Day 2        September 2, 2013

Asking to Give – the desire to pray

     I love the opening words of the paragraph that we have read. “Christ’s disciples were much impressed by His prayers and by His habit of communion with God.”          
     The disciples had been with Jesus some time and had been much impressed by many of the things Jesus did. They were impressed with Him. But at this point the group had been impressed with the devotional life of Jesus.

     They either came to the same impression at the same time as a work of the Holy Spirit, or more likely one of the disciples had noticed and had sparked off a discussion in which all joined.

     If the latter is correct perhaps there is the heart of the matter for us. Change occurs when something different happens in our lives that is noticed, discussed and then acted upon.

     Change is something we have going on all around us. Much change goes on without us ever noticing any difference. A recipe is changed in a product we buy, we barely notice. Change that leads us to change takes place when we note a benefit for ourselves.

     The disciples noted something about Jesus and said, “I want some of that.” Perhaps they saw a calmness in His face? It may be that they compared their devotional life with His and realised that there was something missing.

     I’m not a follower of the idea that we should simply do as Jesus did. The only real reason why the disciples actually decided that they wanted to pray as Jesus did was that the Holy Spirit did something to those disciples as they simply watched the life of Jesus unfolding before their eyes. The Holy Spirit pointed out a benefit.

     Naturally they would be living their own life as isolated beings with never a care for another in the world, save to look after number one, themselves.

     However there came the time when, in community, they were prompted to take note of the life of Christ. If there is a Bible passage that relates to this paragraph it is John 16:1-10. As Christians we have the advantage of the Holy Spirit convicting us of the different direction we are to walk in.

     A major theme of the 40 day books by Pastor Dennis Smith is the daily call for the Holy Spirit to come into the life of each believer.

     Please, call your prayer partner up. Talk a little about what the passage you have read means to you, and then pray, each of you asking the Holy Spirit to come into your life. One result will be that you will notice the need for change and will be motivated to make change. As you change, in community, strength and support will develop - and you will then be motivated to encourage others to change.

     If you would like to join the 40 day prayer chain please click here