Acts 9:39-40 (NIVUK)
39 Peter went with them, and when he arrived he was taken upstairs to the room. All the widows stood round him, crying and showing him the robes and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was still with them.
40 Peter sent them all out of the room; then he got down on his knees and prayed.
Something really intrigues me about this passage which follows on from the widows calling for Peter to come and pray for their dead friend Dorcas; why is it that Peter sends them out of the room? Is it that he was nervous and didn’t want to attempt a miracle in front of them in case it didn’t work? Is it because they were making a lot of noise and were distracting him? Or was it that he felt the focus shouldn’t be on what he was doing, but on what God was doing? Or perhaps he simply felt this request was part of a private conversation between him and his Father.
Whatever the reason Peter didn’t pray in front of the widows, thank you Father for the reminder that prayer is a special gift to us, a means of conversation and relationship.
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