In these days, 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 6:12–13 WEB.

Jesus prayed all night. Even though He was the son of God, He continually developed His relationship with His Father. Jesus lived as an example to us. Intimacy and infinite knowledge were not freely given to Him. He had to work at it. He had to pray and listen. 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 uninteresting. When the apostles spoke, the people listening were: "cut to the heart" (Acts 2:37, Acts 5:33, Acts 7:54) because the apostles had first 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 must also spend time in prayer. 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 converse a lot grow in strength. We have all had friends that we lost contact with because we ceased talking at some point. We get too busy with daily life to maintain a strong relationship with many people at a time, and we keep a select few. So be sure the Lord is one of those in your inner circle.

Today, spend a few moments alone with God and pray. Even if it is nothing more than to tell Him good morning and thank You for letting you wake up for another day. It's 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. I am sorry that I am not as faithful as I could be. Please 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. Amen!

Note: Ladies, today is Thankful Thursday at the "Ladies in Distress" group (our RHM women's group)! You are welcome to join in our weekly sharing of thankfulness for the Lord's presence and any blessings you may have experienced, big or small! Until we get our small group areas up again, Thankful Thursday will take place at the home page at RHM! As always, If you have a prayer need, we are here for you! We and the prayer team are ready to lift you up at our private prayer page: RHM Prayer Network