Prayer Meeting on Straight Street

April 18

(Acts 9:8-11 NIV) ““Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. {9} For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything. {10} In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, "Ananias!" "Yes, Lord," he answered. {11} The Lord told him, "Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying.””

 (Jonah 2:1-10 NIV) ““From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the Lord his God. {2} He said: "In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me. From the depths of the grave I called for help, and you listened to my cry. {3} You hurled me into the deep, into the very heart of the seas, and the currents swirled about me; all your waves and breakers swept over me. {4} I said, 'I have been banished from your sight; yet I will look again toward your holy temple.' {5} The engulfing waters threatened me, the deep surrounded me; seaweed was wrapped around my head. {6} To the roots of the mountains I sank down; the earth beneath barred me in forever. But you brought my life up from the pit, O Lord my God. {7} "When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you, Lord, and my prayer rose to you, to your holy temple. {8} "Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs. {9} But I, with a song of thanksgiving, will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will make good. Salvation comes from the Lord." {10} And the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.””

After Saul’s encounter with Jesus, he went to a house on Straight Street in Damascus. For three days Saul sat in darkness -- the same amount of time Christ spent in the darkness of the tomb. Saul was blind, afraid, and confused; but while he waited there, he prayed. We do not know precisely what Saul prayed, but it was likely a deeply theological and pious prayer like, “Help!” Sometimes that one-word prayer is all we can manage in times of deep distress and crisis. Saul knew the Lord was not happy with how he had been living. He didn’t know what was going to happen next… perhaps he would even die in Damascus. So in Acts 9:11, Saul prays a “911” prayer. Like Jonah in the belly of the great fish, Saul cried out for mercy. God heard his prayer and sent a deliverer. God still hears “911” prayers. If you are living in darkness today, cry out to the Lord and He will send a deliverer. -- Friar Tuck’s Word of the Day