Luke 6:12-14

12 One day soon afterward Jesus went up on a mountain to pray, and he prayed to God all night. 13 At daybreak he called together all of his disciples and chose twelve of them to be apostles

At some point in life everyone has some big decisions to make, you might be in the middle of a big decision right now. Jesus was faced with a decision that would shape the rest of history, talk about a big decision. He was getting ready to select 12 men who would be trained and carry on His ministry when He left. Think about it for a while, where would Christianity be today if the apostles had failed – just given it all up as a failed experiment and gone back to their old professions of fishing and tax collecting? Where would the church be today who would have shared Christ with you?

Do you ever feel the weight of decisions on you? Feel that the whole world – or maybe your whole future rests on this one decision? Jesus felt that pressure He understands… So what did He do?

He got alone with God and spent the whole night in prayer. How often do you pray about the decisions of Life? Notice Jesus spent the whole night in prayer. God the Father had time for Jesus and He has time for you. God cares, He is interested in you and the things that are going on in your life. He wants to hear from you what you are thinking – what you are struggling with. He wants to help you and He has all night for you. How long do you spend praying about the decisions of your life? 5 mins per day? 10? 20? 30? Are you facing a big decision? How much time are you willing to spend talking to God about it? He is waiting for you.

Mark 1:35-36

35 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. 36 Simon and his companions went to look for him, 37 and when they found him, they exclaimed: “Everyone is looking for you!”

Do you get alone with God, just Him and you?

Why don’t we spend time alone with God?  We spend time with Him while others are with us, whether that be at church or bible study, but what about being alone with Him just Him and me. What holds you back from alone time with God? Is it business or is it something deeper? Is it a fear of true intimacy?

I think we like the idea of a relationship with God we are just not comfortable being alone in that relationship. Jesus spent time alone with the Father; He purposefully took others out of the equation to be alone with God.

It wasn’t a business issue, He had plenty going on, notice the disciples came looking for Him because everyone needed Him. Jesus had the constant needs of others swirling around Him but He also had the need of being alone with God.  There will always be the pressure of things, even important things vying for your time alone with God. There comes a time when we realize the true need, time alone with God is what we need. We will never pour into the lives of others (meeting their needs) out of an empty life ourselves, a needy life. Without intimate time with God we are empty with nothing to offer.

How did Jesus find time for Him and God?

• He made it a PRIORITY. Is time alone with God a priority to you?
• He made it His FIRST priority, he did it early in the morning first thing. Is time alone with God your first priority?
• He had a PLAN, Do you have a plan?
• He was PURPOSEFUL, He took action, He got up it took an effort of His will. Are you going to take action will you get up and go?
• He made it a PATTERN in His life.

Is it time to get alone with the Father