Prayer, what would Jesus do?

• But Jesus would often slip away to the wilderness and pray – Luke 5:16
• After he had sent the crowds away, he went up on the mountainside by himself to pray, and when it was evening he was there alone – Matthew 14:23
• In the early morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went away to a secluded place and prayed there – Mark 1:35
• It was this time that he went off to the mountain to pray, and he spent the whole night in prayer to God – Luke 6:12

While reading the Gospel of Luke, I was reminded and encouraged that Jesus was intentional in praying. So l looked up other verses that shared the same thing.

A good reminder because sometimes the distance between Jesus and us can feel long. He is Jesus after all, God in the flesh, but we read even that he needed to be alone to pray.

It’s encouraging because life can get busy, and lots of things can get in the way of making time to have a chat with God. But we are not rabbi’s and don’t have crowds following us and demanding our attention. Thankfully our prayer times wont be as hectic as hectic as Jesus’s.

Is a regular prayer time something that you practice, or do you find it a bit of a challenge to make time for it?

I want to urge you to make it a habit to slip away like Jesus did to spend time with God. It can be hard work I know, but worth our time and energy. I know from experience, the cost of neglecting making time with God, and I’m sure you do as well.

If it was important to Jesus, then we will benefit as well.

Father God, we thank you for the opportunity and the privilege that you have given us through the activity of prayer. In our heads we get the importance of spending quality time with you, but often struggle when it comes to the doing. Help us Lord to be intentional with this aspect of knowing you just as we see Jesus doing in your word. Amen