After leaving them, he went up on a mountainside to pray.
Mark 6:46 NIV
How often do you take time to pray; to be alone with God? Is it something you regularly do? Or only when you have a specific need? Are you too busy to pray? Or just don’t know how?
Wherever you might be in your prayer life, Jesus sets a good example for us. It might be tempting to think that since he was God, he would not need to pray. But he did. And not just for brief moments. This passage is an example of several times where it’s recorded that he went off by himself to pray. Prayer was an integral part of his life and ministry. And if it was important to him, should it not be to us as well?
Prayer is much more than putting a shopping list of requests before God. Prayer gives me the opportunity to talk with God; to share my heart with him; to seek his guidance; and to get to know him better. I am not much of a talker; much to my wife’s disappointment, I am sure. But she does enjoy it when I take the time to talk with her and share my day and my thoughts. The time we spend together talking is essential to a growing and stable relationship. And I have no doubt God feels the same way about my relationship with him.
I would encourage you to regularly set aside time to be alone with God and share with him. It will make a big difference in your relationship with him. Give it a try. What have you got to lose?
