LEARNING DAILY

Mark 1:35, Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed.

I have to say, I enjoy listening to a really good message given by an anointed pastor. I heard two really good messages this past weekend. However, it has been some time since I was challenged like I was by the message Pastor Jonathon Moore gave at NorthRock Church. He continued a series about believing in prayer.

The challenge presented by Pastor Moore was to follow the example of Jesus when He prayed. In the verse from Mark, Jesus rose early in the morning to pray; He prioritized time in prayer. Jesus prioritized prayer, going to His Father the first thing in the morning. He began His day seeking God (Matthew 6:33) before He did anything else. He was preparing for whatever the day was going to bring, what He was going to face. From my granddaughter Audrey’s sermon notes – she wrote, “When something happens, where do I turn first? Prayer may not be the first thing we do, but it must be the first thing we do!” Prayer is the first place to prepare for whatever we are going to face. Pastor Moore stated, “First things are important with God; so, we put Him first by seeking Him early, before the day begins.”

Jesus modeled private prayer. In Matthew 6:6, Jesus said to pray in our room with the door closed to pray to our Father in heaven. In Luke 5:16 we read that Jesus would go to desolate places to pray. (From Audrey’s notes). Pastor Moore said, “Prayer might be learned in church, but it is developed in private.” Praying in private might have sounded pretty radical for those hearing Him speak. The religious leaders enjoyed others seeing how pious and religious they were when they prayed. Public prayer might even be important to some today in order to gain a high opinion of themselves from others. But Jesus, states that if that is one’s motive for praying God will not reward that person’s prayers. Jesus said that prayer unseen by others will be rewarded by Him (Matthew 6:6); God is not interested in a performance.

Jesus also modeled passionate prayer. Audrey wrote, “Not all prayers need to be reverent; its okay for prayers to be intense. God can handle it.” This was according to Pastor Moore’s statement “the intensity of our prayer should match the intensity of the need”. In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus was intense in His prayer time – so intense that He sweat drops of blood when He prayed. Urgent needs need different prayer than the everyday need we face.

 Pastor Moore used the Lord’s Prayer as a model for us to pray. This is a summary of how he suggested we might pray this prayer. This might be an aid to your prayer time!

Our Father in heaven – connect with God relationally by recognizing your relationship to Him!

Hallowed be Your name – bring your worship to Him by recognizing who He is!

Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven – submit to the Lordship of Jesus in your life, aligning your will with His (I wonder if it is also praying for the Millennial kingdom of King Jesus to come as well!).

Give us this day our daily bread – humbly expressing our reliance on God during the day.

Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors – the way to get our heart right with God and with others.

And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one – asking God for strength, guidance, and protection.

For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen – expresses our faith in God’s ability to do all things.

Pastor Moore ended his message, “There is nothing I can do to get God to love me more or less. But He does want to change me [you] to be more like Him because He loves me [you] so much.”

Can I challenge you to prioritize your time with God in prayer? I am going to do my best to follow Jesus in His prayer time! I pray you will do so as well!