Day 192: Psalm 2-3; Acts 16:1-15

"On the Sabbath day we went outside the city gate by the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer." (Acts 16:13, CSB). Had someone told Paul, Silas, Timothy and Luke that there was a 'place of prayer' or was it such a common practice that their chance of finding one was great? Luke doesn't say. What he tells us without saying it, is that Philippi as big and important as it was to its region, did not have a large Jewish population (10 men were required to establish a synagogue). However, there was a gathering of Jewish women for prayer. A sacred space, a thin place, where they could meet outside the pagan metropolis and spend time together in prayer to the One True and Living God. There is a sense in which this reminds me of Cornelius, the Gentile military commander who prayed regularly and encountered Jesus Messiah in answer to those prayers (Acts 10). You can be certain that Lydia, a woman of influence (she was a business owner in a lucrative and significant industry - her textiles were the designer fabrics of her day) and a God-fearing woman, would lead her peers in praying for 'the Hope of Israel.' Their prayer was answered in a marvelous way when that small entourage made its way to the 'place of prayer' at the river. This would be a great story, but it is much more. This is a reminder that habitual prayer gatherings matter. From the upper room through the millennia, God has honored those who pray together on purpose with revival and renewal in this Body we call the Church...and many have been added to the number through the prayer gatherings of the faithful. Could someone expect to find you and me in a place of prayer?