April 1
Luke 9:28-50
What does prayer look like in your life? Is it a central part of your life, something that is on the periphery, or something that is largely absent? Notice the role that prayer plays in Jesus’ ministry and that of the disciples. Jesus is consistently going off to pray and we see this in verse 28. In contrast, we have the disciples who are self-reliant. They have become so accustomed to serving God and doing acts of service, like casting out demons, they just go through the motions expecting something to happen. In doing so, they have stopped praying and recognizing their need for God’s power which the parallel passage in Mark 9 makes clear. Their own power fails, while Jesus’ power is successful.
We see this same attitude in verse 45 when the disciples fail to understand the meaning of Jesus’ words. Rather than asking Jesus (essentially what prayer is) they walk away in the dark. Shortly thereafter, they argue over who is the greatest, revealing their deep disconnect with the heart of God. Their lack of prayer soon affects their hearts and minds. This very same thing happens to us as well. When we are dependent on God and calling out to him, his heart will be formed in us, but if we live life on our own, inevitably our hearts will be malformed. So let us learn to rely on God, call out to him in desperation, and trust in his strength and power.
Father God, help me to seek you. I need you. I need your wisdom, guidance, and power in my life. Help me to rely on you and not on myself. Amen.
How can you make prayer/reliance on God a more central reality in your life?
What does prayer look like in your life? Is it a central part of your life, something that is on the periphery, or something that is largely absent? Notice the role that prayer plays in Jesus’ ministry and that of the disciples. Jesus is consistently going off to pray and we see this in verse 28. In contrast, we have the disciples who are self-reliant. They have become so accustomed to serving God and doing acts of service, like casting out demons, they just go through the motions expecting something to happen. In doing so, they have stopped praying and recognizing their need for God’s power which the parallel passage in Mark 9 makes clear. Their own power fails, while Jesus’ power is successful.
We see this same attitude in verse 45 when the disciples fail to understand the meaning of Jesus’ words. Rather than asking Jesus (essentially what prayer is) they walk away in the dark. Shortly thereafter, they argue over who is the greatest, revealing their deep disconnect with the heart of God. Their lack of prayer soon affects their hearts and minds. This very same thing happens to us as well. When we are dependent on God and calling out to him, his heart will be formed in us, but if we live life on our own, inevitably our hearts will be malformed. So let us learn to rely on God, call out to him in desperation, and trust in his strength and power.
Father God, help me to seek you. I need you. I need your wisdom, guidance, and power in my life. Help me to rely on you and not on myself. Amen.
How can you make prayer/reliance on God a more central reality in your life?
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