Open The Blind Eyes

Daily Reading: Acts 9

Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord—Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here—has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”  Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized. (Acts 9.17-18, NIV)

Devotional Thought: How the Holy Spirit moves in the hearts of people is a mystery.  That he does is evident from the response we see in sin-hardened individuals like Saul of Tarsus, whom we know better as the Apostle Paul. 

In Acts 9, we find one of the most dramatic and well-known conversions in Christian history.  At the beginning of the chapter, Paul (Saul) is “breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples” (v. 1).  By the end of the chapter, Paul is willing to risk his life to preach the good news of the gospel.  In between, God used a man named Ananias to pray for him.

It may be easy to feel discouraged when you are praying for that family member, friend, or neighbor who doesn’t know the Lord.  You may think, “How can they not see the truth?  It’s so clear!”  But instead of being discouraged by their blindness, keep praying for the miracle of sight – that the scales would fall from their eyes, and that they would finally see.  We cannot cause that, and neither could Ananias.  He came to the blinded Saul under the authority of Christ.  Only by the power of the Holy Spirit was Saul's sight restored.  We can scatter many “gospel seeds”, but without the movement of the Holy Spirit, our seeds fall on barren ground.  When we pray for unbelievers, let us first pray for the movement of the Spirit, that he would open their eyes to the truth.

Prayer: Lord, I pray for ______.  That you would "open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in [you]." Amen.  (Acts 26.18)

Psalm of the Day: Psalm 74.1-8

1 O God, why do you cast us off forever? Why does your anger smoke against the sheep of your pasture?

2 Remember your congregation, which you have purchased of old, which you have redeemed to be the tribe of your heritage! Remember Mount Zion, where you have dwelt.

3 Direct your steps to the perpetual ruins; the enemy has destroyed everything in the sanctuary!

4 Your foes have roared in the midst of your meeting place; they set up their own signs for signs.

5 They were like those who swing axes in a forest of trees.

6 And all its carved wood they broke down with hatchets and hammers.

7 They set your sanctuary on fire; they profaned the dwelling place of your name, bringing it down to the ground.

8 They said to themselves, “We will utterly subdue them”; they burned all the meeting places of God in the land.