Devotion to Community
23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
Hebrews 10:23-25
We live in a time where Christians seem to think that a commitment to gathering, to meeting corporately as a community of faith is something that is unimportant. As a pastor there is no question that this type of attitude can be frustrating. And to be clear not because I have a concern for numbers but because I have a concern for the growth and development of the people of God. When I read what the author of Hebrews writes it is oddly comforting to know that they had the same issue in the first century; ‘not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some’. Apparently it’s not a new issue, but it is an issue that will be detrimental to the spiritual development of followers of Christ.
One of the truths about this calling that we might not consider is that the call to a commitment of gathering with believers is a spiritual discipline. It takes discipline to make this a part of our lives. It is easy to get distracted and busied with the activities of our lives. It is easy to fall into times where we feel like we’re not getting anything out of it. It is easy to find ourselves in conflict with fellow members of the community of faith and get hurt or frustrated and as a result just choose not to gather. Its in these times it takes a discipline of commitment to live in obedience to living in community.
The author of Hebrews makes this clear. The gathering as a body of believers, in the community that the word of God establishes, is the means by which we are challenged by others and we challenge others (‘stir up one another to love and good works’), it is the means by which we encourage others and are encouraged by others. The declaration is this commitment isn’t simply about what you receive but what you also give so when we neglect to be a part of this exchange the entire community, every individual, suffers.
Is it always convenient? No. Is it always easy? Of course not. Do we find ourselves sometimes even in conflict? Unfortunately, yes. But obedience to the word that produces disciples of Christ requires us to push through, to not neglect meeting together.
This is a discipline of our faith. As much as prayer, as much as worship, as much as giving, as much as forgiveness, and when we discipline ourselves in obedience to God’s word we will be blessed and we will be a blessing to others.
Devotion to Personal Prayer
“Yet the news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses. But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.” - Luke 5:15-16
Luke 5 has this description of Jesus. This statement about the personal discipline of Christ’s life is incredibly insightful. Jesus ‘often’ withdrew to the lonely places and prayed. Just in this we see a consistent practice of His spiritual life. And when you see that He does this, even in the face of ministry opportunity (people came to hear Him and be healed by Him BUT he ‘often withdrew to lonely place and prayed’) you see the incredible value He placed on this discipline.
When you think about the practices of your own faith, how often can this be said of you? I think this declaration about the life of Christ is particularly important to reflect upon when considering the disciplines of our faith for two very specific reasons;
The first is simply because of who He is. Jesus Christ the Son of God and the incarnation of God in our midst, OFTEN withdrew to lonely places to pray. I cant help but be struck with the thought that if Jesus, the Son of God, the incarnation of God in our midst felt the need to OFTEN withdraw and pray, how much more do I in my PROFOUND state of humanity have such a need. He believed, clearly, that to do what God was calling Him to do, in the flesh, required these times of intimate communication with the Father so that He would be empowered to heal the sick and teach the lost. . You can never overlook the example Christ sets for us in our humanity as He lives in His humanity. If He needed these times so do we and so when we struggle this might be why.
The second thought that strikes me when reflecting on Christ’s example of frequently withdrawing to prayer is the statements Christ makes throughout the book of John. Repeatedly we find in John’s gospel Christ saying, ‘I only say what the Father tells me to say, I only go where the Father tells me to go, I only do what the Father tells me to do’. How can he be so confident that this is true? Because Jesus often withdrew to lonely places to pray. In these moments he is tuning His ear to the leading of the Father through the Holy Spirit. He is becoming attentive to the instructions being given from the Father through the Holy Spirit. If we want to be used of Christ in powerful, impactful ways we have to spend time hearing the voice of God through communion with the Spirit. To know where to go, how to pray, what to say, to be led of God by the Holy Spirit we have to spend time listening and learning His voice, understanding His heartbeat and responding to His leading.
Personal prayer times, resting in His presence, seeking His guidance and yes making requests is essential to walking in the Spirit by faith. Set as your goal to be a person of whom it can be said, they often withdrew to lonely places to pray. Your Christian walk will be stronger and more dynamic as a result.
Jesus: A Man of Prayer - A Model for Prayer
Prayer was a crucial part of Jesus’ life, not a supplement to his ministry on earth. As believers, we know that prayer is crucial. Unfortunately for many of us, prayer is gradually becoming supplemental in our lives. It is easy to justify the lack of prayer by the busyness of our lives, jobs, family, and kids. All this can really overwhelm us to the point of just barely squeezing a three-minute prayer at bedtime as we doze off to sleep. Jesus was both a man of prayer and a model for prayer. His ministry began with prayer, he prayed before important decisions, he prayed in the midst of his ministry for perseverance, he prayed on the Cross, and he prays for us today. His disciples saw how important prayer was in the life and ministry of Jesus and integrated it in their lives.
There is no better foundation to build on than prayer!
Jesus’ ministry was born in prayer. In (Luke 3:21-22) we read , “Now when all the people were baptized, Jesus was also baptized, and while He was praying, heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in bodily form like a dove, and a voice came out of heaven, “You are My beloved Son, in You I am well pleased.” Jesus faced temptation with prayer. In Luke 4:1-2 we see that while he was in the desert for forty days, being tempted by the devil he ate nothing during those days. In other words, Jesus was praying and fasting as he victoriously battled with the devil himself! These two verses personally speak to me, since they remind me how important it is to be well rooted in prayer as I decide to start or begin anything in my life, from a ministry, business or even an exercise regimen standpoint. There is no better foundation to build on than prayer!
Prayer was not only the starting base for the ministry of Jesus, but also what continued to sustain and connect him to his heavenly Father as he demonstrated his power through his Son. Luke 5:15-16 shows us that while Jesus was in the middle of preaching and healing, he would slip away into the wilderness to pray! This reading illustrates the dependency that Christ had on his Father while in ministry. Christ was doing what he was called to do, but in the midst of this he would slip away to be with his Father!
What a great lesson can we gain from this reading; can we say that while we are in the midst of doing something very important such as doing God’s work that we slip away to seek our Father? It is so important to take time out and come to our Father in prayer as we are in the midst of serving him in ministry and anything else for that matter, since it is so easy to “run on empty” in other words, we can actually do ministry and serve others without the spiritual sustenance and guidance of the Holy Spirit that stems from seeking our Father in prayer.
Since choices can make an eternal and everlasting impact in our lives and the lives of others, Jesus was careful to seek His Father’s divine guidance and direction before He made them.
Christ continues to show us his reliance on his heavenly Father through prayer. He knew that his leading and decision making hinged on seeking his Father's divine guidance and direction. For example, Christ sought his Father in prayer when it came to choosing the twelve apostles from the disciples. Luke 6:12-13 says, “It was this time that He went off to the mountain to pray, and He spent the whole night in prayer to God. And when day came, He called His disciples to Him and chose twelve of them, whom He also named as apostles.”
Unfortunately, when it comes to making decisions and choices we tend to rely on our own knowledge, and if that doesn’t have an agreeable outcome, then we seek our Father’s guidance as plan B. Our decisions and choices can make an eternal and everlasting impact in our lives and the lives of others, shouldn’t we be careful to seek our Father’s divine guidance and direction before we make them?
Christ correlates praying to perseverance and steadfastness, in other words prayer helps us not give up!!
In addition to Christ’s own personal thirst for prayer, his disciples had many opportunities to see his devotion to prayer. Luke 9:18 relates, “…while He was praying alone, the disciples were with Him…” Luke 9:28 begins, “…He took along Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray.” (Luke 18:1) Christ correlates prayer to perseverance and steadfastness, in other words prayer helps us not give up!! – “Now He was telling the a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart.”
They realized that Christ’s prayer life was not some religious ritual!
They saw Jesus prayer life was alive and powerful, I can see why the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray! Lets face it, it’s not like the disciples didn’t know about prayer, many of them were good Jewish men that where raised praying in the synagogues and knew the religious ways of praying.
But they saw a difference when it came to their prayer life and Christ’s prayer life, such a difference that it moved them to ask Christ, “Lord, teach us to pray…” (Luke11: 1). They realized that Christ’s prayer life was not some religious ritual, and the disciples caught it! Since we can see in the book of Acts, (Acts 1:14): “…they were all with one mind were continually devoting themselves to prayer…” (Acts 4:24): “...When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God.” (Acts 4:31): “...After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.” The disciples definitely got hold of the significance and power of prayer through Christ’s example, and it showed! How about us, are we setting an example to our younger generation? Do our children see us pray?
Jesus is interceding for us!!
So we see that Christ was all about prayer, from the beginning of his ministry, to the time where he ministered to the disciples, and even at the end of his ministry where he prayed and interceded in prayer for the disciples, (and for us now for that matter). Jesus warned, “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat; but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned again, strengthen your brothers” (Luke 22:31-32). Imagine looking into the eyes of Jesus, as he says that he is praying for you?!? He is! Paul writes, “…He who is at the right hand of God, intercedes for us…” (Romans 8:34).
Again, from the beginning to the end of his ministry Jesus prayed! Even at the cross He took his last breath in prayer (Luke 23:46): “…. Father, into your hands I commit my spirit. Having said this, He breathed His last breath”
So I ask: Why should we pray? Better yet why was prayer so important to Jesus?
Jesus himself answers that question: (John 5:19): “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner.” (John 14:10): “Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own initiative, but the Father abiding in me does His works.”
“Is there anything that Jesus did through his life and ministry on earth the he did apart from the Father?”
So maybe the question should be rephrased from “Why should we pray?” or “Why was prayer so important to Jesus?” to “Is there anything that Jesus did through his life and ministry on earth the he did apart from the Father?” As a man of prayer, Jesus is saying to us that he is completely dependent on the Father! In fact, that just as Jesus did nothing without his Father, so are we apart from Christ can do nothing! (John 15:5): “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” And how can we remain in him and he in us if we don’t pray!
That’s why Jesus prayed all the time!!
That begs the question: if Jesus is the son of God, God and flesh, and he found it necessary to come before the Father day after day after day in prayer, because he was constantly dependent on him, then what does that say about us?
The core root connection in prayer is: We can do nothing by ourselves; we can do nothing without him! The Christian life is designed to be absolutely impossible on our own.
So why should we pray? Because just as Christ could do nothing without his Father, we can do nothing without Christ, and that’s why we should pray!
By Phillip Martinez (message inspired by Lifeline: Power Through Prayer by David Platt)
Fervent Prayer: Day 3 - “Give us this day our daily bread"
"Give us this day our daily bread." Matthew 6:11 NKJV
As we look at today’s portion of the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6, we notice a request. We notice a petition for provision. In the instruction Jesus gives, we are taught to acknowledge our need and ask God for our daily necessities. There’s a part of me that finds this kind of odd. Think about it. God already knows everything about us (Psalm 139); God knows our hearts (Proverbs 21:2, 1 Kings 8:39); God knows our thoughts (Psalm 139, Psalm 94:11); He knows what we need BEFORE we ask (Matthew 6:8, Luke 12:22-34). God knows exactly what we are going through (Hebrews 4:15) and what we need before we tell him about it. So then, why are we instructed to pray for our “daily bread” or these “necessities” of life. Here’s what I think:
It’s less about the actual “bread,” and more about acknowledging the provider and sustainer of life itself: God himself in Christ Jesus.
By making the petition for “daily bread,” we are acknowledging that He is the giver of all things, Jehovah Jireh - my provider, and we need him to sustain us in all things. We are acknowledging his Lordship and his beautiful roles as Father and Shepherd.
Please take note that it is “daily” bread, that is, bread enough for the day. The Greek word used here in Matthew is an interesting one and is only used here and in the parallel passage in Luke 11. It means “a daily and needed portion of food, that which suffices for each day.” We are to not live in need or in want, nor are we to live in excess, but as the Psalmist writes in chapter 23, “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want.”
HE IS ENOUGH. He shall supply all my needs.
So today as we go to prayer, I’d like us to examine our hearts and ponder a few things:
- Is Jesus your provider, your sustainer and your Bread of Life (John 6:48)? Have we surrendered to his Lordship and provision in all things?
- Before we assume we know what we need, let’s ask God to reveal our deepest, truest needs.
- With thanksgiving in our hearts, let’s bring our requests before God (Philippians 4:6), asking for our daily bread.