The Habit of Prayer (Devotion)

"But He would withdraw to desolate places and pray." (Luke 5:16)

We noted yesterday that Jesus got up early in the morning while it was still dark to go and pray. The night before He had been pressed upon by the crowd. When He finished praying in that passage in Mark 1:35, everyone was pressing on Him again with demands on His time. What we discover in this passage in Luke is that prayer was not an every once in a while occurrence for Jesus, but the settled habit of His life. It was the priority of His life. It was the thing that gave Him direction and clarity of purpose.

How much more is it significant for us, if it was important to Jesus? Over and over again I am amazed at how little time dedicated Christian people spend in prayer. When Christianity Today put out the results many years ago saying that the average american christian spends 1 minute a day in prayer, I thought that has to be wrong. But the more I talk with believers, the more likely I think it is a reflection of the absolute truth.

What about in your life? How significant is prayer? I am not talking about the obligatory blessing we say before we eat, or the "Now I lay me down to sleep" kinds of prayers, but the genuine time alone talking with and listening to God. Why not start today with a determined commitment to make an appointment with God? He is waiting to spend quality time with you. Pick a time of the day when you will not be interrupted. Take your Bible, a notebook and something to write with. Turn off your cell phone and the computer. Get alone with God. He has time for you.

Priority of Prayer (Devotional)

"And rising early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed." (Mark 1:35)

This is a description of what was a regular habit of Jesus throughout His earthly ministry. Although He never ceased to be God in His essence, He did the things that He did in this world as a man led by God's Spirit. If prayer was significantly important in the life of Jesus, how much more so should it be in our lives?

In almost every major world religion, prayer is all about how to manipulate God to do something that a person desires or wants. In the Christian faith it is about ordering our will and priorities to God. If we delight ourselves in Him, He will give us the desires of our hearts, the psalmist said. That is because when we delight ourself in Him, our desires become a reflection of His will.

God created and designed us and knows what is best. His interest in our lives is for us to discover His absolute best. Sometimes His answers are "No" because He knows what we desire is ultimately harmful or less than His best. Sometimes He says, "Wait" because He wants to teach us to trust Him. When we manage to pray that which is His will, His answer of "Yes" comes even before we say, "Amen."

When Jesus comes out of His prayer time, Simon says to Him, "Everyone is looking for you." What is interesting is that Jesus does not respond to that and go where they are looking for Him.
God has given Him another priority and He does God's will. So should we.