Some of my favorite passages in scripture are those that talk about Jesus going away to just be in prayer with God. Often they are found in the Gospels after rather exhausting stretches of ministry, or just a time when he needs to commune with the Father. They tell of him going off to a quiet place to be in prayer. Why? Because Jesus needed to spend time communicating with the One who loves him most.
We, too, need to spend time with the Lover of Our Souls, in prayer. Not just prayer where we speak a whole lot, but time to listen as well and respond. Recently, in Bible Study, we were talking about how the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. One person made the comment that this is perhaps because as the Church we have lost our first love, the love of the Lord and love of our neighbor, which I think could certainly be true. But I also think that we spend a whole lot of time in prayer talking about what we need instead of asking where God needs us. Actually listening for the heart of God. When we do not listen it becomes so very difficult to respond to the will of God.
Jesus prayed to spend time with God. He prayed to listen to God. But then he also responded by making it known what he heard. May our prayer lives be modeled after his - as we continue to grow closer to God.
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