Sun 9:30a Class; 10:30a Worship; 11:35a Communion
Bible Bites
Public vs. Private
“It was at this time that He went off to the mountain to pray, and He spent the whole night in prayer to God.” (Luke 6:12)
The pattern of prayer we see in the Bible seems to be quite the opposite of the one that is often practiced. The shortest prayers are found in public settings, and the longer prayers are found in private. As you scan through the Bible, you will read word-for-word prayers which were collectively prayed by disciples, congregations, even entire nations – they typically take no more than a few minutes to read out loud.
Yet, private prayer sessions of men like Ezra, David, Nehemiah, and Elijah are often found to extend for large periods of time as they sit upon mountaintops, in their inner rooms, or upon their beds.
Jesus is the ultimate example of this. Jesus’ “model” prayer takes only a few seconds to speak and can be quickly memorized in a single session by most school-age children. Yet, Luke 5:16 describes Him often slipping away to the wilderness to pray, and Luke 6 gives us at least one occasion where that prayer extended all night long.
If your public prayer life is more robust than your private one – it may be time to re-evaluate the pattern.
Matthew 4:4 #Biblebites
