After Pentecost: The Disciples DeployedSample

Spirit Led Leadership

As the designated leader of the early Church, it would have been easy for Peter to take the martyrdom of Stephen and the subsequent scattering of believers as a personal setback, an excuse to lay low, wallow in self-doubt, or worry about how he would take back in hand the ministry that had certainly taken on a life of its own, especially after Saul’s conversion, but he did not. Remembering Jesus’ Great Commission to all the disciples and the assignment that Jesus had given to him personally to feed His “sheep,” Peter pressed ahead, doing what Jesus had done, what he himself had done since the day of Pentecost. Peter saw to the needs of people and spread the Gospel, performing easy and obvious miracles so they could accept the difficult and less obvious message of the Gospel. 

The miracles that Jesus performed earned Him a fan base, but rather than bask in the glory they were so wiling and eager to bestow on Him—glory we might argue He deserved, being God Himself—He stayed focused on His mission to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10), throwing off everything that hindered or threatened to distract and moving from town to town as the Holy Spirit led Him, never running ahead of the Holy Spirit or act on His own, but seeking the Father’s will in every decision that He made. Jesus talked to His Father as often as possible, especially when the pressures of His assignment pressed in. 

Having watched Jesus and learned from Him, Peter did the same. No matter how much experience or influence he gained, he never thought himself beyond the need to pray and seek the Lord’s guidance. Relying on the Holy Spirit to lead him, he prayed before speaking or acting to make sure that what he thought was probably God’s will actually was His will. He knew and had witnessed that God’s will wasn’t always for someone to be healed or even to live, but that God could work through hardship, difficulty, and even the death of His servants. 

What about you? Is your prayer life worth imitating? What role does prayer play in your ministry to others? Do you listen when you pray? Does your prayer life suffer or grow stronger when the pressures of life and ministry press in?