DAY 6: Priority June 6, 2015

"For this reason we also, since the day we heard it,

do not cease to pray for you,

and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will

in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;

that you may walk worthy of the Lord,

fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work

and increasing in the knowledge of God."

(Colossians 1:9-10, NKJV)

MORNING DEVOTION - "O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee..." (Psalm 63:1)

Scripture Reading: John 4:34-38

When Jesus taught His disciples how to pray, His first words were directed toward the object of all prayer - God the Father. He is not only first, He is everything. The priority of prayer is to focus on His name, His kingdom, and His will (reference Matthew 6:9-10). All these: the glory of His name, the coming of His kingdom, and the fulfillment of His will, are dependent upon the prayers of His children who have picked up their cross and obediently followed Christ down the path of eternal and abundant life.

Jesus exemplified how to live a life of prayer with the life He lived on earth. With every word and action He proclaimed His commitment and obedience to the Father's will. "My food,' said Jesus, 'is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to finish His work" (v.34). Jesus' most basic necessity in life was in bringing the Father pleasure and accomplishing His will. Physical food could not offer Him the same kind of nourishment or sustenance that was readily available through an intimate and abiding love relationship with His Father. His relationship with the Father took utmost priority. Jesus let nothing deter Him from maintaining His love relationship with the Father through prayer. "For I have come down from heaven not to do My will but to do the will of Him who sent Me" (John 6:38). Through the obedience of His Son, the Father was able to accomplish His will, further His kingdom, and ultimately bring glory to His name.

When His earthly mission was coming to an end, Jesus' prayers became even more fervent. "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from Me. Yet not as I will, but as You will" (Matthew 26:39b). Three times Jesus' went back to His Father, asking if there was another way; not because He wasn't willing to go to the cross (for the love of the Father coursed through His blood and wouldn't stop until He could pour it out on those He loved), but more likely because He couldn't bear the thought of those moments that would come when He would be disconnected from the Father. How excruciating the thought was of losing a single precious moment of the closeness He and His Father shared. It was the reason He cautioned His disciples to stay awake - He didn't want them to have to experience the pain and sorrow of being separated from the Father. He couldn't bear the thought of anyone experiencing eternal separation from the Father. Jesus understood fully why He must complete the task; then, and only then, did He rise from the place of prayer and obeyed the Father's will.

Jesus' mission was to please the Father and to fulfill His will, and His obedience cost Him His life. A price He was willing to pay to express the depth of God's love for the world. "...for I seek not to please Myself, but Him who sent Me" (John 5:30b). He asks nothing less of those He loves who willingly and obediently take up their cross and follow Him. As His children, His priests, His friends, His servants, and His followers, we have been sent - sent on a divine mission to glorify His name, build His kingdom, and fulfill His will; and as Jesus taught us with His life and actions, this will only be accomplished when we make it our priority to pray!

Heavenly Father,

Holy and exalted is Your name.

May Your kingdom come,

and Your will be done

on earth as it is in heaven.

For Yours is the kingdom,

and the power, and the glory forever.

Amen.

The enemy is relentless in his enticements to tempt the children of God into a complacent and apathetic slumber with his deceptions and lies, and we allow his incessant babbling to distract us and rob us of our intimacy with the Father and hinder the work of the kingdom. Have you found yourself in a season where you have lost your intimacy with God? Are you longing to hear from God? Are you desperate for a touch of His presence? How deeply we need a personal encounter with the Lord to wake us from our slumber and place our feet back on mission - running fiercely away from the enemy and fervently towards God? Jesus knows exactly how we feel. He knows how we can find what we are looking for. Set down the laundry basket, turn off the TV, put away the to do list (there is nothing on that list that can't wait until you meet with your heavenly Father), and sit at His feet. "Be still and know that He is God" (Psalm 46:10a). He is waiting with arms open wide. He has not left you, He will not forsake you (reference Hebrews 13:5b). Do not take another step until you go to Him in prayer and answer the question on His heart for you today: "What is it you want me to do for you, dear child?"

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AFTERNOON DEVOTION - "Evening, and morning, and noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and He shall hear my voice" (Psalm 55:17, KJV).

Scripture Reading: Isaiah 50:4-5

Jesus understood the importance of an intimate connection with the Father. His life's mission was to bring His Father pleasure and fulfill His will. He was completely dependent upon the Father, even though He was fully God Himself. "...the Son can do nothing by Himself; He can only do what He sees His Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does" (John 5:19) Jesus' priority was doing the will of the Father, and His service and obedience to those ends were uppermost in His mind, as His commitment to prayer each day revealed. If Jesus', being fully God, depended so heavily on His relationship with the Father to do the work He was sent to do, how then, can we, being fully human, comprehend accomplishing anything in this life of any eternal value if we neglect the priority of prayer.

Our heavenly Father desires that we be awakened each new day to new levels of understanding, to greater depths of intimacy, and an increasing desire to obey. This is achieved in the prayer closet each day. E.M. Bounds has said that, "Prayer is not learned a classroom, but in the closet." That is the goal of the journey we are on, to lead us, not just to understand what and how we should pray, but, to actually pray. When we sit before the Lord feasting on His Word, and conversing with Him in prayer, our ears are opened and ready to be filled, so that our hearts will be responsive and obedient to His will. The consummation of God's kingdom and the salvation of millions are dependent upon our prayers.

Jesus demonstrated His dependence upon the Father, because He desired that we would understand how vital it was that we remain fully dependent and connected to the Father; so that we too would be equipped to build the kingdom, accomplish His will, and bring glory to His name. When we are having trouble understanding God's path for our life, or maybe we are not quite sure what His will is, are we willing to persevere and go back to the Father time and time again, as Jesus did in those crucial last moments, to gain the clarity and strength we need to take that step of obedience and claim what He has waiting for us? The answer we are looking for is waiting for us in the prayer closet...open the door, and enter in to find the light necessary to navigate in this dark world!

Heavenly Father,
Awaken me each day to sit in Your presence.

Make me a diligent student of Your Word.

Place in me a desire to not only know Your will,

but also give me the confidence to respond to Your will;

so that others will be drawn to You

and believe and be saved,

for the glory of Your name.
In Jesus' Name. Amen

The Scriptures exhort us to not be foolish with the limited time we are given as pilgrims in this temporal world, rather we are "...to understand what the Lord's will is" (Ephesians 5:13). It should be our every waking desire to "seek God while He may be found" (Isaiah 55:6), that we may gain greater understanding of His will, and a sense of urgency to set everything else aside for the purpose of accomplishing His will, ultimately bringing glory and honor to His name. "It is God's will that you should be sanctified" (1 Thessalonians 4:3a). The Lord desires that we rise up each day, as diligent students of His word, and faithful students in His school of prayer, so that we will be made holy and set apart for His purposes. May we carve out intimate time to spend in His Word and prayer each day and nurture this all-important and vital relationship. Take time to ask the Father what He desires of and from you. Listen to His heart as He reveals the priority He has for your life and be willing to make the necessary changes to be more fully aligned with His will.

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EVENING MEDITATION - "...and on His law he meditates day and night" (Ps. 1:2)

Scripture Reading: Psalm 40:6-8

In yesterday's devotion time we talked about our role as priests in the kingdom of God. We have been called and commissioned to a life of intercession. This was just part of the work of the priest, who was also anointed to bestow the blessing of God upon the people (reference Numbers 6:24-26). God uses the prayers of His faithful intercessors to pour out His blessing in the world and accomplish the work of His kingdom. God desires that we would become "living sacrifices" through whom He can pour His mercy and grace upon the world (reference Romans 12:1-2). His desire is for His children to be fully surrendered, as Jesus was, to the will of the Father, and to follow His example of a life that was (and continues to be!) dedicated to prayer. "Prayer does not outfit us for greater work; prayer is the greater work" - Oswald Chambers.

Heavenly Father,
I desire to do Your will,
and, therefore,

I want to learn from You Your greatest work - prayer.

Guide me each day and teach me Your way

in this holy occupation of intercession.

In Jesus' Name. Amen.

The Scriptures tell us that, "To obey is better than sacrifice" (1 Samuel 15:22b). As we come before the Lord in prayer this evening, let us take time to get quiet before the Lord, turn off all the noise and distractions, and be still and listen. May we be willing to meditate fully on His Word, and allow the Spirit to lead us into deeper truths. May we take what we learn from our faithful and ever-present Teacher in the prayer closet, and allow His "living and active" word to transform us, and give us greater confidence to go out into the world and pour all that He has given us into the lives of others with fervent prayers and acts of mercy. It is in the place of intercession that we tap into our greatest power to be a source blessing to others. Let prayer be our priority throughout the day, so we can be clothed with the power we, and the weary world around us, desperately needs. Pray for those people who are priority in your life. Ask the Lord to give you more of His heart so you can demonstrate for them daily how very important they are to you - just as Christ did for us.

[A note to those who may be fasting: For those of you who have offered up a sacrifice of your food to press even deeper into the will of God these 40 days, I pray that you are encouraged that your sacrifice is not in vain. These first few days are the most difficult as your body adjusts to the new schedule. Keep pressing in, however, knowing that we are standing together in our weakness and growing the Body stronger with our prayers. "Prayer is reaching out after the unseen; fasting is letting go of all that is seen and temporal. Fasting helps express, deepen, confirm the resolution that we are ready to sacrifice anything, even ourselves to attain what we seek for the kingdom of God" - Andrew Murray].

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"Lord, I am no longer my own, but Yours.
Put me to what You will, rank me with who You will.

Let me be employed by You or laid aside for You,

exalted for You or brought low by You.

Let me have all things, let me have nothing,

I freely and heartily yield all things to Your pleasure and disposal.

And now, O glorious and blessed God, Father, Son,

and Holy Spirit, You are mine and I am Yours. So be it. Amen."
- John Wesley

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