Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. Mark 1:35 NIV

After telling everyone good-bye, he went up into the hills by himself to pray.  Mark 6:46 NLT

But Jesus oftenwithdrew to lonely places and prayed.    Luke 5:16 NIV

I’ve used a simple structure for prayer at many times in my life called ACTS in Prayer.  As we pray for LIGHT, our Christmas services on December 22 & 23, we’ll use ACTS in Prayer as a guide.  (Refer to Dec. 2-7 for an explanation of ACTS in Prayer if you need it)  Please spend a few moments doing each of these…

A = Adoration

C = Confession

T = Thanksgiving

S = Supplication

 What’s the common theme you see in the life of Jesus in the verses above?  Not only was prayer a habit of His life, He usually went to solitary places to pray.   Why do you think Jesus chose to do this?   What kind of application could you make personally from His example?

I hope you continue to pray daily after we finish these 21 Days of Prayer. I hope it will be the habit of your life and you’ll find a solitary place where you can get away from all distractions to talk openly and honestly with your Heavenly Father.  As you continue to pray & hope you’ll begin yearning and learning to listen to Him too.  We don’t have time to go into this today, but Chapters 11-15 of Too Busy Not To Pray have some great insights on how to slow down and listen to God.   I’m still learning because it’s difficult for me to slow down, but I’ve learned that extended times of solitude greatly enhance my capacity to listen and hear from God.

As you pray for LIGHT, find a place of solitude and slow down. Spend some time in solitude and listen for God’s Spirit to speak to your heart.   Ask God to help people open their hearts and minds during LIGHT so they can understand the love and light He has for them. 

Christmas Fun, Jokes, Trivia

From Yesterday:  What large former retail outlet commissioned and published Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer?   Montgomery Ward

They ordered a new Christmas book be made so that they could hand them out for free to customers, which would be cheaper than buying and giving away coloring books for Christmas as they had done in the past. They gave the task to Robert L. May who wrote Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer in 1939. In a surprisingly generous gesture, Montgomery Ward gave May the copyright for Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.