Tag Archives: jesus went away to pray

November 7, 2022 · 5:48 AM

Investing In Prayer

A few years ago I left corporate America to be self employed. My 401k money was sitting there and I needed to roll it into an IRA. I did it in January of 2020. They put everything into a money market account until I chose what funds to invest in. After a few weeks, I made my choices and moved the money into them. The next week the markets began crashing due to Covid. My money was shrinking at an alarming rate. I called my advisor in a panic wondering if I should put what was left into the money market. He reminded me that I was in it for the long haul. Then he encouraged me to keep investing even when times were bad. In facet, I’ll get the best return on my investment when I buy funds at their lowest.

Jesus was a person who invested. No, he didn’t invest in a stock market. He invested time in prayer. You’ll constantly read in the Gospels where Jesus withdrew to a quiet place to invest in prayer. Almost every time you read that statement, major miracles occurred. You can also read how on the night He was betrayed, He went to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray. He was constantly making deposits in prayer. He understood that no matter what was going on in His life, He needed to be investing time in prayer. He didn’t panic or even look for some to blame. He looked for God’s presence instead.

Ephesians 6:18 says, “With all prayer and petition, pray [with specific requests] at all times [on every occasion and in every season] in the Spirit, and with this in view, stay alert with all perseverance and petition [interceding in prayer] for all God’s people” (AMP). It’s always a good time for us to invest in prayer. Nothing in your life will pay greater dividends than spending time in God’s presence. If you’re facing adversity, invest more time in prayer. If you want to do greater ministry, invest more time in prayer. If things are going well, invest in prayer. You will on,y receive dividends according to what and where you invest. Prayer is something that pays dividends now and throughout eternity.

Photo by Naassom Azevedo on Unsplash

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May 22, 2018 · 4:07 AM

Intimate Conversations

Whenever I travel for work, it’s important to stay in contact with my wife. Sometimes when we end up talking I’m at the airport or I’m at dinner or while I’m with coworkers. It’s hard to have good conversations in those places. It’s often noisy, people are trying to get my attention or I’m trying to find where I’m going so I’m somewhat distracted. The best conversations are when I’m away from all the noise in the quiet of my hotel room. Only then can we truly have interruption free conversations where it doesn’t have to be quick snippets.

Luke 5:16 says, “As often as possible Jesus withdrew to out-of-the-way places for prayer” (MSG). Having intimate conversations with His father while He was here was important to Him. People were constantly vying for His attention and needing a miracle. Often, He just wanted to have a quiet conversation. Many times He had those quick conversations in front of people, but very often we read where Jesus went to a desolate place to pray. If it was important for Him to do that, how much more important for us?

At one point, Jesus told us to go into our closet to pray. I don’t know that He meant that literally. I think what He was saying was that we need to find a quiet place where we can have some uninterrupted prayer time. We can’t always go to an out of the way place to pray, but we can find space to get alone with Him. It may be a closet or it could be before everyone wakes up or after they go to bed, but we each need to find time to get alone with God so we can have intimate conversations with Him. I believe the quality of our relationship with Him hinges on it.

Photo by Ben White on Unsplash

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