As Good as Done

Over the years I have read that verse in the first chapter of Acts which says, "All these were constantly devoting themselves to prayer..."  (Acts 1:14) in a way which suggested that the praying had something to do with the Day of Pentecost.   I think in retrospect that my strong belief that praying makes a difference in the life of the church resulted in a blindness to what the text was really saying.  What happened on the Day of Pentecost was not about people praying, but about Jesus promising.  

 

Just before the Ascension of Jesus we hear Him saying, "I am sending upon you what my Father promised..." (Luke 24:49) and in the fifth verse of the first chapter of Acts, it is the about to ascend Jesus who said, "...you will be baptized  with the Holy Spirit not many days from now."  While there are many things which happen as the result of faithful people praying, it may be in error to make a strong connection between what actually happened on Pentecost and the prayers of the people of God.  Had no one prayed, the Day of Pentecost would still have happened because of the promise of Jesus.

 

Does this then mean that the praying of the disciples before Pentecost was a waste of time?  And, are there times when our praying is a waste of our time, and maybe, even a waste of God's time?   Certainly, there are times when we are wasting our prayer time.  We waste it when we pray for something we know is inconsistent with the will of God, or the way we understand God works.  We also waste it when we have gotten an unwanted answer to our prayer and we persist thinking persistence will change the mind of God.  And, most assuredly, we waste time which could be spent praying about other things when we pray for God to do what He has already promised.  If He has promised, it is as good as done!