The Importance of Prayer, Luke 6:12-13

"And it came to pass in those days, that He went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God. And when it was day, He called unto Him His disciples: and of them He chose twelve, whom also He named apostles..."

     Prayer is a vitally important step before we take any action or make any decision in our lives. Before Jesus chose His twelve apostles, He spent hours in prayer, communicating with God and seeking God's counsel on whom He should choose. So too, when we are faced with a decision to make, or when we see a new season in life on the horizon, it is important that we pray, pray, pray!
     Jesus did not go out on the mountain to think about whom He ought make His disciples (although if He had it would have been justified as He is God and knows all-- but He was setting an example for us by praying). He did not make diagrams and charts and lists of all the possible outcomes of each choice, nor did He carefully consider each disciple's personality to make sure that they all got along well with each other and who would, from a logical stand point, perform well those duties to which He had awaiting those whom He would choose.

     I think that sometimes when we are faced with a decision or when we sense that the Lord is opening up some new doors or leading us into a different season of life that we, instead of immediately taking it to God in prayer, sit down and contemplate the situation and meditate upon it. We think of the possible ramifications of our possible actions, and we consider carefully what each path might bring upon us. We stop and wonder what this new season of life the Lord is bringing us to will hold for us, and we drift off into a daydream or start to worry based on whatever our imaginations may conjour up.
     In reality, however, we cannot possibly know what the future holds. No matter what God reveals to us we cannot know the whole picture until we go through the situation, and even then sometimes we don't see what God had in mind until long after the fact. There is no way for us to project a possible plan of action that will make our decision more sound, nor is there any truth to any scenario we might dream up in contemplating the future. Only God knows the future, and so it is important that instead of relying upon our own intellects that we seek Him in prayer to find out what He wants us to do.

     Most of us do eventually pray about our circumstances, even if we do spend a lot of time thinking about them first. But when we spend hours in logical contemplation, we tend to come up with directions for God. We tell Him, "I have this problem, Lord, and I ask that You'd help me solve it by doing this..." This is a direction prayer. But we cannot direct the Lord. And even if He was willing to heed our directing, it would not be in our best interests because He almost always has a better way of handling our problems than we could ever imagine. It is foolish to direct the Lord because we don't know what purpose He has behind the problem or issue at hand. It is best and wisest to pray.
     When we sit and think about our life, wondering what paths the Lord will lead us down and what those paths will bring our way, we can only set ourselves up for trouble. We either imagine something totally wonderful that might never happen, or we end up falling into worry, anxiety and fear over what might never happen. The Lord has a wonderful plan for your life, more amazing than you could ever imagine. Just because He might not do what you think He's going to do doesn't mean He doesn't love you-- it only means He has something better in store for you. Just pray, and wait on the Lord, seeking His will for every step and every decision and every season of your life.