An Easter Prayer

By Pastor Chad Roberts

Are there times you feel inadequate when reading the Bible? The Scriptures can feel quite intimidating.  While I have had the opportunity to travel to many nations, preaching the Gospel and training church leaders, I once did an online test that showed what percentage of the world I had visited.  I was surprised at just how big the earth is. I often feel this way as someone who teaches systematically through the Bible. I’m amazed at how much life-changing content there is, but then again, I shouldn’t be so surprised. For it is an eternal, living and breathing book (Hebrews 4:12). Charles Spurgeon once said, “No one ever outgrows the Scriptures. The book widens and deepens with our years.”

Shortly after Jesus is raised from the dead, he finds his disciples cowering in a room. So many events had happened this Passover weekend. Their last meal with Christ was in the upper room, right before he was betrayed by Judas. He was arrested and given a mock trial, where Peter denied the Lord three times, and wept bitterly. He was crucified, being nailed to a Roman cross, and after he breathed his last breath, his body was laid into a borrowed tomb, owned by Joseph of Arimathea.

You can imagine how dazed and bewildered the disciples felt.  Their world had been turned upside down, and many were ready to return to their former lives. Luke paints the picture for us of what it was like when Christ appeared to them for the first time after His resurrection. It is found in Luke 24. I find it interesting that the disciples were talking about Christ when He appeared in their midst, and yet while they talked, the scriptures say there was doubt in their hearts (Luke 24:36-38). Does this not sound much like today’s Church? Between all of our Sunday gatherings, Bible studies, small groups (as good as these things are), is there not still too much doubt in our hearts?

This Easter, Luke 24:45 has become my prayer, “Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.”  This is how I want to approach God’s Word. While the disciples were having conversations, they were not digging into the scriptures. This explains why they couldn’t believe the resurrection. It explains why there was doubt in their hearts. I don’t want to be a Christian that simply talks about Scripture.  I want the Holy Spirit to open my mind and cause me to understand His Word. What would happen if you began to approach the Bible praying Luke 24:45?