Between Easter and Pentecost
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The story was told of a woman who had recently moved to a new area, and noticed the number of teens at a loose end. As she prayed, she felt drawn to begin a ministry among them. She knew where they congregated, but she didn’t know where to begin.

So she went to the club where they congregated, and sat in her car, praying. But nothing happened. No matter how much faith she had, she wasn’t “moved” to get out and approach someone. Finally late in the night, she drove away, feeling a great sense of failure. Next week she returned. This time, God had shown her something about faith. She parked, prayed for wisdom, and got out. She stood there looking around, and finally walked up to a big and dangerous looking teenager. “Can I help you, lady?” he asked. ”Yes,” she said. And she explained her concern for the teens, and her desire to minister to them.

when she acted in faith regardless of how she felt, God began using her

The young man was quite excited. He took her inside, introduced her around, and let her tell her story. In a couple of weeks she had a growing teen ministry in her own home.
If she had waited until she felt bold and faith–filled, she would probably still be sitting in her car. But when she acted in faith regardless of how she felt, God began using her.

The question is, “What faith–response is God looking for from us today?” Once we have answered that question, the next steps are to

• Commit ourselves to obeying that instruction
• Ask for the Spirit’s fullness to empower us in our action, and
• Act in faith.

The result will be that we will find the Holy Spirit to be with us and will see results from the exercise of our faith.

Naturally, we must guard against presumption. The Holy Spirit will not fill unprepared hearts. Any sin needs to be repented of, and cleansing through the blood of Christ must be obtained, because the Holy Spirit can’t fill unholy spaces. And we must ask in faith, because whatever is not of faith is, in itself, sin.

Finally, we must look expectantly to the Lord for the answer we need. The early Christians had the Lord’s promise, and they were not about to let it go. God blessed that “purity of heart”.
If we are not prepared to devote ourselves to prayer for the full blessing of Pentecost, it means we don’t really desire it all that much.
So, do we truly want to move on to Pentecost, or are we content to remain in the desert between the two dates?

Peter