READING:
One-year plan: Deuteronomy 22-25, Luke 3
Two-year plan: Leviticus 1-3, Matthew 26:31-46
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Ask most church members what they know about Jesus’ baptism, and here’s what I think they would recall: John the Baptist did it; the Spirit came down like a dove; and the Father spoke from heaven. What they would likely not recall is one significant detail only Luke records in his Gospel: “As he was praying, heaven opened” (Luke 3:21, emphasis added). This is, in fact, the first of several pivotal times when Jesus prayed in the Gospel of Luke. Nevertheless, we remember the great events of the baptism, but we don’t remember that it all happened in a time of prayer for Jesus.
As He was praying . . . I think about those words as I consider my own life today. In no way does my prayer life compare to Jesus’ prayer life, but I can speak of things that happened as I prayed. For example:
- The conviction of a particular sin set in
- The plan of God for one situation became clear
- My heart became more broken over non-believers
- Anger toward a brother in Christ dissipated
- God’s beauty became so evident that all I could do was praise Him
- Trust trumped worry, and peace overcame fear
Prayer just does that, in fact: it puts us in a place for God to work in and through us.
PERSONAL REFLECTION: How is your prayer life today?
PRAYER: “God, make me a person of prayer.”
TOMORROW’S READINGS:
One-year plan: Deuteronomy 26-28, Luke 4:1-30
Two-year plan: Leviticus 4, Matthew 26:47-56
