”But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

The resurrected Christ, just before His ascension, left His disciples with the express instruction that they should not leave Jerusalem but that, rather, they should wait for the promise of the Father – the Holy Spirit. The reason why they needed to wait was so that they would be endued with power from on high. These group of cowardly and fearful men would make for very poor witnesses of Christ. But with the power of the Holy Spirit upon them, they completely revolutionised the then known world and Christianity spread like bush fire. It all started in the upper room when the Holy Spirit descended upon the 120 gathered disciples and on account of this and the Gospel message shared by the apostle Peter, 3000 people were saved instantly. The Spirit’s power was evidently at work.

Yet the disciples did not just operate on that initial empowerment at Pentecost but also continued to be filled and to operate in the power of the Holy Spirit. The Bible records, for instance in Acts 4:31, _“And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.”_  This pattern of ongoing infilling and empowerment continued to be revealed in the life of the early church. But also, it reveals that the disciples received this power as they prayed. At Pentecost, they were gathered in the upper room praying and, in the text just cited, they were also praying. Prayer therefore is instrumental in our receiving this power from on high. No wonder the apostle Paul, in thinking of the Ephesian church, can’t help but pray for them – that they would know the power that is at work within them, the same power that rose Jesus from the dead. In the words of the old Sunday school song, “Prayer is the key… prayer is the master key.”

The church globally, and the Kenyan church specifically needs the Holy Spirit’s power. We have become poor witnesses of Christ and have caused the name of God to be blasphemed among the heathens. The recent events in our nation and the subsequent attacks on the church have only been possible because we have over time become powerless in our operation. This doesn’t have to continue because we can reclaim our rightful place in society  – the salt and light of the world. If we do this, then the saying that is written in the Scriptures will come alive, “The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.” (John 1:5).

1. What kind of a witness are you for Christ?

2. If you are a believer, is your life characterised by power? Is it characterised by prayer?

3. What do you need to start doing differently in order to receive and operate in the power of the Holy Spirit?