Day 1 – Issue 11

Be Still Know

Mark 6:46 NLT

“After telling everyone good-bye, he went up into the hills by himself to pray.”

I never tire of my young nephews. They pay the greatest attention to you and then mimic all that you do. This can be either flattering or embarrassing if what they mimic places you in a bad light. They copy the good and the bad indiscriminately.

Jesus, although both human and divine, needed to seek out times of prayer alone with God. He ministered generously and widely on a daily basis throughout an amazing three years, yet recognised his own need to pull aside and make space to be alone with his heavenly Father. It therefore comes as no surprise that we will constantly fail to find sufficient grace to continue in God’s ways, if we fail to draw aside and take some time with God.

Prayer can so often be reduced to little more than the swift recitation of a shopping list of requests laid at Jesus’ feet in the hope and expectation that God will do something constructive in response.

Many of these listed items are forgotten as soon as they have been presented. Once listed, we so often rise to return to the hurly-burly of life, having taken no time to allow God to speak to us and refresh us with his spirit.

There is no surprise here since the word ‘pray’ does mean to entreat or earnestly ask for. Yet, there are other aspects of prayer when we are to bring ourselves before God simply to sit and gaze upon his lovely countenance. This practice is increasingly difficult in a world in which we’re surrounded by distractions. However, without finding that space and taking that time, we will become consistently absorbed with these distractions and lose sight of God and lose touch with his peace.

Yet, as we wait upon God, we become self-aware and reflect upon those things we have done well and those things where perhaps we have let God down. We are invited by God to make a judgement about how we might better represent ourselves as his servants going forward.

QUESTION: How would you describe your current experience of prayer? Take these moments to do nothing else but stop, be still and contemplate the person of Christ.

PRAYER: Lord Jesus, teach me how to pray. 

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright C 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc, Wheaton, Illinois 60189 USA. All rights reserved.