Here were people praying earnestly, yet when the answer was standing at the door, they could hardly believe it!

Sometimes I think that's a danger in the Church today. Do we really expect God to answer our prayers? I wonder how many Christians would be genuinely shocked if God answered exactly what they had been asking for. Too often, there is little real expectation that He will actually do it.

For many people, prayer becomes little more than wishful thinking. I can’t stand that kind of praying. When I pray, I pray with conviction and determination. I know what I'm asking God to do, and I pray believing that He hears and answers.

The two disciples continued on their journey because they had been sent by the Holy Spirit. That is an important principle: it is the Lord who sends us.

I have always been deeply conscious of this throughout my ministry. When I look back over the places God has taken me, there is no doubt in my mind that every destination and every timing was directed by Him. It was so precise that only God could have arranged it.

The chapter concludes by saying, “The disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.” What a wonderful example for us today. We, too, should live lives that are filled with joy and continually filled with the Holy Spirit.