There's a story Luke tells halfway through the book of Acts that offers us a fascinating example of praying for guidance. It grabs our attention because this is not how we are taught to receive guidance from God.
The story begins with a wink and a nudge.
Certain people came down from Judea to Antioch and were teaching the believers: "Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved."
— Acts 15:1 NIV
"Certain people"—you know the kind of religious individuals Luke's talking about—were teaching new believers that there was an extra step before they could count themselves as true believers: the men needed to be circumcised. And until they did this, they weren't truly saved.
Cut off
In ancient times, people aligned themselves within tribes. These tribes each had their own god and existed for the benefit and protection of their own members.
God challenges this insular view. He chooses Abraham to become the father of a new kind of tribe who would show God's love by existing for the benefit and blessing of outsiders.
Tribes mainly grow through having babies, which occurs when... yep, the birds and the bees. Therefore, circumcision was both a sign of commitment and a reminder of what kind of tribe God was creating.
In Genesis, God tells Abraham:
Any uncircumcised male who does not have the foreskin of his flesh cut off will be cut off from his people, for he has broken my covenant.”
— Genesis 17:14 TPT (emphasis mine)
You've got to love God's sense of humour. That cut off pun is brilliant. But the message this statement contains is serious: to be in a relationship with God, males must be circumcised.
No wonder certain people were announcing to new believers that they needed to be circumcised. They saw it as an essential part of their faith. An irrefutable truth of Scripture that had to be obeyed, regardless of the anxiety and harm it caused.
Their teaching left people questioning their salvation. This was so disruptive that Paul and Barnabas, along with some other believers, were sent to Jerusalem to ask the apostles for their opinion on this matter.
Which brings us to the apostle's sudden need for God's guidance.
