I find it interesting that of all the incredibly amazing things the disciples saw Jesus do, Scripture records only one thing that the disciples asked Him to teach them how to do.
Now, bear in mind, these guys saw Jesus some pretty unbelievable things. They watched Him make blind people see and deaf people hear, just by touching them. Pretty cool, huh? They stood in awe as he fed over 5,000 people with just a couple loaves of bread and five fish fillets. That would impress your friends. They were at a wedding reception with Him and saw Him with their own eyes change water into wine. That would make you popular at parties!
Yet, the disciples did ask Him to teach them how to do any of these things. Nor did they ask Him His secret in calming a storm and walking on water and bringing dead people back to life so they could do the same.
There is but one thing the disciples saw Jesus do that they needed to know how to do themselves. They asked, "Lord, teach us to pray" (Luke 11:1, NIV). Why? Because they saw the difference it made in Him. Jesus quite often wandered off to spend some alone time with His Father. And the change in Him after being in the Father's presence was so obvious that the disciples asked, Will You teach us how to do that?
We would be wise to carve out regular time alone with our Heavenly Father as well; to make it a habit to spend private time with Him on a regular basis. To share with Him our desires. To be reminded of His. To seek His wisdom, His forgiveness, His blessing. To thank Him for already blessing us more than we deserve. Or, to simply crawl up in His lap and feel the warmth, the security, the tenderness of His embrace.
And we, too, can expect to be changed. So much so that others around us will notice. The truth is, we can’t have a soul encounter with God and come back unchanged.
Now, bear in mind, these guys saw Jesus some pretty unbelievable things. They watched Him make blind people see and deaf people hear, just by touching them. Pretty cool, huh? They stood in awe as he fed over 5,000 people with just a couple loaves of bread and five fish fillets. That would impress your friends. They were at a wedding reception with Him and saw Him with their own eyes change water into wine. That would make you popular at parties!
Yet, the disciples did ask Him to teach them how to do any of these things. Nor did they ask Him His secret in calming a storm and walking on water and bringing dead people back to life so they could do the same.
There is but one thing the disciples saw Jesus do that they needed to know how to do themselves. They asked, "Lord, teach us to pray" (Luke 11:1, NIV). Why? Because they saw the difference it made in Him. Jesus quite often wandered off to spend some alone time with His Father. And the change in Him after being in the Father's presence was so obvious that the disciples asked, Will You teach us how to do that?
We would be wise to carve out regular time alone with our Heavenly Father as well; to make it a habit to spend private time with Him on a regular basis. To share with Him our desires. To be reminded of His. To seek His wisdom, His forgiveness, His blessing. To thank Him for already blessing us more than we deserve. Or, to simply crawl up in His lap and feel the warmth, the security, the tenderness of His embrace.
And we, too, can expect to be changed. So much so that others around us will notice. The truth is, we can’t have a soul encounter with God and come back unchanged.
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