PRAYING LIKE JESUS DAY 5
PRAY ON THE GO
“When we cannot get away, pray anyway” - Pastor Kent Munsey
“I don't often spend more than half an hour in prayer at one time, but I never go more than half an hour without praying.” - Smith Wigglesworth
This week we have looked at the atmosphere for prayer. We set the space for it, we adjust our lives to encounter Jesus, we withdraw often and wait to hear from the Lord. Prayer is such a vital part of our walk with Jesus and it takes commitment and dedication to set and find time to be with Jesus.
Jesus doesn’t just want to know us from 7-8am every day. He loves that time with you, but he wants to be a part of the moment to moment details of your life. When you feel stress, he wants to comfort you and speak peace to your heart. When anger begins to rise, he wants to come alongside and walk with you through it. When you get amazing news, he wants to celebrate with you. In sadness, he wants to cry with you. Those are the times when it may not be possible to get away but He wants us to pray anyway.
Sometimes life gets busy, and it is difficult to set aside the time that we would prefer to have for prayer. Missiologist David Bosch talks about having a spirituality of the road[1]. We don’t typically have the daily luxury of getting away on retreats or long hours to be refreshed in prayer because God intends us to be busy on mission for him. Whether we are at work, at home with children, at school or at church, our mission is building God’s Kingdom and bringing Jesus into our world. Having a spirituality of the road means that we connect with God while we go, as we serve—even in the middle of a crowded and busy room.
Luke described one of Jesus’ prayer times in Luke 9:18. “Once when Jesus was praying in private and his disciples were with him, he asked them, ‘Who do the crowds say that I am?’” Jesus was able to get alone with God in a room full of people. He was tuned into his mission, thinking about how people were receiving his ministry while praying and communing with God. We can have a conversation with God at the same time we are having a conversation with a person! We can ask God to make us sharper, more discerning of how he is working in someone’s life. We can ask him to help us, to encourage us in the moment.
“Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus” (I Thessalonians 5:16-18).
If you pray in the middle of everyday moments, how does prayer change your perspective?
How can allowing Jesus into our everyday moments affect our ability to be joyful and thankful in all circumstances?
PRAYER POINTS
Pray that Jesus would draw your attention to Him in your everyday. That when work/stress/family/responsibilities overwhelm you that He would be quickened to your mind and heart.
Pray that our church would be a church of Christians who allow Jesus into every aspect of our life. That as we allow Jesus in, that we would see him move in our jobs, in our community, in our city.
[1] A Spirituality of the Road, David Bosch