Prayer’s place

Prayer’s place

Now it came to pass in those days that He went out to the mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God. Luke 6:12 (NKJV)

The point of this devotion isn’t going to be new or novel to anyone familiar with God’s Word. It’s a truth that has been stated and shared many times over. Chances are, it won’t take you by surprise. So why bother devoting the time and space to it? Because it’s so vitally important.

Here’s the point: Jesus prayed. We see it here in Luke Chapter 6, and this is by no means an isolated incident. When we pull back and look at the Gospel records, we find that He prayed in a variety of ways, at a variety of times, and in a variety of locations.

The variety of ways include His spontaneous prayer in public at the Tomb of Lazarus (John 11:41-42), His private night-long vigil here in Luke 6:12, and His prayer among the mixed masses of those He miraculously fed (Matthew 14:19). Jesus prayed during the deep and dark hours of night (Matthew 26:39), at the breaking of the dawn (Mark 1:35), and in the afternoon (Luke 23:44-46). He prayed in the mountains (Mark 6:46), in the wilderness (Luke 5:16), in the Garden of Gethsemane (Mark 14:32), and even on the Cross (Luke 23:34).

You get the point. In just about every possible situation and scenario, we see the Son of God communicating with His Heavenly Father. In fact, it’s not a stretch to say that you can’t possibly separate the person of Jesus Christ and the practice of prayer.

Now, if God’s almighty and all-knowing Son spent His time and energies on the practice of prayer, what does it say about it’s proper place in our lives? Doesn’t it stand to reason that it should be all the more imperative for we who are totally helpless on our own?

Again, it’s nothing we haven’t heard before. But it’s so important that it needs to be repeated: Jesus prayed and so should we.