Acts 1:12-26 | the Need for PrayerSample

It’s not always easy to know what God wants us to do. When the Bible is silent on a choice before us, we’re left trying to figure out what will make God happy. It’s natural for a believer to want this. When you love someone and give your life to someone like believers do with Jesus, you want to do what you can to do things his way.

Here we see the disciples faced with a choice of how to replace Judas. Remember Judas? He was one of the twelve, but he betrayed Jesus and later killed himself out of guilt and grief. The disciples knew they needed a twelfth man, but who to pick?

Today, read how the disciples went about discerning how to replace Judas.

• It started before a choice had to be made. They basked their lives in prayer. Keeping prayer at the forefront helps you stay attentive to the tenor of God’s will and way when unclear decisions come around.
• They made wise choices. Look how they developed God-pleasing criteria for picking a replacement.
• They prayed again – asking God to guide the final decision.
• They made a choice. That is, they didn’t wait. A decision had to be made, and they acted. Here they left it to lot. While that might not always be the best way of proceeding, notice something: It was for two reasonable choices. They couldn’t lose either way because Justus and Matthias were both good candidates!

It’s not a fool-proof formula, but there’s something we can learn here from the disciples. A life of prayer is key to pursuing the will of God. And from there? Sometimes choosing to wait in prayer is a wise choice to make. But sometimes it can become an excuse for paralysis in uncertainty. Sometimes we don’t have certainty. Sometimes after we pray we need to trust God, then act. Leave the results to Him.