One of the things that the Lord usually does around the beginning of the year is to put a word for that year on my heart. This year was no exception, except that I felt moved to share that word with you. The word for 2023 is…

PRAYER

I believe that the importance of intentional and consistent prayer, both personal and corporate, will be more crucial this year for both the condition of our souls and the advancement of the gospel.

In order to have the fuel and the inspiration to shift gears in prayer, I want to draw our attention to Jesus and his habit of prayer. At the time during Jesus’ ministry when large crowds of people came from everywhere to see him, his behavior concerning his habit of prayer is mind-blowing.

“The news about Him was spreading even farther, and large crowds were gathering to hear Him and to be healed of their sicknesses. But Jesus Himself would often slip away to the wilderness and pray.”
(Luke 5:15-16, NASB)

The typical human response in a season such as this one would be to drop prayer like a bad habit. You see that not only did the Lord not stop his regular habit of prayer, he made it his priority. His personal prayer time was a “more than typical” kind of thing.

The regular prayer habit of that time among the religious Jews was morning, noon, and night. My study in this tells me that “often” for Jesus was above and beyond the expectation of even religious people.

Why? Let me suggest that the Lord knew that he needed to be in prayer with his Father more than he needed anything else. Unless this reality was present in his mind, prayer of the kind and pattern Jesus showed would not have been a reality.

This need for prayer is what we lack. The Lord is nudging me to nudge us all to become in tune with our need for intentional and consistent time with the Lord in secret and with our fellow believers. My first prayer is that we begin to recognize our need as it truly is.

The Lord told his disciples this powerful truth during the days before his crucifixion. “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.” (John 15:4, ESV) He is our life, and prayer is one of the indispensable ways that we remain connected to the wholeness of his life.

May it be said of us in 2023 that our life is full of “often” getting away to spend time in prayer with him.