Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well. 3 John 2
If you want to experience the life of JESUS, you have to adopt the LIFESTYLE of Jesus.
You want to experience a miracle, GET ALONE with God.
Luke 5:15-16 Yet the news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses. But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.
Mark 1:35 Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.
Prayer = COMMUNICATION Communication = RELATIONSHIP
You don’t have a RELATIONSHIP with God without PRAYER.
The deepest relationships might start in PUBLIC, but they are truly built in PRIVATE.
Hebrews 4:16 So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.
“Public prayers are of little value unless they are founded on or followed up by private praying.”—E.M. Bounds
Jesus had a set TIME of prayer.
Jesus had a set PLACE of prayer.
Jesus has a set STRATEGY of prayer. Make an APPOINTMENT with God and KEEP it.
When we PRAY regularly, irregular things happen on a REGULAR basis.
6 Reasons Jesus Pulled Away To Pray To PREPARE
Luke 4:1Then Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan River. He was led by the Spirit in the wilderness,
Luke 4:14-15 Then Jesus returned to Galilee, filled with the Holy Spirit’s power. Reports about him spread quickly through the whole region. He taught regularly in their synagogues and was praised by everyone.
Until you go to GOD on behalf of people, you should never be allowed to go to PEOPLE on behalf of God.
To RECHARGE
Mark 6:30-31 The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught. Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.”
The BEST ministry, parenting, leading and decision making will always happen from a place of REST.
To GRIEVE
Matthew 14:13 As soon as Jesus heard the news, he left in a boat to a remote area to be alone.
TIME does not heal things, GOD does.
To SEEK WISDOM
Luke 6:12 One day soon afterward Jesus went up on a mountain to pray, and he prayed to God all night.
Luke 6:13 At daybreak he called together all of his disciples and chose twelve of them to be apostles.
Prayer is our STEERING wheel not our SPARE tire.
To PETITION
Luke 22:39-42 Then, accompanied by the disciples, Jesus left the upstairs room and went as usual to the Mount of Olives. There he told them, “Pray that you will not give in to temptation.” He walked away, about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed, “Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.”
You can CARRY your needs, or you can CAST them, it’s your choice.
To MODEL RELATIONSHIP
Luke 11:1 Once Jesus was in a certain place praying. As he finished, one of his disciples came to him and said, “Lord, teach us to pray,
You TEACH what you know, but you REPRODUCE who you are.
