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Prayer was Jesus’ First Priority
His Father’s will was all Jesus wanted. In John 5:19, He said, “...whatever the Father does the Son also does.” The way He saw what His Father was doing was by constantly communicating with Him. A normal day for Jesus started as it did in Luke 6:12-13: “...Jesus...spent the night praying to God.”
How high is prayer on our list of priorities? Is it the first thing we do when facing a challenge, or is it only after we have exhausted all other possibilities? If Jesus needed to pray in every situation, we need it even more. King David recognized this and said in Psalm 16:8: “I keep my eyes always on the Lord. With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken.”
And Paul encouraged us in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 to “pray continually”. Is that possible? Don’t we also need to sleep and work and eat and play? Well, Isaiah 40:28 says that all who wait on the Lord will renew their strength. Waiting on the Lord is always listening for His still small voice into our heart. Just like a news anchor is always listening for the producer’s voice in their ear for any breaking news, we can always be listening for the Holy Spirit’s voice into our hearts. We can pray now, and all the time, if our heart is fully His! We can do that if we recognize that His will is always best for us in every situation. We can do that if we adore Him because He has not only created us but redeemed us from our sins and all the destruction that they create.
The prophet Micah gave us his experience in Micah 7:7: “But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.” And God promised David in Psalm 32:8: “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.”
Waiting on God gives us God’s right answers. Isaiah 64:4: “Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who acts on behalf of those who wait for him.”
Reflection: What better way to spend our time is there than talking to our Creator?
About this Plan
Isn’t it fascinating that Jesus’ disciples didn’t ask Jesus to teach them how to lead or preach or teach or administrate, although He certainly was the expert? In Luke 11:1, they said, “Teach us to pray.” They had seen Him praying more than anything else. How can we learn from Jesus’ priority of prayer?
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