Prayer: Your Powerful Priority
September 11, 2006
Key Passage: Luke 9:28-36
Topic: Prayer
About eight days later Jesus took Peter, James, and John to a mountain to pray. (Luke 9:28, NLT)
September 11, 2001--the nation looked on as the New York skyline and our lives were forever changed. Lives were lost, fear and anger gripped the nation…and people prayed.
In the face of tragedy, people cry out to God. We look to Him for guidance, for strength, for deliverance, for miracles. Five years ago today, it seemed like nearly everyone in America was praying.
But what about five and a half years ago? Six months before the attack--what happened then? I don't know. But who was praying then? We're quick to pray when things are hard. But when things are going well, we tend to ignore God. Let's take a new look at a few passages we've already seen in Luke that touch on prayer: "As he was praying" (3:21, NLT), "Jesus often withdrew…for prayer" (5:16, NLT), "he prayed to God all night" (6:12, NLT), "asked God's blessing" (9:16, NLT), "Jesus was alone, praying; (9:18, NLT). It's easy for us to get hung up looking at the more glamorous parts of Jesus ministry. We love the stories about His miracles; we pour over His teachings for wisdom. But we overlook Him praying. Jesus was always going off to pray. He made it a priority. These weren't quick little "God-bless-my-burger" prayers. He spent time praying--pouring out His heart and listening for words from His Father."

Let's take a new look at a few passages we've already seen in Luke that touch on prayer: "As he was praying" (3:21, NLT), "Jesus often withdrew…for prayer" (5:16, NLT), "he prayed to God all night" (6:12, NLT), "asked God's blessing" (9:16, NLT), "Jesus was alone, praying; (9:18, NLT).
It's easy for us to get hung up looking at the more glamorous parts of Jesus' ministry. We love the stories about His miracles; we pour over His teachings for wisdom. But we overlook Him praying.
Jesus was always going off to pray. He made it a priority. These weren't quick little "God-bless-my-burger" prayers. He spent time praying--pouring out His heart and listening for words from His Father.


If Jesus made it a common practice to spend time in prayer, what makes us think that we can go a day without praying?
"Prayer does not prepare us for the great work; prayer is the great work." --Oswald Chambers