Resurrection Monday - The Implication and the Application of the Resurrection
“When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” (Acts 2:37 NIV)
We are a few days away from the celebration of Easter. Easter is also called Resurrection Sunday, for it is the day that Jesus Christ conquered the grave and was raised from His physical death. This fact is relevant for followers of Christ, for what He did on the cross and with conquering death is the foundation of our faith and the hope we have for eternity. To not see and understand how relevant these facts are for the life we now live in the flesh while we are still alive, is to miss one of the greatest reasons to want to live. It gives us purpose, and in fact, eternal purpose.
I believe there must be a conscious appraisal and awareness that our celebration of Easter Sunday should be carried forward and into a sort of resurrection Monday, Tuesday and the days that follow. In other words, the implication of Christ’s resurrection and our belief in it, requires a personal tension of responsibility to understand that there is more to it, and to discover how we are to join it in its expression. Let me explain by giving an example of what Influencers is trying to do:
On resurrection Monday, April 2, our Global office is making a conscious decision to carry forward the implication of resurrection Sunday by calling for a dedication of the following forty days to pray together for one hour. We are calling it Forty Days of Resurrection Prayer. We are specifically asking people to join us at our office at 8:00 AM, if they live in NWA with the purpose to pray. For those who do not live near here or cannot join us physically, we ask you to join us in Spirit, and turn your heart and prayers toward our King with us at 8:00 AM Central Time. If you chose to gather a group around you with the same intentions to join with us remotely, please let us know so we can know we are joining across the miles together with other prayer warriors. Specifically, we are joining together to pray for our families, and families in need that we know about. We will build a war room at our office with names and needs. Perhaps you can do the same? We will deliver our families and those we are concerned about to the feet of Jesus, and then watch what He chooses to do for them. We will saturate them with intercessory prayer for forty days. I look forward to being part of this.
My wife asked me the significance of forty days. Here was my answer:
Studies indicate that Jesus stayed with His disciples for forty days after His resurrection and before He ascended. He also fasted forty days in the wilderness, when He was tempted. No doubt His forty day fast included forty days of prayer. There are many other instances where “forty” has been mentioned as a period that seems significant, although I do not know what it is. But it has some significance for it is often mentioned.
The believers who were with Jesus during those forty days were told by Jesus to wait together for the Holy Spirit to arrive, for then they would be empowered to be His witnesses. Therefore, they gathered together in an upper room for about ten days after those forty days and Christ’s ascension, to pray and wait for the Holy Spirit. What happened? Pentecost is what happened. An amazing outpouring of the Holy Spirit on all those in attendance came upon them, and as a result a powerful expression of the Gospel followed. There just seems to be something significant that comes when believers gather together to pray for a specific period of time, and I think forty days is significant.
You may ask what will come from of such an effort? I don’t know. All I know is if the Spirit does want to show Himself in a mighty way, I want to be here when He does. I know there is a great need to pray for our families. They need God’s protection, His wisdom, and His assurances. I know my family does. I also know that Jesus is delighted when believers gather together and pray. I know the Spirit is ready to respond to men and women who trust Him, seek Him, ask of Him, and delight in Him. I think having a Resurrection Prayer for forty days beyond Easter to pray for our families seems so right, and I want to be part of something that I believe pleases my King.
What Jesus chooses to do as a result of our petitions and prayers is completely up to Him. I do not know what that will look like. But I believe what we do is well worth our efforts to bring worship to our Savior, as a result of His resurrection. To me, this is an example of the implication and the application of the resurrection. What we will do is to simply continue our Easter celebration for another forty days just like those early disciples did, and perhaps we too will see an amazing outpouring on us as was on them.
Will you join us? We will be sending more information your way, and perhaps it will help you gather other men and women to extend Easter a while longer. God bless you if you chose to do this. I look forward to hearing from you if you do.