Intimacy with the Father!

Daily Reading: Genesis 28:10-22; Luke 11

Once Jesus was in a certain place praying. (Luke 11:1a)

It is such a simple little statement, “…Jesus was in a certain place praying.” It is simple, but it is not unique. The fact that it is not unique is what moves this little statement into a whole other stratosphere. All throughout the Gospels we find Jesus praying. He prayed before big events. He prayed after busy days. He prayed with the disciples and he often went away by himself to pray. Obviously Jesus felt that prayer was one of the essential foundational practices of his life and ministry. 

Jesus knew something that he wanted his disciples to know and that was that prayer is the key to vibrant connectedness to the Father. This is why Christ could boldly claim, “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself. He does only what he sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son also does.” (John 5:19) Jesus knew his Father intimately because he spent intimate time with his Father. At the end of his ministry he called his disciples together and taught them that as he was in the Father and the Father was in him so too would the disciples have the ability to be in the Father. Literally to know what the Father is doing so that they too can join in with the Father in His work.

In the Acts of the Apostles we find that the disciples took Jesus’ admonitions to heart and that from the very beginning they were a community of prayer. They knew from their time with Christ that their power came not from the world but from intimacy with Christ and through Christ with the Father.

Do we want to see a mighty movement of God today? Do we want to know the heart of God for our ministries? Do we want to walk with the Father in power and holiness? Then we have to become a people of prayer!

Lord, teach us to pray! Amen.