Good morning,
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 (Mark 1:35)
Going- Prayer causes one to go to where one can be alone with God. Businessmen take trips to meet with important people to be with than individual because some things cannot be handled through email, on the phone, or even through video chat. How much more important is the God that we serve, to get alone with Him, and seek him. It is true that one can meet with God anywhere, but one should establish a place as free from distraction as possible. It was Susanna Wesley mother of John and Charles Wesley that had nineteen children, but still would make it a point to get alone with God. Her kids knew when mom threw her apron over her head, not to disturb her because she was meeting with God. Jeremiah 29:12 states, “Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. 13 You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you, declares the Lord…”. We must seek him, because if we do we will find Him!
Praying-Christ centered prayer. Again if there was one that could have forsaken prayer, one would certainly think that Christ would be the one. After all He knew the will of the Father, and walked perfectly in His will. Yet He loved the Father and desired, departed, and went to have intimate fellowship with Him. One might set up one’s life in discipline, and then end up doing something other than praying.
Christ was the Word of God in the flesh, yet still prayed. He showed the perfect balance of prayer and the Word of God. John Chapter 17 records the high priestly prayer of Christ. However just prior to this, E.M. Bounds reminds us “Jesus had just finished instructing His disciples (John 13-16). Now He prayed for them, because prayer and the Word of God go together. If we have all Bible but no prayer, we may have a great deal of truth but no power. It would be “light without heat.” On the other hand, if we have all prayer but no Bible teaching, we are in danger of becoming fanatics-heat without light! Zeal is a good thing, but zeal without knowledge is usually destructive. A proper balance of Bible study and prayer is important to a balanced Christian life. “Moreover, as for me,” said the godly prophet Samuel, “far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you; but I will instruct you in the good and right way” (1 Samuel 12:23). Note the balance of prayer and the Word of God. “And now I commend you to God [that’s prayer] and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up...”
When you are in prayer, you must be guided be the Holy Spirit but of course the Holy Spirit will certainly move and flow in perfect alignment with the Word of God. George Wood stated, “The Holy Spirit is like a river, and the sword of God is like the banks of the river. The river will never overflow beyond of the banks of the river” Make sure that your prayer life is bathed in the Word of God. I heard it nice said, “if you read the Word if God you will have something to say. If you pray you still have the power to say it, and if you spend time with the lost, you will have an audience to say it to”, To finish, blessings Pastor Phil
