Thursday, April 28, 2022

April 28, 2022

John 17: 1 (NIV)
After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed.
Prayer is relevant in every situation.*
If you knew you had only one year left to live, what would you do? How would you fill your time if you were down to only one day? I have no idea what I would do – just pondering the question causes me to feel anxious so I’m thinking that if I really had to face the decision I would succumb to a full-blown panic attack.

Perhaps, after I took a deep breath, I might consider what Jesus did. He knew all along that his days were numbered so it’s certain that he used every moment wisely. But when the clock ticked down to the final twelve hours, what did Jesus do? I like what John Maxwell says about Jesus’ last moments of freedom: “He didn’t start big campaigns. He didn’t try to change laws. He didn’t even do any more public ministry. He spent the time praying.”*

Admit it. You secretly think that there had to be something more dramatic that he could have been doing. Admit it. You say you believe in the power of prayer but you still think of it as a last resort. It’s what you do when you can’t think of anything else to do. How did this happen? When did we start thinking that we are smarter than God? How can we believe that we can face troubles or make decisions without seeking God’s face?

We often hear that we should live every day as if it’s our last one. I suggest we live every day as Jesus lived his last one: make prayer our priority.
We may speak about the importance of prayer, but it seldom becomes our actual practice.*

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