January 20 2024
Posted by Chicago Tabernacle

“Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” – Luke 2:49b (NIV)

For Jesus, prayer wasn’t just something He did – it was a lifestyle. His very being and life became a life of prayer and devotion, it wasn’t simply an item to be checked off of his daily to-do list. Sometimes Jesus would draw away into solitude to pray; sometimes He would create His own sphere of silence in the midst of the noise but quietly and personally crying out to God; and other times, He did it in the midst of the public sphere, allowing others to experience and witness the personal interaction.

R.A. Torrey notes that Jesus prayed early in the morning as well as all night, that He prayed both before and after the great events of His life, and that He prayed “when life was unusually busy.”

Our world is well-populated with people pushing a lifestyle change upon us. Influencers proselytize about their most recent lifestyle hack, and advocate for a certain way of life. Jesus encourages us that the best life is a life of prayer. There is no hack, and it cannot be something that is relegated to one small corner of our lives. God’s presence and power is best experienced when we allow it to permeate every part of our lives, and it becomes the way we live, not just a box that we check off at the beginning of the day. 

Prayer and Reflection:

Think about the ways you can make your life more of a life of prayer. How have you put God in a box, and how can you change that mindset?



Category: 21 Day Fast, News, Prayer, Pursue