So, setting sail from Troas, we made a direct voyage to Samothrace, and the following day to Neapolis, 12 and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. We remained in this city some days. 13 And on the Sabbath day we went outside the gate to the riverside, where we supposed there was a place of prayer, and we sat down and spoke to the women who had come together. 14 One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul. 15 And after she was baptized, and her household as well, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.” And she prevailed upon us. (ESV)

I love this story of the conversion of the seeker, Lydia, the Thyatiran business woman.

It is a story of the Spirit’s leading. As we have seen, this is how Paul and his team came to be in Europe;

It is a story of God’s Sovereignty in Lydia’s coming to faith;

It is a story of simplicity, with the forming of a Christian community in Lydia’s home. There was no razzamatazz! How beautifully F.B. Meyer expresses this:

‘This was an epoch-making moment, but how quietly it is recorded. There was no heralding of the gospel which was to transform Europe. The need for it was unspoken and unfelt. It stole in like the dawn.

Paul’s first experiences in Europe were not promising. In most cities there was a Jewish synagogue; but here only a small group of pious women in an arbor by the riverside. Let none despise the day of small things.’

Great things happen in prayer meetings, and great things can come out of them!