His fame grew. The crowds pressed. There was so much ministry to be done. So many lessons for the Savior to teach.

And what did He do?

He withdrew into the wilderness and prayed. (Luke 5:16).

So often, I see needs….So many good things to do.

And too often, I run ahead in my own strength.

It’s true.

My schedule is full of many good things, but when I fail to pull away and sit still before My Father in prayer, I miss out on so very much.

And if I’m honest, when I spend time with the Lord, it’s more weighted toward Bible study than prayer.

When I truly think what a great privilege it is to come before the God of the Universe in prayer, it seems ridiculous that I would ever neglect so wonderful an opportunity.

I may not be able to withdraw to the wilderness; but I can withdraw to my bedroom or my back porch.

I can deliberately stop and talk with my Father before I run ahead with the day.

I can pause throughout the day more and ask for His wisdom and strength.

I can deliberately quiet my soul in my car and listen for His voice before I run into that meeting or spend time with my kids.

The obvious truth is, if Jesus, the Son of God needed to pull away and pray, I do too.

And so do you!

And as we pray, we don’t have to worry about what to say or ask. We know our Father will answer in the best way for us as His plans are better than we can ask or imagine (Eph 3:20)

But make no mistake—our precious Father wants to hear our prayers.

He tells us to pray without ceasing (1Thess 5:17), to cast our burdens on Him (1 Pet 5:7) and that those prayers are heard by the Most High God who is at work in our lives, our days and our circumstances (Phil 2:13).

Oh, may we remind each other to not neglect so great a privilege as to lift our prayers to the King of Kings!

(Will you please add this to your prayers??
I just sent the first half of 2nd Corinthians to my editor. So I’m only about 1/4 of the way from completion on my part for this devotional as I’ve sent 1st Corinthians already. Will you pray for Elissa (the editor) and Stephanie (graphics design) as we all work hard these next two weeks to get this completed? Please pray it will be just what the Lord wants and be for His glory and for the good of others. Please pray He will guide every word and use this to encourage others. Thank you so much!)

pray

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