Praying for glory

After completing His last teachings on the way to the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus informed His disciples:

John 16:33-17:1 I have told you these things so that in Me you may have peace.  You will have suffering in this world.  Be courageous!  I have conquered the world.

Jesus spoke these things, looked up to heaven, and said:

Father, the hour has come.

What Jesus prayed next is commonly referred to as His ‘High Priestly Prayer’.  Since Jesus prayed this in front of His disciples, they would have heard Jesus’ exact desires and petitions to the Father.

Jesus knew what was going to happen that night in the garden.  He knew that His entire life, and especially the last three years, had led up to this night.  The hour of sacrifice had finally come.

In this prayer, Jesus prayed for Himself, the disciples, and all future believers.  He also made some significant statements and requests during this prayer.  The first part of His prayer is for Himself, but His words are not selfish…rather, they are focused on His relationship with the Father:

John 17: 1-3 Glorify Your Son so that the Son may glorify You,
for You gave Him authority over all flesh;
so He may give eternal life to all You have given Him.
This is eternal life: that they may know You, the only true God,
And the One You have sent – Jesus Christ.

Eternal life – which is both forever-lasting and of excellent quality – is only found in knowing God the Father, through Jesus Christ.  We were created to be in eternal relationship with God.  Jesus affirmed this to the disciples earlier in the night, when He said:

John 13:6 I am the way, the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through Me.

While Jesus prayed that the Father would glorify Him, Jesus’ aim was to use any honor the Father gave Him as an opportunity to reflect it back.  Glorifying the Father – enriching His reputation and advancing His agenda – was Jesus’ purpose in His life and ministry, and it continued to be his focus as He would head to the cross.

John 17:4-5 I have glorified You on the earth
by completing the work You gave Me to do.
Now, Father, glorify Me in Your presence
With the glory I had with You before the world existed.

Jesus begins His ‘High Priestly Prayer’ in the same manner He had previously instructed the disciples to pray:

Matthew 6:9 Our Father in heaven, Your name be honored as holy.

Above all else, Jesus was concerned with the Father’s reputation and agenda.  This aim dominated His life and His prayers.  As such, Jesus’ prayer practice matched His prayer teachings, and His example instructs us to focus on God’s glory in the same ways.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

Interceding on our behalf

Most Christians are familiar with the story of Peter denying Christ three times.  This event happened at arguably the worst possible time – after Jesus had been arrested and then brought before the Jewish religious leaders at a secretive, illegal nighttime tribunal.  Even though Jesus being deserted by all of His disciples was a fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy, none of them saw it coming.

During the Last Supper, Jesus had given this warning:

Luke 22:31-32 “Simon, Simon, look out!  Satan has asked to sift you like wheat.  But I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail.  And you, when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”

The “you” in Satan has asked to shift you like wheat is plural.  Sifting wheat was a filtering process that removed dirt, rocks, and chaff from the valuable wheat kernels.  Satan certainly wasn’t advocating that the disciples be purified and have the chaff of their lives removed – rather, Satan was accusing the disciples of being useless chaff, and he wanted the opportunity to prove it. 

The “you” in the rest of Jesus’ words are singular.  The upcoming denial of knowing Jesus is going to severely shake the guy who has been known among the disciples as “the rock”.  Jesus is specifically telling Peter that He has interceded for him, not to the exclusion of the other disciples, but because he will need to know this information.  Later on, Peter will be able to look back and remember Jesus’ encouraging words.

When speaking of God’s unfailing love toward those who believe, Paul also mentioned a similar situation to the believers in Rome:

Romans 8:34 Christ Jesus is the One who died, but even more, has been raised; He also is at the right hand of God and intercedes for us.

Christ’s prayerful intercession between Peter and God the Father wasn’t a one-time thing.  He now acts on behalf of all believers.  Jesus hears the accusations of Satan, knows our weaknesses, and then intercedes on our behalf to God the Father.

How incredible is that?

There are troubles on the horizon that we don’t see coming.  When our failures in those situations shake our faith, we need to remember that we have an advocate.  We haven’t been abandoned due to our mistakes.  We can take a lot of encouragement from remembering that Jesus is on our side…just like Peter did.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

House of prayer (part 2)

Jerusalem was abuzz with news of Jesus’ Triumphal Entry into town.  The next day Jesus shows, in dramatic fashion, that the nation’s idea of being religious was in need of reform:

Mark 11:15-17 They came to Jerusalem, and He went into the temple complex and began to throw out those buying and selling in the temple.  He overturned the money changers’ tables and the chairs of those selling doves, and would not permit anyone to carry goods through the complex.

Then He began to teach them: “Is it not written, My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations?

Note that when Jesus was correcting the people, He referred them back to God’s Word.  In this case, Jesus quoted the prophet Isaiah.  The people present, especially the priests and scribes, would have instantly recognized Jesus’ reference:

Isaiah 56:1-3,6-7 This is what the Lord says: Preserve justice and do what is right, for My salvation is coming soon, and My righteousness will be revealed.  Happy is the man who does this, anyone who maintains this, who keeps the Sabbath without desecrating it, and keeps his hand from doing any evil.  No foreigner who has converted to the Lord should say, “The Lord will exclude me from His people”…

…And the foreigners who convert to the Lord, minister to Him, love the Lord’s name, and are His servants, all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it, and who hold firmly to My covenant – I will bring them to My holy mountain and let them rejoice in My house of prayer.  Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be acceptable on My altar, for My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations.”

God’s plan for His temple was to include those from other nations.  Foreigners who submitted to the Lord didn’t need to worry about being excluded from fellowship with God just because they weren’t Jewish.  Instead, God makes this incredible promise to them:

I will bring them to My holy mountain and let them rejoice in My house of prayer.

God assures the believing foreigners that He will personally lead them to His temple, accept them and their sacrifices, and include them in the worship given by His chosen people, Israel.  This was a huge blessing for God to give to those born outside of His covenant with Israel.  As a result of this promise, there were many believing foreigners in Jerusalem at Passover.

With the religious economy the Jewish leaders had instituted within the temple complex, they were hindering the foreign believers from participating in worship at God’s house of prayer.  The Jewish leaders were standing in the way of God’s promise to foreigners – no wonder Jesus was flipping tables and chairs!

In our own church gatherings, do our religious activities point others toward God…or do we hinder others from meeting with God? 

If a foreigner came to us, would they recognize our church gatherings as God’s house of prayer, or something else?

Keep Pressing,
Ken

Humble prayers

The contents of our prayers to God reveal a lot – especially about how we view ourselves in relation to God.

Luke 18:9-14 [Jesus] also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and looked down on everyone else:

“Two men went up to the temple complex to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.  The Pharisee took his stand and was praying like this: ‘God, I thank You that I’m not like other people – greedy, unrighteous, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.  I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of everything I get.’

“But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even raise his eyes to heaven but kept striking his chest and saying, ‘God, turn Your wrath from me – a sinner!’

I tell you, this one went down to his house justified rather than the other; because everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

The prayers of both men revealed their basis for relationship with God.  Everything the Pharisee said was true – he wasn’t committing the sins that he saw others do, and he gave a fraction of his life and money to God.  However, he expected God to accept him based upon these “good” things, based upon his terms.

On the other hand, the tax collector’s prayer was simple and direct.  When he said God, turn Your wrath from me, the phrase could also be translated as God, be propitious.  The word propitious isn’t used much anymore, but in this context the tax collector is asking God: May Your wrath be appeased and turned aside by the sacrifice.  The tax collector was looking to God to determine if his relationship was acceptable.

These conflicting ideas for the basis of our relationship with God go back a long way…so far, in fact, that we find them in Cain and Abel. 

Genesis 4:3-7 In the course of time Cain presented some of the land’s produce as an offering to the Lord.  And Abel also presented an offering – some of the firstborn of his flock and their fat portions.  The Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, but He did not have regard for Cain and his offering.  Cain was furious, and he was downcast.

Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you furious?  And why are you downcast?  If you do right, won’t you be accepted?  But if you do not do right, sin is crouching at the door.  Its desire is for you, but you must master it.”

Cain knew how to “do right” and approach the Lord in manner He required – with a blood sacrifice, not with Cain’s best work.  However, Cain wanted to approach God on his own terms…and his offering was rejected.  Similarly, the Pharisee went home without being justified because he wanted God to accept him for the good deeds he had done, rather than asking God to accept a substitutionary sacrifice.

The hearts of the men in Jesus’ parable were revealed in what they prayed.  One was self-focused, the other was God-focused.  One exalted himself and would eventually be humbled, either by correction or rejection from God.  The other humbled himself and would eventually be exalted, because of his relationship with God.

Let us also, then, pray humble prayers…because we know that Jesus’ blood sacrifice on the cross is the basis of our relationship with God, not anything we have done or will do.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

Misquoting Jesus (part 2)

Jesus is giving His disciples some instructions on how to pursue reconciliation when they have been wronged by a fellow believer.

Matthew 18:15-17 “If your brother sins against you, go and rebuke him in private.  If he listens to you, you have won your brother.  But if he won’t listen, take one or two more with you, so that by the testimony of two or three witnesses every fact may be established.  If he pays no attention to them, tell the church.  But if he doesn’t pay attention even to the church, let him be like an unbeliever and a tax collector to you.

For these future church-leaders, a situation like this – where it may be necessary to excommunicate someone from their assembly – would be quite difficult.  Knowing this, Jesus encourages them that God would be supporting them through that difficult process:

Matthew 18:18 I assure you: Whatever you bind on earth is already bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth is already loosed in heaven.

Based upon the word Whatever, this verse has been misquoted many times.  People have prayed that God will bind or loose literally whatever good or bad thing they happen to bring up at the moment…whether it be “binding” Satan, “binding” a marriage, “loosing” God’s will in their life.  However, it is a very dangerous practice to rip a verse out of context and then miss-apply what Jesus was actually talking about. 

When I take my sons to an ice cream shop, I tell them that they can have whatever ice cream they want.  They understand that my use of the term “whatever” is limited by their current context of where they are.  I am not giving them permission to have “whatever” ice cream they want, whenever they feel like having it.  Even on this smaller scale…if either of my boys get into the ice cream at home at 3:00am, claiming that I gave them permission to do so when I previously said they could have “whatever” ice cream they wanted…there would be consequences to them taking my directions out of context and over-stepping their authority.

In verse 18, Jesus is telling the disciples that God has their back when they, as church-leaders, make decisions that permit or remove fellowship with a fellow believer who refuses to repent of their sin.  As if that idea wasn’t mind-blowing enough, Jesus goes one step further:

Matthew 18:19-20 Again I assure you: If two of you on earth agree about any matter that you pray for, it will be done for you by My Father in heaven.  For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there among them.

Within the context of this teaching, namely what to do if your brother sins against you, who are the two of you on earth agree[ing] in prayer?  Who are the two or three gathered together?

Clearly, they are the two or three witnesses that come to the offending brother long before the matter is turned over to the church leadership.  This, too, is a sensitive situation.  Their job is to ensure that every fact may be established, so that any accusation of sin is an accurate one.  Jesus expects these two or three to gather ahead of time to pray about the upcoming discussion, that they have reviewed the facts and agree on the potential courses of action, depending upon the response of the brother committing sin against another believer.  

Jesus is promising here that My Father in heaven will be with them as they navigate the discussion, just like He will back up the church leaders in their fellowship decisions. 

Even in the messy parts of life – and dealing with a situation where we have been wrong by a fellow believer is one of the messier situations we encounter – from these verses, we find that we have Jesus’ word that God the Father and Jesus Himself are with us as we seek the reconciliation of the relationship. 

That promise is more fantastic than how we have previously miss-applied these verses.  And much more practical too.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

Misquoting Jesus (part 1)

We Christians get into habits rather easily, especially when it comes to how we pray.  How many of these common phrases or requests do you recognize?

·        “Binding” the Devil, “binding” poverty, or “loosing” a person from demonic oppression
·        “Agreeing” with one another in prayer
·        Reminding God that “where two or three are gathered,” He’s supposed to show up

When we look up the individual Scripture references supporting all three of these common prayer statements…would it surprise you to learn they all originate from just one of Christ’s teachings?

Reading those verses in context, we find that we’re not quoting Scripture like we thought we were, either.

Jesus was instructing His disciples on God’s desire to seek those who have wandered from their relationship with God, and how they should also desire to see reconciliation.  The next part of his teaching focused on how they were to handle when a fellow disciple sins against them.  Jesus then finished by explaining to the disciples the importance of forgiveness in their relationships with each other.  The verses we are interested in come from the middle section – what to do when another follower of Christ wrongs you.

Matthew 18:15-17 “If you brother sins against you, go and rebuke him in private.  If he listens to you, you have won your brother.  But if he won’t listen, take one or two more with you, so that by the testimony of two or three witnesses every fact may be established.  If he pays no attention to them, tell the church.  But if he doesn’t pay attention even to the church, let him be like an unbeliever and a tax collector to you. 

The aim throughout this process is reconciliation, just like God the Father is seeking reconciliation with those who have wronged Him.  Jesus is giving His disciples a plan to follow so the offense can be appropriately handled and, hopefully, corrected. However, when a fellow believer obstinately refuses to listen to correction, there are specific steps that Jesus says are to be taken. 

The disciples would have been familiar with the Old Testament concept of two or three witnesses being required to verify an accusation in legal setting.  Jesus now brings this practice into civil matters between believers.  These steps, however, would not be easy ones.  In fact, going through with the discipline Jesus prescribes would potentially be very messy. 

Sensing the disciples’ rising anxiety, Jesus calmed their fears by telling them:

Matthew 18:18 I assure you: Whatever you bind on earth is already bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth is already loosed in heaven. 

So in the context of this discipline, what is Jesus referring to with the terms binding and loosing?

Our first observation is that whatever binding and loosing refer to, it is clearly something that has more than just a local impact – whichever one happens on earth, it also happens in heaven. 

Our second observation is that Jesus is giving this direction to His disciples, those who would one day be leaders in the church.  These are the leaders that would have been presented with the situation of the offending brother after the two or three witnesses were unable to convince him of his error.  At this point, reconciliation has not been achieved, and the matter is now up for the church leaders to consider and hand out a verdict.  According to Jesus, this verdict could go as far as the excommunication of the offender.

With these two observations, the idea behind binding and loosing becomes much clearer.  What the disciples decide to permit or reject in this setting has consequences greater than their immediate assembly.  Jesus is assuring them that if and when they hand out punishment against the offender, God himself will back them up by permitting or rejecting the believer’s fellowship with Him.

Breathe for moment – I’m not suggesting that the offending brother can lose their salvation.  From the Scriptures (e.g. – John 10:27-30), we know that’s not possible to lose eternal salvation because our salvation relies entirely on Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, and not anything we do or don’t do. 

However, a constant theme of all New Testament writers is that our choices have eternal significance and consequences.  If I create such a great offense against my fellow believer, and I obstinately refuse to acknowledge my error and repent, and the situation escalates all the way to a congregational-level problem where the church leaders deem it necessary to remove me from the congregation…if that situation occurs, wouldn’t you expect that God also has a strong opinion about my chosen course of action as well?

Binding and loosing, then, is the authority given to church leaders to decide matters of fellowship among their flock.  This is a huge deal and a large responsibility within a difficult situation, and Jesus is promising them that God will support them in their decision.

So a proper application of Matthew 18:15-18 would be to pray for reconciliation with your brother or sister in Christ.  We should also pray for our church leaders to use their God-given authority carefully and wisely. 

But let’s not misquote Jesus.  Based on verse 18, we – as individuals – have no authority to bind or loose anything.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

Unfulfilled promises (part 2)

After being asked when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus informed His disciples that life would go on for some time before days of the Son of Man would arrive.  He used several examples of what life would be like in the meantime, with an emphasis on the suddenness of the Son of Man’s arrival:

Luke 17:26-30 Just as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be in the days of the Son of Man: people went on eating, drinking, marrying and giving in marriage until the day Noah boarded the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.

It will be the same as it was in the days of Lot: people went on eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting, building.  But on the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all.  It will be like that on the day the Son of Man is revealed.

The Jews were anticipating the Kingdom of God within their lifetime.  Jesus knew that this new information would be disappointing for his disciples to hear.

Luke 18:1 He then told them a parable on the need for them to pray always and not become discouraged.

After telling the disciples the parable, Jesus concluded with a couple of questions:

Luke 18:7-8 “Will not God grant justice to His elect who cry out to Him day and night?  Will He delay to help them?  I tell you that He will swiftly grant them justice. 

Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He find that faith on earth?”

When Jesus returns, will He find those that are expectantly praying and living in preparation for His arrival?  Since Jesus pointed out that His return will come suddenly, are we preparing ourselves for the possibility that our generation will be the one He returns to?

Our instructions for preparation are the same that Jesus gave to His disciples – that no matter how normal, mundane, or disheartening the circumstances around us become, we need to pray always and not become discouraged.  God will follow through on His promises…but do our choices show that we believe Him when He says that Christ will return?

Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He find that faith on earth?

Keep Pressing,
Ken

Unfulfilled promises (part 1)

Since Jesus was constantly teaching about the kingdom of God, people in his audience were naturally curious as to when the kingdom was going to be established.

Luke 17:20-21 Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God will come, He answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming with something observable; no one will say ‘Look here!’ or ‘There!’  For you see, the kingdom of God is among you.”

Jesus then turned to his disciples to give them additional details, but he did not specifically give a start date for the kingdom.  Instead, Jesus told them that life would go on for a while, and when everything seemed to be ‘normal’ for quite some time, then the kingdom would arrive.

This answer would have both disappointed and discouraged His disciples.  The Jews were looking forward to a Messiah that would liberate them from Roman rule and immediately setup the long-awaiting kingdom of God.  Continued waiting or an apparent delay to the kingdom was not what they were looking for.  Recognizing this, Jesus continued:

Luke 18:1-8 He then told them a parable on the need for them to pray always and not become discouraged:

“There was a judge in a certain town who didn’t fear God or respect man.  And a widow in that town kept coming to him, saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’  For a while he was unwilling, but later he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or respect man, yet because this widow keeps pestering me, I will give her justice, so she doesn’t wear me out by her persistent coming’”

Then the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says.  Will not God grant justice to His elect who cry out to Him day and night?  Will He delay to help them?  I tell you that He will swiftly grant them justice. 

Typical modern-day teaching from this parable tends to focus on the persistence of the widow and then uses her badgering as evidence that we should likewise wear God out with our requests.  However, that aspect of the story is not Jesus’ focal point.

The main idea of the parable is given in verse 1:

Luke 18:1 He then told them a parable on the need for them to pray always and not become discouraged

So, what discouragement does Jesus want them to avoid?

Within the parable, we see that the widow is seeking justice from her adversary – just like the nation of Israel was seeking justice and relief from their Roman oppressors.  The Old Testament was full of prophecies where God tells Israel that they will one day shake off their oppressors and the kingdom of God would be established; however, those predictions had not yet come true.

This type of parable uses a lesser-to-greater argument.  Jesus’ point is this – if the lesser, unjust judge gives justice to those who ask, how much more reliable will the greater, just God in heaven be to give the justice that He promised?

With this parable, Jesus is encouraging His disciples to continue to seek God in prayer and to continue to expect that He will fulfill His promise of justice for the nation.  Even when their circumstances seem to indicate that God has forgotten them – Jesus is reminding them that all God’s prophecies are reliable, and that they should not give up talking to God about any of His promises.

That’s something we can rely on as well.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

Praying to the Lord of the Harvest

Later on in his ministry, Jesus would send heralds ahead of Him to prepare the town for His teaching.  Whether the townspeople accepted the heralds or not, their message was to be the same: The kingdom of God has come near you.  The goal of this preparation work was very similar to John the Baptist’s mission to prepare hearts and minds for when the Messiah would arrive.

Jesus gave these followers specific instructions on how to carry out their portion of His ministry.  We’re going to focus in on just one part of the instructions they received.

Luke 10:1-2 After this, the Lord appointed 70 others, and He sent them ahead of Him in pairs to every town and place where He Himself was about to go.  He told them: “The harvest is abundant, but the workers are few.  Therefore, pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.”

Harvest time was always a joyous time in Jewish society.  Much work needed to be done, but the benefits were well worth the effort.  Hearts were ready to receive the good news of the Messiah’s arrival, but someone had to get the word out to them.  Those who were willing to spread the message had a significantly large task ahead of them.  In comparison to the task at hand, there were too few workers.

Jesus’ first direction to the 70 was to pray that God would send out even more workers to help spread the good news of Jesus’ arrival, to bring in the abundant harvest of those who would respond and belong to God.  The 70 were going to need all the help they could get!

Jesus’ directions to the 70 heralds was very similar to what He has previously taught to the 12 disciples.  While journeying through Samaria, Jesus spoke to a woman at Jacob’s well and told her that He was the Messiah.  She immediately ran back to her village to tell others.  While she was gone, the disciples urged Jesus to eat…but as the Samaritans made their way toward Jesus and His disciples, He used their arrival as a teaching moment:

John 4:34-35 “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to finish His work,” Jesus told them.  “Don’t you say, ‘There are still four more months, then comes the harvest’?  Listen to what I’m telling you: Open your eyes and look at the fields, for they are ready for harvest.”

Our application is to do the same – open our eyes, see their need, and participate in the harvest.  There is more work to be done than we can handle on our own.  So ask God to send out even more workers…the benefits of this work is worth it because this harvest is of eternal value.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

Consulting the Father

Early on in His ministry, Jesus was teaching around the Galilee area.  He healed diseases and deformities, forgave sins, cast out demons, corrected the teachers of the law, and preached in the synagogues.  Throughout the towns in the region, Jesus’ actions led to a large number of people following him around.  Some traveled from across the nation see Him.  Their social backgrounds varied significantly, from the high-society Pharisees to the bottom-rung tax collectors.  Many were just curious to hear Him speak, others desired to be his disciples – a word which means to be a learner or a pupil.  These people wanted to absorb everything they could from Jesus.  The best news was that anyone could choose to be a learner…Jesus taught anyone who had “ears to hear”, anyone who was willing to listen.

However, for Jesus to be effective in His ministry both before and after His death, He needed to get specific with a chosen few.  Jesus would personally pour into and develop the ones who would eventually be entrusted to carry the gospel message to the rest of the world.  This was a monumental choice, a decision that would affect people throughout history. 

If we needed to make that large of a decision, how would we approach it?  Make a list of pros and cons for each person?  Disqualify some based on the length of time spent following Jesus?  Make a test for them to take?  Ask for resumes?  Hire a consultant?

Take a look at Jesus’ approach:

Luke 6:12-13 During those days He went out to the mountain to pray and spent all night in prayer to God.  When daylight came, He summoned His disciples, and He chose 12 of them – He also named them apostles.

Jesus spent all night consulting with the Father.  While we don’t know the specific content or wording Jesus used while talking with the Father, Jesus certainly spent more than just a minute or two asking God for “guidance” and then going on with His own decision-making steps.  The Father was an intimate part of the entire process.  In one of Jesus’ last earthly prayers, He said to the Father:

John 17:6 I have revealed Your name to the men You gave Me from the world.  They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word.

During Jesus’ all-night prayer session, the Father revealed to Him which 12 from the mass of disciples were going to be Jesus’ apostles.  These 12 were still disciples – they were still learners – but now they would carry the distinction of being apostles, which means they were specifically identified as a delegate or messenger.  These were the ones Jesus would purposely develop so they would eventually act as His primary representatives.

I’ve pulled few all-nighters in my life – for conversation with others, writing papers, or working on projects…but I’ve never stayed up all night to consult with God.  Looking back into my own history, perhaps the direction I needed for some of the “big” decisions in life would have been clearer if I had consulted with God by more than a cursory prayer. 

Over and over in Jesus’ life, we see that His time with the Father kept him connected and on target with His given ministry.  Jesus did the Father’s Will because He spent significant time with the Father and trusted the Father’s decisions.  We would be wise to invest a similar emphasis in face-time with the Father before making decisions in our personal lives and our God-given ministries that will affect the generations to come.

Keep Pressing,
Ken