Being Challenge: An 11-Day Plan to Be Like JesusSample

Day 6: Keystone Habit 3: Jesus Prioritizes Prayer

The global pandemic COVID-19 changed a lot, and one of those things is the way we communicate. In April 2020, Verizon said that it was handling an average of 800 million wireless calls a day during the week, which is more than double the number made on Mother's Day 2019—historically one of the busiest phone call days of the year.

This data tells me that in times of uncertainty and crisis, people still need to talk for relationships to flourish.

At the heart of this study is growing in our relationship with God, and you cannot have a great relationship with someone if you are not in excellent communication with them. Prayer is the way we communicate with God.

When Jesus was on the Earth, we see Him prioritizing prayer over fifty times in the four Gospels. The Bible goes into detail about His prayer. We are told specific times He prayed (through the night or early), where He prayed (lonely places and mountainsides), and how He prayed (for particular people or in anguish). Those details were included to help us.

Jesus's life on Earth was devoted to helping others. Even as He prayed, He was modeling for the disciples what a healthy prayer life was. Later the disciples even asked him to teach them how to pray, so he gave them the most famous prayer in history—the Lord's Prayer.

We have access to the example and words of Jesus today, but sadly we don't continuously tap into that power as we should. Many followers of Jesus say that they believe in the power of prayer, but sadly, their actions prove otherwise. A good question to ask yourself is this:

"If God said 'Yes' right away to every prayer request that you prayed in the last week, how different would the world be?"

Maybe that store you were racing to didn't close on time, perhaps the baby stopped howling, or maybe you lost a pound of weight, but did anything of significance change in someone else's life? Did anything change in your neighborhood, country, or even the world?

Keep talking and pouring into relationships with others, but don't forget that you have unlimited access to the all-powerful God.

In our Bible readings for today, you will see multiple times in which Jesus was praying. You'll see Him praying early in the morning, alone, on mountainsides, in the evenings, and before and after big decisions and difficult moments.

Challenge for the Day: Assess how much you truly believe in the power of prayer. Reflect on how you prayed and what you prayed in the past seven days. What in the world would be different based on those prayers? Pray right now with no distractions around.