"And it came to pass in those days, that He went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God."
Luke 6:12
Part 1
Today: Including God in Our Daily Lives
“And it came to pass in those days.”
We are going to learn about something that Jesus did that is an excellent example for us. When we need God’s wisdom, we need to ask Him for it (James 1:5).
It is worth mentioning here that God the Father, God the Son (Jesus), and God the Holy Spirit are always getting along. They have never argued, fought, or sinned in any way. God the Father and Jesus show us how fathers and sons ought to get along. As we learn more about Jesus in the Word of God, we see that He often spoke with His Father. From Jesus’ example, we need to know to go to God, our Heavenly Father, in prayer constantly, especially when we have an important decision to make.
I must confess that I didn’t always think like this. When I was in college, I can remember when God convicted my heart of the failure to include Him in my plans. I was working on a project with some other students. We worked together for a couple of weeks, and the due date for our project was coming fast! We had done plenty of brainstorming for ideas and research to help us plan what we needed to do to succeed in our project. It was the night before the due date, and we were putting the finishing touches on our work. Someone in our group said we should “pray” and ask God to help our project go well when we turn it in to be graded. That’s when it hit me! I’m a child of God, but I never asked God for His help on the project, not even once! Shame on me! I was in Bible college, hoping to be a pastor someday. We were working on a spiritual project assignment, and after weeks of planning and work, just now, we are inviting God to help us. What a poor example of a believer I was! I did not include God in my plans or work!
Dear friends, be careful in your lives, for it is easy to get caught up in our planning and decision-making and forget about asking God for His help. Think about it, if a child of God makes his or her plans without talking with God, it is to live like an atheist lives! An atheist never asks God for His help either! This is not how believers are to live! God’s children ought to live like Bible believers. God tells His child to come to Him sharing our requests!
“For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us, therefore, come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:15-16).
We always need to include God in our daily plans!
“Some of you say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to some city. We will stay there a year, do business, and make money.’ Listen, think about this: You don’t know what will happen tomorrow. Your life is like a fog. You can see it for a short time, but then it goes away. So you should say, ‘If the Lord wants, we will live and do this or that’” (James 4:13-15, HSB).
Let’s learn more about prayer from Jesus’ example. Come back tomorrow, and we will see why Jesus went up into that mountain.
Quote: “Listen to advice and accept discipline; then you, too, will become wise. People might make many plans, but what the LORD says is what will happen” (Proverbs 19:20-21).