It happened in these days, that he went out to the mountain to pray, and he continued all night in prayer to God. When it was day, he called his disciples, and from them he chose twelve, whom he also named apostles Luke 6:12 WEBEven though Jesus was the son of God, He prayed a lot. He continually developed His relationship with His Father. Jesus lived as our example. Intimacy and infinite knowledge were not freely given to Him. He had to work at it. Jesus was tested in all ways, just like us, but without sin (Hebrews 4:15). Jesus did not pray once at the beginning of His ministry, but often withdrew to have some quiet time to pray and listen. Jesus was on the cutting edge, because He stayed in tune with what the Father was doing.
All of us have heard or read messages that felt like they were meant for us, directly from God. We have also heard others that seemed dated, irrelevant, or boring. When the apostles spoke, the people listening were: 'cut to the heart' (Acts 2:37, Acts 5:33, Acts 7:54) because they sharpened themselves in prayer:
'When they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were gathered together. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness' (Acts 4:31).
If you want your words to be relevant today, to walk on the cutting edge, then you will have to spend time in prayer as well. Even taking a few minutes to talk to the Lord will help shape your day, brighten your outlook, and encourage those around you. There is an infinite well of resources, wisdom, knowledge, forgiveness, grace and mercy, that we can access, and it all starts with prayer.
Any relationship that stops talking will slowly but surely die, while relationships that talk a lot grow in strength. We have all had friends that we lost contact with because we ceased talking at some point. Most often, we just get too busy with our daily life to maintain a strong relationship with very many people at a time, and we keep a special few. Be sure that the Lord is in your inner circle.
Today, be sure to spend a few minutes alone with God in prayer, if nothing more than to tell Him good morning and thank You for letting you wake up for another day. It is a daily thing that you should get in the habit of doing, and you have to start somewhere. If you want to grow closer to the Lord, take a few minutes to talk to Him each day. Jesus did.
Prayer: Heavenly Father I thank You for always being there and I am sorry that I am not always as faithful as I could be. Draw my heart to You and fan the flames within me. Sharpen me Lord. For the sake of the world, light a fire within me. Help me be steadfast, graceful, loving and merciful today, in the name of Jesus Christ I pray.> You can subscribe to our daily devotional here <
Keep us strong and faithful.We love and worship you Jesus. Amen
Amen Father
Amen! For what ever reason, God wants to hear from us. To me, that is the most special time of the day. Read 2nd Cronicals 7:14, God loves it when we humble our selves and pray and seek His face.
Amen~
Amen!!
Amen. Beautiful message and prayer is the awesome.
Thank you Father for always being there. Thank you for waking me up today.
AMEN!!
Thank u Lord for wake my me up this am
For so many days and night we take for granted..u bless us with a warm bed and a heated home..and watch over us a we sleep thru the night soundly and block anything that was not sent by u..thank u for everything u do for my family and frens.. Amen
Amen! Everyday around our house starts with Jesus and Coffee, prayer, and many more conversations during the day, And at bedtime reflecting out loud what we are thankful for, this is all for building the relationship, and it is also worship. Its a great habit to get into, We highly recommend it :)
Sounds like a great habit Perry & Karen!
Yes Father, draw me closer to You today, Amen!
Heavenly Father I thank You for this day,help me to be the vessel that draws others to You with my actions. I love and I adore You, in Jesus name I pray. Amen.
Thank you Pastor for this beautiful devotional, God bless you.
I apologize if I misunderstood, but if John:1-4 is correct, then Jesus DID possess infinate knowlege and intamcy, right from the beginning.As the Son of God, He is--and was--one with His Father, along with the Holy Spirit.
1 John 1-4 ?? I couldn’t find it
"The Word was with God...The Word was God... The Word was with God in the beginning." In other words, Jesus and God were one.JThat is divine intamacy.Jesus also possessed the infinate knowlege of His passion. He knew the thoughts of the Pharissees and He knew Judas was going to betry Him.
Amen
Amen
WOW, is all I can say about todays message! And although you may not guess, for me to be speechless.....amazing!! Thank you
Amen!
Dear Jesus, draw my heart to you more. I am going to be more faithful with my time with you. I know you love me unconditionally. Thank you Bro. Todd for today's message. Amen
Heavenly Father, I know that sometimes I feel discouraged for the timing but always You are there for the fulfillment. Give me the thoughts to wait for Your will as I should,in Jesus name I pray. Amen. Lord hear my prayers.
Yes Pastor we should always wait in the Lord. Excellent devotional, God bless you.
AMEN
Yes, I am talking to the Lord but with great difficulty. I know He forgives all our sins. For quite awhile I am having a tough time. With all the years following Him I feel as though I have learned nothing. I am at room 101...bottled up & afraid to say for any I say I wrong & retrobution follows. Paul praised & sang & doors opened. If I speak I say wrong & more happens then I can mention. On Tues a new plan for Cancer begins. I have small time in OR for a port to be put in. Following week on Mon 4 hours of cemo begins. Next day ..Tues 2 hrs of Chemo. Three weeks of this & break 1 week. The routine starts over and all spent is 9 months. Hope is for remission the doctor says. My prayer is to have more..many ...more years with my husband now he is retired. God is decider of all things. Rejoice in all things it says....here is room 101.