River Prayer Meeting
Acts 16:13 On the Sabbath we went a little way outside the city to a riverbank, where we thought people would be meeting for prayer, and we sat down to speak with some women who had gathered there.14 One of them was Lydia from Thyatira, a merchant of expensive purple cloth, who worshiped God. As she listened to us, the Lord opened her heart, and she accepted what Paul was saying.15 She and her household were baptized, and she asked us to be her guests. “If you agree that I am a true believer in the Lord,” she said, “come and stay at my home.” And she urged us until we agreed.
So Paul and his companions went outside the city to a riverbank because they thought people might be meeting for prayer. Paul's spiritual radar was up and running and he was looking for other opportunities to share the message and he found an opportunity on that riverbank in a person named Lydia. I believe in divine appointments and that God puts us in places to be able to share the message with people His Spirit is dealing with and Lydia was one of those divine appointments. Scripture says she was a merchant who sold expensive purple cloth and that she worshipped God. Which brings to mind that being a worshipper of God doesn't mean you are born again. James addressed this in James 2:19 You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror. When a person is born-again their worship will mean much more as that relationship change also changes their worship. In fact the Bible is very clear about true worshippers and true worship.
So much of our worship today is worshipping worship and God is always looking for "true" worshippers, which involves actually being born anew in the Spirit. I don't judge worshippers' hearts, but God does and He is looking for real worshippers. Jesus said this in John 4:21 Jesus replied, “Believe me, dear woman, the time is coming when it will no longer matter whether you worship the Father on this mountain or in Jerusalem.22 You Samaritans know very little about the one you worship, while we Jews know all about him, for salvation comes through the Jews.23 But the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way.24 For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.”
God is looking for worshippers who are "real" worshippers and those worshippers will not have to have a room lit a certain way, a certain type of music, or a certain look on their faces. All of that is temporal and human-induced and should not be considered an example of true worshippers. I know a man who really wanted to experience God in true, real worship and he had seen someone in a spiritual atmosphere begin to wave their hands in a rhythmic way and he began to do his hands the same way thinking that it would bring about true worship, but it was really just an exercise in futility and even though it looked fairly impressive and holy, it was just man-made motions. God looks at the heart. Nuff said!
Paul went down to that riverbank looking for a prayer meeting found Lydia and introduced her to Jesus. After she was born-again she "really' found out what true worship really looked like because she personally experienced it when she received the Holy
Spirit. Jesus was not kidding when He told Nicodemus "You must be born again in the Spirit." True worshippers are born-again worshippers and nothing less. Just because we lift our hands doesn't mean we are a true worshiper. The heart is the key and that heart is changed when we are born again in the Spirit.
You can never tell what might happen if you are looking for a River Prayer Meeting. You might meet someone who is trying to worship God and since their mind is already focused on God they will be more ready to hear the message of truth about being born-again. Be ready to share the message of hope at all times and God will give you some divine appointments also.
The Pilgrimage Continues
David Warren