Praying to Receive Wisdom, Instructions, and Marching Orders
David W Palmer
(Luke 6:12–13 NLT) … Jesus went up on a mountain to pray, and he prayed to God all night. At daybreak he called together all of his disciples and chose twelve of them to be apostles.
Jesus loved being alone with his Father and investing his time in prayer. On this occasion, after praying all night, he came down from the mountain and chose twelve of his disciples to be his apostles. As Jesus only did what he saw with his Father, we can safely assume that while he was praying, Father was revealing wisdom and instructions to him:
(John 5:19–20 NKJV) Then Jesus answered and said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner. {20} For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel.”
Jesus emphasised “love” in this explanation of how he operated under his Father’s covering and instructions: “For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does.” For Jesus, prayer wasn’t “paying the price”; his times with his Father were soaked in love and wisdom.
One of the apostles Jesus chose after his all night prayer time with his Father was Peter. He discipled Peter, training him to do as he had done. We see this when Peter faced a difficult challenge; like Jesus did in our opening passage and at the raising of Jairus’s daughter (Luke 8:54), alone in the room with Tabitha, he knelt down and prayed; and then when he arose, he had God’s wisdom on what to do:
(Acts 9:36–41 NKJV) At Joppa there was a certain disciple named Tabitha, … she became sick and died. … {40} But Peter put them all out, and knelt down and prayed. And turning to the body he said, “Tabitha, arise.” And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter she sat up. {41} Then he gave her his hand and lifted her up; and when he had called the saints and widows, he presented her alive.
When confronted with this despairing situation and the grief of Tabitha’s friends and family, Peter first did what he had seen with Jesus; “Peter put them all out” (See Jesus doing this: Luke 8:52–54) Next, Peter again did what he had learned from Jesus; he prayed, then got up and raised Tabitha.
I know that if it was me that day confronted with death, grief, and many loved ones hoping I could fix the situation, I would have certainly been praying for wisdom to know what to do. Like Jesus, the best outcome would be to “see” in the spirit what Jesus wants me to do, and then imitate him like he imitated his Father. This way, what is done is truly done in his name.
In a humorous example, as a new Christian I went to a Christian “coffee shop” outreach and fellowship event. A young man locked onto my ear and kept talking and talking. I was perplexed, not quite knowing why this was happening or what to do. So inwardly, I prayed, “What’s going on?” God’s answer was simple and instant: “He’s lonely.” I wondered why I hadn’t realised this sooner myself. But once I knew why he was acting that way, I was at peace and knew exactly what to do … talk to him.
Paul prayed in a raging sea storm for wisdom and instructions. What he heard from God in prayer saved the day; God’s wisdom directed him and everyone on his ship to safety:
(Acts 27:20–24, 31, 33–35, 44 NLT)
