Things are going well, everyone is happy, everyone is healthy, and our prayers have been answered. What’s next, or are we just idling along in life? How does prayer fit into our lives during good times?
Early in Jesus’ ministry things were going well. He had large crowds following Him and hanging on every word He said. He healed their sick and crippled. Still, Jesus prayed often and in private.
Yet the news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses. But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.
Luke 5:15, 16 (NIV)
Jesus lived a surrendered life for God’s purposes. God the Father directs Jesus to stretch and change during these good times. He was directed to select twelve apostles, which He did after all night in prayer. This “all night in prayer” was seeking God’s direction in choosing these apostles and making changes in His ministry. This was a big stretch for Jesus. Even so, He never hesitated to follow God’s will and plan for His life.
One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designated apostles.
Luke 6:12, 13 (NIV)
Does God want you to stretch, even if everything is going well now? Are there some changes God wants you to go through? Only God knows His plan for our lives. Be in prayer for direction and decisions in your life, regardless of how things are presently going.
