Luke 6:12—One of those days Jesus went out to a
mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God.
Do you ever wonder what it would have been like to hear
Jesus praying? What might He have said
out loud during these prayers that lasted all night? As God Himself, He was all-knowing and
all-powerful, so He really didn’t need
to pray to God in the same way that we as weak humans need to pray to God. Yet, He diligently prayed, constantly prayed—He
fasted and prayed throughout His life. Of
course, He was modeling the prayer-life He wanted us to have. But I think it was more than just that. Even though Jesus didn’t need anything from
God, He still wanted to be in relationship and communicating with Him. Jesus’ prayer-life is not so different than
our relationships with each other. Just
like we might get the urge to call a friend when something wonderful happens,
or when some tragedy strikes, or when we just want to check in and see how the
other person is doing, Jesus wanted to be talking to God. At times, I think our prayer-life can get
into a rut where we only ask God to fulfill our earthly dreams and
desires. We spend a lot of time talking,
and not so much time listening. And our
talking is really more about asking for things—not so much just being in a
conversation. Think about how long you
would want to be in relationship with a person who only ever called when in
need. Those needy friends are taxing and
we tend to keep them at a distance. Fortunately
for us, God wants to be in relationship with us, and He asks us to throw our
needs onto Him. Imagine, though, how
close we could be to Him if every once in a while we prayed just to check in
and not to ask for something else.
Today as you pray and meditate on His Word, praise God for
the gift of relationship with Him. Lift
up a prayer of connection by saying “Hi God, it’s me. You are on my mind, and I just wanted to tell
You how much I love You.” Today, don’t
ask God for anything—just praise His Name and rejoice in His presence.
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