MOST
IMPORTANT
Luke
11:1-4
Luke
11:1: “One day Jesus was praying in a
certain place. When He finished, one of
the disciples said to Him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his
disciples.’”
If prayer is the most important
thing, why did it take so long for Jesus to teach His disciples to pray? God never intrudes on people. He waits to be invited. Jesus’ disciples knew that He stole away from
everything so that He could pray. He jealously
guarded this precious alone time with the Father.
Why is prayer such a big deal?
Prayer is our relationship with the
Lord. Prayer is a time of separation from everything
in order to spend time in His presence.
We surrender our schedules and priorities to joyfully approach God’s
throne room. This is a time when we
share our love for Him—and experience His love for us in return.
For children of the King, prayer is
communication. We acknowledge: God’s
supremacy, Jesus as Lord of our lives and our dependency on the Holy Spirit’s
leading. Prayer nourishes souls so to strengthen us. We offer up needs and desires to Him—even
admitting our mistakes. We wait for Him
to respond during quiet prayer time.
This is when we bask in the presence of God our Father and Jesus our
Savior. Heavenly conversation is guided
by the Holy Spirit.
Jesus’ life shows the value of
private prayer time. His frequent
withdrawing from the world to specifically spend alone time with the Father
clues us to its importance. From the
beginning of His ministry, Jesus’ public life was chaotic. He was hounded by crowds wherever He went. His life wasn’t His own, everyone wanted a
piece of Jesus. Pursued by those seeking
healing, persecuted by those seeking a mistake, Jesus was under a microscope.
If you were ever the new kid in
class after moving, you know exactly how Jesus must have felt. He was watched constantly. He was chased, harassed and pestered. Jesus
had a lot to prove, and everyone wanted proof (or a show of miracles).
Only one person understood exactly
what to do with Jesus. Her name was
Mary.
Luke 10:39 begins with Martha: “She
had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what He
said.” Jesus acknowledged when Martha
wanted Him to tell Mary to help her in Luke 10:42: “but
only one thing is needed. Mary has
chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”
Mary
got it. Jesus is here right now! Listen to Him. Learn from Him. Bask in His presence.
John
12:3 says, “Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she
poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped His feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance
of the perfume.”
After Judas mocked her waste, Jesus
said, “Leave her alone…it was intended, that she should
save this perfume for the day of My burial.”
Take
Home Nugget
How is your prayer
life? How often to you enter the
father’s throne room just because you want to bask in His presence, like Mary? Will you commit to a prayer life with God as
your top priority and focus?
With
so many moments in one day, where’re the moments reserved for our Lord?
J.D. Griffith
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