Time to Pray

This morning I started re-reading the book of Acts. 

It wasn't too long into the book of acts that I noticed the first prayer meeting taking place. 

just to give you the Pastor Nick version of the story: Jesus had ascended into Heaven, and His disciples went back into the Upper Room, and Peter, dear old Peter, stood up and started taking. 

He told how Judas had to do what he did, and now that he was gone, he needed to be replaced. 

So, what did these men and women do? They Prayed!

heres how Luke records the event:

“…now we must choose a replacement for Judas from among the men who were with us the entire time we were traveling with the Lord Jesus— 22 from the time he was baptized by John until the day he was taken from us. Whoever is chosen will join us as a witness of Jesus’ resurrection.”

23 So they nominated two men: Joseph called Barsabbas (also known as Justus) and Matthias. 24 Then they all prayed, “O Lord, you know every heart. Show us which of these men you have chosen 25 as an apostle to replace Judas in this ministry, for he has deserted us and gone where he belongs.” 26 Then they cast lots, and Matthias was selected to become an apostle with the other eleven.” (Acts 1:21-26, NLT)

One of the very first things the Disciples did, was gather together for prayer before making a big decision. 

This reminds me of…. Jesus. 

The Gospel writers made sure they included in their writings of the numerous times that Jesus slipped away from whatever He was doing to be alone and pray. 

Here is just one example, found in Matthew Chapter 14… (Jesus had just fed over 15000 people, and )

“…Jesus insisted that his disciples get back into the boat and cross to the other side of the lake, while he sent the people home. 23 After sending them home, he went up into the hills by himself to pray. Night fell while he was there alone.” (NLT2)

This isn't the first time we encounter Jesus going off on His own to pray. 

Luke 5:16 tells us of another time. 

Jesus was alone in the garden of Gethsemane and He prayed. 

Jesus made it a part of His usual practice to get alone with God and Pray. 

If I am following the example of Jesus, I, too, will need to get alone and spend some time praying. 

If you are following the example of Jesus, you, too, will need to get alone and spend some time praying. 

Now, I can hear you just groan. “You have no idea how busy I am, and yet you want me to get away by myself and pray?”

Yes. No. Sort of. 

The awesome thing about prayer is, that we can pray anywhere. On the drive to work. (But, keep your eyes open please.) In the shower. As the Kids are yelling and screaming, you can yell and scream too, but only at God. 

The blessing of prayer is that we can pray anywhere, anytime and anyplace. 

But I think to be truly effective in prayer, we are going to have to follow the example of Jesus, and get alone and pray.  

It doesn't have to be for an entire night, like Jesus did, but it should be long enough for you to hear from the Lord. 

Can I encourage you to take 5 minutes out of your day, and find a quiet place, and just sit with your bible open, read a little bit of Matthew chapter 14, and then ask God to speak to you. 

You probably won’t change the world, but your world will be changed, because you've taken the time to get away and just be with Jesus. 

But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.” (Matthew 6:6, NLT2)

Some of the best decisions you will ever make, will be all the much better because you took time out to talk to the Master and Commander of the Universe. What are you waiting for?