What good is a worker without tools?  What if a contractor showed up to your home empty handed, and said, “I’m ready to work”.  What good is a worker without food?  How far will he make it through the day without food or water?   Silly questions, right?

Now, what good is a Christian without the Word and prayer?  Oh, that we lived in a time where that would be a silly question.  When well-intentioned believers want to “get to work” and “do what Jesus did”, I hope they do not neglect the spiritual disciplines Jesus modeled for us.  Christian spirituality is often found at one extreme or another.  On the one hand you’ll find people muttering jibberish in church and rolling around on the floor, and on the other you’ll find people whose only prayers are done on Sunday, before a meal, or when life gets really hard.  Jesus never spoke in jibberish, but He often sought out solitude for prayer.  We can look to Him and model our prayer life accordingly.

Mark 1:34-38 – “That evening at sundown they brought to him all who were sick or oppressed by demons.  And the whole city was gathered together at the door.  And he healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons. And he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.  And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.”

Now imagine you’ve come home from the day at sundown, and waiting at your door was an entire city’s worth of people looking for help.  What time do you think you’d get to bed?  Now, what time would it be to get up before the sun had come up?  What do you think?  Jesus didn’t get much sleep that night, but prayer was necessary to Him.

If I may continue my contractor analogy; a common saying among carpenters is to measure twice and cut once.  We should be Christians who pray twice and act/speak once.  What might God do in your life if you came to Him simply, throughout the day, seeking His face and guidance?  One of the men responsible for the protestant reformation, Martin Luther, was known as a man of prayer.  He would spend hours each day praying to God.  He had a saying, which reveals an attitude of the heart, I want desperately for myself, and all of you.  He said, “I have so much to do (today) that I should spend the first three hours in prayer.”

My exhortation is that we all as the body of Christ would commit ourselves to prayer.  Get alone with God in the morning and evening and pray.  Pray throughout your day.  Pray that God would give you a humble heart for prayer.  I’ll leave you with scripture.  I’d love to break down each of these verses, but that would take much more time/writing than I will go into today.  I’ll trust the Holy Spirit as the Teacher to give each of you clarity and encouragement.

1 Peter 5:6-7 – “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.”

Philippians 4:6-7 – “do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.  And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

1 Thessalonians 5:17 – “pray without ceasing”

Grace and Peace,

Adam