“While He was praying in private and His disciples were with Him, He asked them, “Who do the crowds say that I am? ” Luke 9:18 HCSB
As much as Jesus loved the crowds He also needed time to get away from them to rest and pray. It may have been early in the morning. It may have been in the middle of the Sea of Galilee. Or it may have been late at night on the mount of olives. But Jesus had to rest and pray to keep up his relationship with God. Yes, He is God, but to maintain unity between them, to be on the same page, Jesus had to take time to pray and rest.
Our lives can be filled with so many things. And so many of these things are good things. But the most important thing is our relationship with God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. If we neglect these things we run the risk of separating us from God.
To actively sent apart some time each and every day to read, study, and meditate on the word of God will help you to spend more time resting and praying in God. To set apart time to pray will deepen your relationship with God. Just as much as God wants to talk to you He wants to hear from you too. He wants to know your joys and concerns. He wants to know your worries and dreams. He wants to know your activity and your plans for the future.
“Jesus spoke these things, looked up to heaven, and said: Father, the hour has come. 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. I have glorified You on the earth by completing the work You gave Me to do. Now, Father, glorify Me in Your presence with that glory I had with You before the world existed.”
John 17:1-5 HCSB
“But when you pray, go into your private room, shut your door, and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
“Therefore, you should pray like this: Our Father in heaven, Your name be honored as holy. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not bring us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. “For if you forgive people their wrongdoing, your heavenly Father will forgive you as well.”
Matthew 6:6, 9-14 HCSB
“Pray at all times in the Spirit with every prayer and request, and stay alert in this with all perseverance and intercession for all the saints. Pray also for me, that the message may be given to me when I open my mouth to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel. For this I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I might be bold enough in Him to speak as I should.”
Ephesians 6:18-20 HCSB
“Immediately He made His disciples get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while He dismissed the crowd. After He said good-bye to them, He went away to the mountain to pray. When evening came, the boat was in the middle of the sea, and He was alone on the land.”
Mark 6:45-47 HCSB
“And I pray this: that your love will keep on growing in knowledge and every kind of discernment, so that you can approve the things that are superior and can be pure and blameless in the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God.”
Philippians 1:9-11 HCSB
“I never stop giving thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers. I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, would give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him. I pray that the perception of your mind may be enlightened so you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the glorious riches of His inheritance among the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of His power to us who believe, according to the working of His vast strength.”
Ephesians 1:16-19 HCSB
“For this reason I kneel before the Father from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named. I pray that He may grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power in the inner man through His Spirit, and that the Messiah may dwell in your hearts through faith. I pray that you, being rooted and firmly established in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the length and width, height and depth of God’s love, and to know the Messiah’s love that surpasses knowledge, so you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to do above and beyond all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us — to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”
Ephesians 3:14-21 HCSB
“Is anyone among you suffering? He should pray. Is anyone cheerful? He should sing praises. Is anyone among you sick? He should call for the elders of the church, and they should pray over him after anointing him with olive oil in the name of the Lord. The prayer of faith will save the sick person, and the Lord will restore him to health; if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The urgent request of a righteous person is very powerful in its effect.”
James 5:13-16 HCSB
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