How Long Should We Pray?
This morning our men's study continued in Luke 6. We discussed Jesus' all night prayer before choosing His 12 disciples or apostles. I believe there are at least two truths here for all of us.
Jesus knew it was critical for Him to choose the exact 12 men the Father had for Him. Even though He was God, He had voluntarily limited His knowledge while on Earth, so He would be totally dependent on the Father. Therefore, He spent a whole night in prayer on this vital decision. When we are in solitude before the Lord, we can think and hear from Him in a wonderful way that is seldom possible otherwise.
Then, Jesus had to pray it through until He had exhausted all of His doubts. Sometimes, we pray for a short time, and we think we come to a conclusion. Later, we have doubts that come to our minds, and we realize we made a mistake. One of the only solutions to this situation is praying through all of the possibilities. That is what Jesus was doing here. He was praying through all of the disciples to find the exact 12 the Father had selected. He had to go through each one until He had no doubts.
Now, how long has it been since we spent a whole day or a whole night in prayer? I know we have all had crucial decisions to make. However, perhaps we have not learned the lesson from this passage that long prayers in solitude are effective in hearing from God. We need to follow the example of Jesus.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Isaiah 26-27 and Philippians 2.
Jesus knew it was critical for Him to choose the exact 12 men the Father had for Him. Even though He was God, He had voluntarily limited His knowledge while on Earth, so He would be totally dependent on the Father. Therefore, He spent a whole night in prayer on this vital decision. When we are in solitude before the Lord, we can think and hear from Him in a wonderful way that is seldom possible otherwise.
Then, Jesus had to pray it through until He had exhausted all of His doubts. Sometimes, we pray for a short time, and we think we come to a conclusion. Later, we have doubts that come to our minds, and we realize we made a mistake. One of the only solutions to this situation is praying through all of the possibilities. That is what Jesus was doing here. He was praying through all of the disciples to find the exact 12 the Father had selected. He had to go through each one until He had no doubts.
Now, how long has it been since we spent a whole day or a whole night in prayer? I know we have all had crucial decisions to make. However, perhaps we have not learned the lesson from this passage that long prayers in solitude are effective in hearing from God. We need to follow the example of Jesus.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Isaiah 26-27 and Philippians 2.