Acts 20:7–12 (NIV)
On the first day of the week we came together to break bread. Paul spoke to the people and, because he intended to leave the next day, kept on talking until midnight. There were many lamps in the upstairs room where we were meeting. Seated in a window was a young man named Eutychus, who was sinking into a deep sleep as Paul talked on and on. When he was sound asleep, he fell to the ground from the third story and was picked up dead. Paul went down, threw himself on the young man and put his arms around him. “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “He’s alive!” Then he went upstairs again and broke bread and ate. After talking until daylight, he left. The people took the young man home alive and were greatly comforted.
What’s more impressive: that Paul raised Eutychus from the dead, or that he didn’t let that distract him from finishing his sermon? He treated the incident like a minor interruption.
Great saints have a mind-boggling level of focus, but how do they do it?
Confidence. The distractions don’t distract them because they don’t lead to second guessing.
Paul was sure of his message, and sure he was supposed to deliver it. The fact that it took all night is just more evidence of his confidence. I wouldn’t have tried such a long sermon in the first place.
And if I did, I surely would have taken Eutychus’s nap as a hint.
But Paul knew better.
That level of confidence is almost a gift.
And even Paul didn’t have that confidence every minute of every day. (His initial understanding of the coming shipwreck on Malta was wrong.) Sometimes he too saw “through a glass darkly.”
Every Christian can be given this gift from time to time, but it comes from knowing His will and being confident in that knowledge. And, of course, the only way to know God’s will is to ask Him to reveal it. That leads to a different kind of prayer—maybe better called a different kind of “prayer posture.”
We tend to spend much of our time asking God for help with something or someone dear to our hearts. That’s good—the Lord told us to “ask whatever we wish”—but those prayers should only be a part of our prayer life.
If we’re serious about Jesus being the lord of our lives, then our relationship should be one of a servant checking in with his boss. That would normally involve asking for direction, not favors.
Do not take this lightly. Prayers for guidance can get uniquely exciting.
Warning: this doesn’t mean you’ll like the answer. When God is calling the shots, surprising things can happen. Exciting things—if you like surprises.
