Acts 13:1-12
13 Among the prophets and teachers of the church at Antioch of Syria were Barnabas, Simeon (called “the black man”, Lucius (from Cyrene), Manaen (the childhood companion of King Herod Antipas, and Saul.2 One day as these men were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Dedicate Barnabas and Saul for the special work to which I have called them.” 3 So after more fasting and prayer, the men laid their hands on them and sent them on their way.
4 So Barnabas and Saul were sent out by the Holy Spirit. They went down to the seaport of Seleucia and then sailed for the island of Cyprus. 5 There, in the town of Salamis, they went to the Jewish synagogues and preached the word of God. John Mark went with them as their assistant.
6 Afterward they traveled from town to town across the entire island until finally they reached Paphos, where they met a Jewish sorcerer, a false prophet named Bar-Jesus. 7 He had attached himself to the governor, Sergius Paulus, who was an intelligent man. The governor invited Barnabas and Saul to visit him, for he wanted to hear the word of God. 8 But Elymas, the sorcerer (as his name means in Greek), interfered and urged the governor to pay no attention to what Barnabas and Saul said. He was trying to keep the governor from believing.
9 Saul, also known as Paul, was filled with the Holy Spirit, and he looked the sorcerer in the eye. 10 Then he said, “You son of the devil, full of every sort of deceit and fraud, and enemy of all that is good! Will you never stop perverting the true ways of the Lord? 11 Watch now, for the Lord has laid his hand of punishment upon you, and you will be struck blind. You will not see the sunlight for some time.” Instantly mist and darkness came over the man’s eyes, and he began groping around begging for someone to take his hand and lead him.
12 When the governor saw what had happened, he became a believer, for he was astonished at the teaching about the Lord.
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Two things strike me in this passage:
1. The men worshipped, fasted and prayed. Why was fasting so important to them and why do we ignore it? It was while they fasted that the Holy Spirit spoke to them. And then they fasted and prayed even more. Only after this did they act. I need to take more seriously the role of fasting in my life.
2. The Governor believed, not because of the miracle Paul performed on the sorcerer, but because he was “astonished at the teaching about the Lord.” The miracles are secondary–the message is primary. It was the teaching of the disciples that, humanly speaking, built the church.