do what God has commanded?

PRAY

Dear God, thank You for the gift of the Holy Spirit and for empowering us to do mighty works. We pray that You would be known through Your miracles. Open our eyes and ears and give us the words to say so they will know You. In Jesus’ name, amen!

DISCOVER

The book of Acts tells of the mighty deeds the disciples did through the Holy Spirit. There are miracles scattered throughout the book. Here are some of them:

• Peter heals a lame man (Acts 3:1–10)
• Peter and John freed from prison (Acts 5:17–20)
• Philip performs miracles in Samaria (Acts 8)
• Paul’s encounter with Jesus, his healing and conversion (Acts 9:1–19)
• Peter heals Aeneas and raises Dorcas from the dead (Acts 9:32–43)
• Cornelius and his household are saved (Acts 10)
• Peter freed from prison (Acts 12:1–19)

From the early church and up to this day, the Holy Spirit continues to perform signs and wonders through ordinary people who believe in God. Through them, people are encountering God and lives are being transformed. As His child, the work of the Holy Spirit can continue through you. Will you allow the Holy Spirit to work through you?