With the onset of 2012, many believers have (and more should) evaluated their spiritual growth and personal walk with the Lord over the last year, especially in their prayer life. If you had a personal mentor to assist you this year, would it help? In fact, you do.
Recently I reflected on some of the times of prayer in the life of Jesus as recorded in the Gospels. Here is some Bible application taken from Christ’s model which I saw for my own guidance.
- Praying isn’t always at convenient times.
Prayer is expected at meals, during church services, and in hospital rooms. Those are scheduled occasions during the normal flow of life. Mark 1:29-37 records for our benefit an incident in which Jesus broke the mold. He had just experienced a tiring day of ministry that extended into the evening. But the next morning he was up very early spending time in prayer. While it may have been his normal practice to pray in the morning, this particular instance in some way deviated from the norm since his disciples were looking for him. His prayer time wasn’t convenient, but it was necessary.
- Praying sometimes means leaving important things undone.
Mark 6:30-34, 45-46 relates another ministry experience indicative of priorities in Jesus’ life.
It was time for the disciples to report back after having been gone in a teaching ministry. Jesus tried to make this meaningful by finding a quiet place to listen and evaluate. But the crowds found them, so Jesus continued his teaching ministry to men into the early evening. Subsequently the miracle of feeding the large crowd extended the day even more.
Finally, Jesus was able to get his disciples into a boat and to leave after he dismissed (actually compelled) the crowd to leave. And now it was prayer time for Jesus. But wasn’t there still teaching to be done? The crowd was hungry for more. And weren’t the disciples shortly going to be in midst of a Galilee storm without Jesus initially there to keep them safe? In spite of those two significant needs, Jesus felt the compelling need to pray. Jesus had said ‘no’ to the important to say ‘yes’ to the vital. (Max Lucado)
- Prayer sometimes should include lengthy times of solitude.
Modern life is intense. Multi-tasking seems to be endemic to the American experience. In fact, many people are uncomfortable with periods of silence and inactivity that extend beyond a few seconds or minutes. The Gospel record paints a picture of days when Jesus was active the entire day and needed some ‘down time’. He found refreshment by absenting himself from people and responsibility. Luke 5:15-16 tells us that it was his regular habit to do just that. He didn’t look for the time; he made time for such a critical endeavor.
A guided fly-fishing trip a few years ago was one of the highlights of my fishing experience. In spite of fishing for over fifty years, it was a learning experience as the guide modeled for me exactly what to do and how I was to fish. The result was a very successful day and a long-remembered outing, and it still benefits me today. In the same way, if we study the Bible, closely observe of our ‘prayer model’, and follow Christ’s example in actual application it will certainly benefit us long-term. May 2012 be a better ‘prayer year’ for each of us as we grow in Christian spirituality.
Article by Pastor Jerry Hamilton, Assistant Pastor of Red Rocks Baptist Church in Lakewood, Colorado.
