Prayer: Your Powerful Priority
Now about eight days after these sayings he took with him Peter and John and James and went up on the mountain to pray. (Luke 9:28, ESV)
September 11, 2001–the nation looked on as the New York skyline and our lives were forever changed. Lives were lost, fear and anger gripped the nation…and people prayed.
In the face of tragedy, people cry out to God. We look to Him for guidance, for strength, for deliverance, for miracles. On that September morning, it seemed like nearly everyone in America was praying.
But six months before the attack–what happened then? Who was praying then? I don’t know. We’re quick to pray when things are hard but when things are going well, we tend to ignore God.
Let’s take a new look at a few passages we’ve already seen in Luke that touch on prayer: “Jesus also had been baptized and was praying” (3:21, ESV), “he would withdraw to desolate places and pray” (5:16, ESV), “all night he continued in prayer to God” (6:12, ESV), “he looked up to heaven and said a blessing over them” (9:16, ESV), “as he was praying alone” (9:18, ESV).
It’s easy for us to get hung up looking at the more glamorous parts of Jesus’ ministry. We love the stories about His miracles; we pour over His teachings for wisdom. But we overlook Him praying.
Jesus was always going off to pray. He made it a priority. These weren’t quick little “God-bless-my-burger” prayers. He spent time praying–pouring out His heart and listening for words from His Father.
If Jesus made it a common practice to spend time in prayer, what makes us think that we can go a day without praying?
“Prayer does not prepare us for the great work; prayer is the great work.” - Oswald Chambers
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