READ PASSAGE.
When I first read this passage, I saw examples of centered prayer and how God can speak to you and will speak to you if we will only center on Him and listen to what He has to say.
The first centered prayer session was Cornelius. Cornelius was a Gentile, but in verse 2 we find that he prayed to God regularly. I suspect that it was during one of his scheduled prayer times, one afternoon about 3, that he received a vision from God.
I can see Cornelius sitting there in focused prayer—listening for God to speak, when suddenly an angel of God appears and calls his name. This angel, in this vision, gave Cornelius specific instructions to send men to Joppa and bring back a man named Simon Peter. He is even told where Simon Peter was staying—at the house of Simon the tanner. He is also given directions to the house—whose house is by the sea. He is told to have his men bring back Simon Peter, a Jew, to his home.
Centering prayer will do the same thing for you. If you haven’t seen lately, if you haven’t heard lately, from God while in centering prayer, then there is something you are not doing correctly in your prayer time. God gave me specific instructions this past week while at a 2 ½ day conference retreat. During a prayer walk I was taking, God said, “I want to talk to the people. But they aren’t giving me the opportunity. They are praying, but all they are doing is lifting up their requests to Me. Some thank Me and give praise for blessings I have sent. But still, before I can say anything to them, they are leaving their prayer time. I just want to talk to them.”
So I promised God I would tell you. GOD WANTS TO TALK TO YOU. GIVE HIM THE TIME TO TELL YOU THINGS BEFORE YOU WALK AWAY FROM YOUR PRAYER. Get alone with God, in solitude, just you and Him. Stop talking! And just listen for what God has to say.
But brace yourself! Many, many times when God speaks to us we are surprised at what He has to say. You may not like it. You might even get offended by what God tells you. You might get embarrassed. Who knows? But God has told us that He wants to talk to us, individually, if only we will stop and hear His still small voice.
So Cornelius’ men set off for Joppa to get Simon Peter. The next day about noon we are told that Peter went up to the roof of Simon the tanner’s house, to pray. Once again, we see someone getting alone to be with God. He went to the roof to be by himself to talk to God.
While involved in centering prayer, Peter falls into a trance. In other words, he is seeing what God is showing him. Why? Because he got alone with God, he centered his thoughts on God, and instead of praying for anyone or anything, he listened.
So during his centered prayer, here is what God shows him. Heaven opens up and something like a large sheet is being lowered down from heaven, held by its four corners. Contained in this sheet are all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles and birds. He hears a voice telling him to get up, kill and eat these creatures.
Now we have to remember that Peter is Jewish. Jews have a strict code of what they can eat and what they cannot eat. Even the food they eat must be prepared in kosher pots, and served in kosher eating vessels. This was Peter’s culture. This was his belief. A list of what the Jewish people were allowed to eat and not eat can be found in Leviticus 11.
They could eat beef, or sheep, or goat. But they couldn’t eat pork, or rabbit, or camel. They could eat any fish with fins and scales. But it had to have both fins and scales. That means they couldn’t eat catfish, or shark. They couldn’t eat eagle, or ostrich, or owl, or hawk, buzzard, sea gull or pelican. But other birds like chicken, quail, and dove they could eat. They could eat the locust, cricket or grasshopper. But there were restrictions depending on the leg structure of the insect. So when God tells him to eat from this vast array of animals, Peter says, “Surely not, Lord. I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.”
And then, in this centered prayer, God tells Peter to never call anything impure that He has made clean. Notice in verse 16 that this didn’t happen just once in this vision. It happened three times.
So Peter is now wondering, while still in prayer, what all this meant. While he is pondering over it, the Spirit speaks again and says, (v. 19) “Simon, (notice he is called by his name), three men (specifically three. Do you see how specific God will be if we will listen?) are looking for you. Don’t hesitate to go with them because I have sent them.”
Sure enough Peter goes back downstairs and three men are knocking on the door looking for him. Peter invites them in, knowing they were Gentiles, and the next day he leaves with them. This, too, was a forbidden thing in Jewish culture. But Peter didn’t hesitate to follow God’s instructions.
Do you see what God will do during centering prayer if we will listen to Him? I wonder how many messages, or how many blessings we have missed because we didn’t let God get a word in edge-ways. I wonder how many squabbles could have been resolved simply by listening to God as He gives us instructions.
Now we have to understand that once we allow God to speak, we can’t just leave those instructions there. We have to do something with it. And this is why I say, sometimes, we might be offended by what God asks us to do. We might be embarrassed. We might be startled at what God says. But for us to be all that God wants us to be, for us to be able to accomplish what God has for us to do, we have to listen to Him and then do what He says.
Let’s look at a “what if”. What if God told you to go to a specific place and say what He tells you to say? Would you go? What if that place is a strip-tease club? Would you go? Some of the men say, “SURE!” But all joking aside; would you go into that club and hand out tracts and proclaim the sinful nature of those there? I wonder.
You see, this was a tall order that God was giving Simon Peter. God told him to never call anything impure that He has called clean. God used food in the vision during Peter’s centering prayer time, but did God mean more than that? Sure He did.
God knew the prejudice that existed between the Jews and the Gentiles. But God was still in the process of dispelling that prejudice. That’s why He sent Jesus. Let’s not forget Saul whom we have been introduced to these past few weeks. Saul was called to be a voice to the Gentiles.
Let’s think how God put this plan together. God sent Jesus to begin trying to get the strict Jewish beliefs back on track. Jesus was crucified for it. Jesus appears to Saul after the resurrection and gets Saul’s attention. Saul is converted. He preaches in Damascus until they try to assassinate him. He is let down in a basket outside the city wall and escapes. He goes to Jerusalem. Who did he go to see? Peter and James, especially Peter. Paul preaches in Jerusalem until again they seek to kill him. He escapes and goes to Tarsus to preach to the Gentiles.
So Peter sees this persecutor of Christians converted. He sees him preaching the gospel. Peter knows Saul left to go preach the same Jesus that Peter had walked with for three years. Peter knew Saul was going to preach Jesus to the Gentiles. Do you think Peter was doing some hard thinking about all this? I kind of think he was. And I also think that God was working in Peter’s heart to help remove any prejudice that might have existed between him and the Gentiles.
So with all this preparation going on, Peter’s heart was ready and receptive to hear what God had to say. Peter might have had some reservations about going to a Gentiles home to preach. Still he went. Something else:
Cornelius was a Roman centurion. This means that he was in command of 100 Roman soldiers. Do you remember when they came to seize Jesus in the garden? Do you remember who it was who unshielded his sword and cut off the ear of one of these soldiers? It was Peter. Do you think word didn’t spread through the ranks of the Roman soldiers of this episode?
Now put yourself in Peter’s place. I have a feeling this was going through Peter’s mind about this time. But still he obeys God. He enters Cornelius’ home. He sees a large gathering of people in the home and the first thing he says is in v. 28-29. READ.
So Cornelius tells his story of the past 4 days. He says, “I’m glad that you listened to God and came. So, here we are. Tell us everything God has commanded you to tell us.” I have to smile when I read this because I can hear many preachers of today saying, “I didn’t know I was supposed to preach. I’m not prepared.”
Did Peter hesitate? No he didn’t. And that’s what we will look at next time.
The point of tonight’s passage is twofold:
1. God showed Peter that any and all prejudice has no part in His Work. In fact, later on in Acts 15: 7-14, Peter says very plainly that God was calling out both Gentiles and Jews to make up the church.
2. All of this movement started with centering prayer—on the parts of Cornelius and Peter. They centered their thoughts on God, they listened, and God spoke. Then they implemented God’s commands.
I can’t help but wonder if none of this would have ever happened had not Cornelius and Peter practiced centering prayer. But through their prayers, God broke down a barrier that otherwise would have prevented the spread of the gospel. Note the open invitation among the Gentiles. In v. 33, Cornelius says, “We are all here in the presence of God to listen to everything the Lord has commanded you to tell us.” The door for Gentile evangelism was thrown wide open.
I have to wonder about God so clearly telling me to inform people that He needs to tell us something. I wonder what it is that God has planned and wants to relay to us, but we are too immersed in other things to listen.
We are going to revamp our Wednesday night services. We will still get most of the elements in the service that we always have but we are going to spend less time talking, and more time listening to God. I will be assigning a passage of Scripture each week for you to read. I want you to read that passage at least once per day. Take note of specific verses, phrases, words, or thoughts that God causes to stand out to you each time you read it. Bring those thoughts with you on Wednesday night because we are going to be practicing Lectio Divina each time we gather for Wednesday night prayer service. Lectio Divina means inspired word or divine guidance. We are going to be focusing very seriously on preparing for and participating in centering prayer.
The passage for this Wednesday night is 1 Corinthians 1: 1-17. As you read it, ask God what He is trying to tell you. Ask Him to reveal it to you as you read. Ask Him what He wants you to do with it. Pray about it and bring those thoughts with you Wednesday night. It promises to be an inspiring service.
I’m excited about what God will say because tonight we have seen what can happen when we center on God.
