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“Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful
and thankful.” (Col 4:2) I’ve been thinking a lot
about prayer these days, realizing that we all have a ministry of prayer.
For me, a key to cultivating a good prayer life is intentional SOLITUDE, getting alone times with God. That doesn’t happen by accident. I need deliberate time set apart in a place of seclusion. Jesus modeled it and therefore I need it as a part of my life. “At daybreak Jesus went out to a solitary place.” (Luke 4:42a) “One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God.” (Luke 6:12) Last fall I had some great solitude time while elk hunting in Montana. For an afternoon hunt on one particular day, I sat on an isolated reservoir in the Missouri breaks. A rancher had informed me that the elk were frequenting the watering hole. I decided to park myself under a tree near the water for the rest of the day and have some prayer and Bible time. In the late afternoon, I heard the distinctive sound of hooves on dry ground behind me. I readied my bow and waited. The sound of a big herd of elk with a very large bull was making my imagination run wild and had my heart pumping faster. Suddenly the quiet was pierced by a bellering cow, the moo-moo kind. My excitement plunged to disappointment when a whole herd of cattle marched lazily into view. For the next hour there were cows and more cows. One calf lost track of it’s mom and bellered noisily for what seemed like forever. The cattle made lots of racket. I’ve heard that elk don’t like hanging around cattle because they are so noisy, and I decided that it was too noisy for me as well, so I headed out to find a hunt and a quieter place. I reflected on a prayer lesson as I walked. If your spiritual watering hole has too much noise and too many distractions, find a new place! I’m never disappointed when my hunt is focused on alone time with my Lord. Home / Back to Main Devotional / More Devotionals |