Theme Verse: Psalm 51: 11-12 –“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.”

Overview

Pentecost means “50,” counting the 50 days from Passover through the Feast of Weeks (Leviticus 23). The 50^th day is what we know as Pentecost. The time of Pentecost is also the anniversary of God giving Moses the 10 commandments and the rest of the Torah on Mount Sinai. Torah means “Instruction.” The word “Torah” can also be used to represent the entirety of God’s Word from Genesis to Revelation. With that in mind, on the day the Lord chose to give His Word, which teaches us holiness and righteousness, also defining sin, He then, on the same day 1,500 years later, chose to send His Helper, the Holy Spirit, to help us understand and obey His Word! Before the pouring of the Holy Spirit (as described in Acts 2), Jesus came to give the full interpretation of the Word to share the Father’s heart.

After the Resurrection, Jesus walked upon the earth for 40 days. Upon ascending Jesus gave His disciples special instructions. Based on His instructions, we also want to “wait for the promise of the Father” as Jesus instructed the disciples. 

Acts 1: 3-5 — “He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”’ (emphasis added)

How did they wait for the promise?

Acts 1: 13a, 14—“And when they had entered, they went up to the upper room, where they were staying…All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.”(emphasis added)

During this week, let us pray, fast and prepare our hearts to enter into God’s presence and receive a greater outpouring and revelation of the Holy Spirit. Please go through the daily devotional for recommended prayer points. 

Then, we will come together on Sunday evening (May 16 @ 7pm) as one body to worship the Lord, seeking His face and His promise, His Heart of Pentecost! 

Acts 2: 1-4—“When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.” (emphasis added)

Preparation

In Hebrew, “to return” is the same word for “to repent” which is “shuv.” To repent means to return, make a U-turn back to God and obey His Word. In this time of preparation before we meet for Pentecost, we want to ask the Lord, who is so Holy, to reveal to our hearts the areas that we need to return back to Him. We want Psalm 51: 11-12 to be our heart’s cry and prayer, 

“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.” 

May the Lord cleanse our hearts, renewing His spirit within us so that He may draw us nearer to His heart and be filled with His Holy Spirit in greater measure. 

To prepare for the week, continue to ask the Lord to bring awareness of areas that need repentance.