To what extent do you pray? How much time do you spend in prayer? When do you pray? What do you pray about? Is your prayer a one-way conversation, a listing of your wants? Or is your prayer a two-way conversation, including you listening for God’s answer?
If you are like me, your prayer life has its ups and downs. There are times when it is relatively good and times when it is not very good at all. There are times when I reach out in dire need and times when I sit and listen. There are times when it is only about my wants and times when I’m petitioning on behalf of others.
Our prayer life says a lot about how in tune we are with God. It also has a direct impact on how our lives go. When we spend less time in prayer, our lives can get out of control. We can find ourselves trying to do everything on our own. Our lives can become a tangle of events, stressful, anxiety ridden, and filled with frustration. We are far from peaceful.
On the other hand, when we spend time in prayer, we become calm and peaceful even in the midst of chaos. It may seem counterintuitive. How can we take time to pray when we have so much to do? Regardless of how it appears, it is exactly what we need to obtain clarity, set priorities, and achieve what God wants us to achieve.
Take the situation in today’s passage as an example. When Jesus knew He was going to choose the twelve Apostles, He spent an entire night in prayer. It is likely He didn’t just pray that He choose the right twelve, but likely also prayed over the ministry He was about to embark on. He likely prayed for wisdom, discernment, and guidance for every situation He would encounter in His ministry. But I’m sure He also prayed for each of the twelve He would choose, that they would also gain wisdom, discernment, and would listen for God’s guidance.
We may walk through dry times in prayer. When we recognize we are in one of those times, it is time to spend more time in prayer to get ourselves back on track. We may not spend an entire night, but we need to purposely choose to set aside time to be in conversation with God.
I pray we all choose to spend time with God in prayer. I pray we recognize the dry times and make a concerted effort to reach out to God. I pray each of us will go to God in all situations, with all our needs, and to listen. Recognize the dry times. Go to God in prayer. Spend time listening. Make it a two-way conversation. Find the peace you desire.
Luke 6:12-13 One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designated apostles:
Marty Pressey 