“And it came to pass, that on the next day, when they were come down from the hill, much people met him. And, behold, a man of the company cried out, saying, Master, I beseech thee, look upon my son: for he is mine only child. And, lo, a spirit taketh him, and he suddenly cried out; and it teareth him that he foameth again, and bruising him hardly departeth from him. And I besought thy disciples to cast him out; and they could not. And Jesus answering said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you, and suffer you? Bring thy son hither. And as he was yet a coming, the devil threw him down, and tare him. And Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, and healed the child, and delivered him again to his father. And they were all amazed at the mighty power of God. But while they wondered every one at all things which Jesus did, he said unto his disciples” – Luke 9:37-43
LIGHT FOR NOW: A believer must have a consistent, continual and constant prayer life.
In our above account, we have Jesus perform a miracle. But we want to fix our attention on what happened earlier before he performed that miracle. Luke 9:28-29 will unfold this for us, it reads “And it came to pass about an eight days after these sayings, he took Peter and John and James, and went up into a mountain to pray. And as he prayed, the fashion of his countenance was altered, and his raiment was white and glistering”. So Jesus was actually in prayers before he worked the miracles. Even after Jesus worked miracles, he prayed (Mark 6:41-46; Luke 5:12-16). He was in prayers before his crucifixion (Matthew 26:39-42; Luke 22:41-45). John’s account in John 17 provides great detail into Jesus’ final words in prayer before he was crucified. So, the disciples of Jesus had seen him by precept and by example being given to prayer; hence, upon his resurrection and ascension, Luke records on several occasions in the book of Acts that they were given to prayer (Acts 1:12-14; Acts 3:1; Acts 4:31; Acts 6:4).
Jesus did not only teach his disciples to pray, they saw him pray regularly. He also took them out to pray. It was by precept and by example. Prayer therefore, is by precept and example. The pastor or leader must be an example to the flock in prayer. He must teach and train believers in the art of prayer. Not only did Paul teach and give instructions to the churches to pray; he was a worthy example. He prayed always! His epistles captured his prayer life for believers (Romans 1:9-10; Ephesians 1:15-17). Don’t just have the knowledge about prayer, pray! Don’t just sing about prayer, pray! If you like spend three hours and sing “Prayer is the master key or I will pray”, and cry while singing that, if you stop at crying and singing the song, you’ve not prayed at all. After singing it, after knowing about it, move into action, Pray! Glory!
INSTRUCTION: Be a man of prayer.
CONFESSION: I am given to prayer, in Jesus Name, Amen.
QUOTE: Knowing the concept of prayer is not equivalent to the art of praying; that knowledge about prayer becomes wasted or ineffective if you are not praying.
DAILY BIBLE READING: MORNING: ACTS CHAPTER 1; EVENING: ACTS CHAPTER 3
LIGHT FROM THE WORD 