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Previous Challenge Entry (Level 4 – Masters)
Topic: START (02/25/16)
Before calling men to follow in His steps, Jesus prayed with passion. It started by calling out to God with purposeful prayer.

“Now it came to pass in those days that He went out to the mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God. And when it was day, He called His disciples to Himself; and from them He chose twelve whom He also named apostles: Simon, whom He also named Peter, and Andrew his brother; James and John; Philip and Bartholomew; Matthew and Thomas; James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon called the Zealot; Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot who also became a traitor (Luke 6:12-16 NKJ).”

Jesus, the Son of God prayed. He confided in His Father.

After separating Himself from others, Jesus went away to a mountain to pray. Following the night long prayer encounter, He proceeded to hand pick the apostles. Because He had prayed, I believe His Father partnered in the choosing. The Lord Jesus has given me the pattern for purposeful prayer. How faithful am I to follow His pattern?

I confess; I have never prayed all night. My life might be far different had I followed that example.

The twelve apostles, minus one traitor, formed the nucleus of the early church. It started with purposeful prayer…

‘Father, I ask your forgiveness for my lack of discipline and diligence in prayer. Renew my sense of urgency in seeking your will in every crucial decision. In Jesus name, I pray. Amen.’
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Member Comments
Member
Date
Shann Hall-LochmannVanBennekom 
03/03/16
This is a nice devotion. I like how you shared a personal lesson to help your reader relate and backed it with Scripture. I especially liked the prayer at the end.
Ruth Walker
03/04/16
Discipline...diligence...purposeful. All well chosen words in this devotional, which is also economical in words and clear in it's lesson. Well done.
I think a hyphen might have been useful in the cases of "night-long" and "hand-pick", though you might like to check if this is grammatically sound advice!
C D Swanson 
03/04/16
Such a beautiful heart felt piece...reverence to God with an all important message as well. Loved it!

Thank you for sharing...

Blessings~
Dannie Hawley 
03/04/16
Nicely written. I like your gentle reminder that everything begins with purposeful prayer. It's one of the best bits of advice we can receive. When you sprinkle in some of your own experience, it helps us feel you can identify with our struggles doing what we know we should be doing. I love that, as well as the fact that God, also, understands. Thanks for sharing.
Bonnie Bowden 
03/05/16
I agree with you about prayer. Churches used to hold prayer meetings, but most of them have stopped because of lack of participation.