Tag Archives: praying

Bible Gleanings, devotions

The Prayer-Prioritizer | Bible Gleanings | June 21-22, 2025

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The calm morning silence was gently broken by the voice of the One whose mercies are new every morning. The lonesome mountain was occupied by the One who fashioned it in the beginning. And no one could hear Him in this desolate place, except for the God who hears everything. Jesus started His day by starting to pray: “And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed” (Mark 1:35).

This portrayal of Jesus’ prayer life is as mystifying as it is magnificent: after all, why did Christ pray if He was God in the flesh? Certainly, Jesus prayed to please God. Christ knelt to pray because the Father delights in prayer, and Jesus always did that which brought His Father divine delight (John 14:31). Jesus did not need to pray any more than He needed to be baptized, yet He did both to “fulfill all righteousness” (Matt. 3:15). Because of this, He set an example for all of His followers to emulate. Thus, walking as He walked entails talking as He talked to God (1 John 2:6).

Christ sitting on the mountain to pray also foreshadowed His future position of being seated at Father’s right hand, where He now makes eternal intercession for His saints. Jesus’ prayers on earth were a shadow of His prayers in eternity on behalf of His beloved children. As Paul assured, “Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us” (Rom. 8:34). And, as the author of Hebrews encouraged, “Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them” (Heb. 7:25, KJV). Thus, Jesus is the record-holder for the “longest prayer” because He prayed on earth and continues to pray for His followers throughout eternity. 

But arguably, the greatest reason why the God-Man prayed to the Father is because He loved Him. Communication and communion with those whom you love is normal and natural. You can even converse with loved ones for hours on end, whether you are well-rested or worn out, simply because you cherish them. The same was true of Christ, who loved God with all of His heart, soul, mind, and strength. As Jesus declared, “But I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father” (John 14:31).

Therefore, the real question is: why wouldn’t He pray? And, since we are fleshly, weak, and sinful, why wouldn’t we? Why would we do anything other than pray, since Christ has made it possible to approach the Father through His atoning death and mediatorial intercession?

Brandon is the pastor of Bandana Baptist Church in Bandana, Kentucky, where he lives with his wife, Dakota, and their three dogs, Susie, Aries, and Dot. Brandon and Dakota are also foster parents through Sunrise Children’s Services of Kentucky. Brandon is also a published author and a religious columnist for the Advance Yeoman newspaper in Ballard County, Kentucky. He is also a devotional contributor for Kentucky Today, a news publication of the Kentucky Baptist Convention. His columns are also featured in the Times-Argus newspaper of Central City, Kentucky, West Kentucky News of western Kentucky, and the online blog, Reforming the Heart.

Other, Theological Reflections

The Unexpected Blessing of Unanswered Prayer

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Unanswered prayer is a razor-sharp instrument of sanctification that the Lord uses to slice open our idolatrous, covetous, unbelieving, and impatient hearts.

That has been my experience, anyway.

When the Lord does not grant us what we want or think we need, our sinful inclination is to desire what we are praying for more than we desire the will of God, which may or may not include the things we have prayed for. The things for which we have yearned for and cried for in prayer may even be good, but our idol-worshipping hearts have a way of turning good things into god-things (Rom. 1:25). A good thing can swiftly become a golden calf and we can easily become fixated upon what we want, allowing everything in our lives to revolve around it, thus, inhibiting contentment with the Lord and His will.

Of course, this is contrary to the kind of God-pleasing obedience which Jesus exemplified in the gloomy garden of Gethsemane (Luke 22:42). He prayed that the cup of God’s righteous indignation would pass from Him, if it were possible. For a brief moment, He prayed for a plan B. Nevertheless, He submitted to God’s sovereign plan of redemption, content with the Lord’s will, which was to “crush Him” (Isa. 53:10). Jesus desired the will of God more than what He prayed for.

Unanswered prayer can also reveal our unholy disposition to question God’s promises and provision, as if His word has failed because we have failed to receive what we have asked for in prayer. When the Lord denies our request(s), we can slip into unbelief and falsely suppose that God is going to give us a serpent or a stone, or worse, that He will withhold the bread and good gifts which He promises to give His children. Walking by sight instead of by faith, we can easily interpret a “No” from God as His displeasure or a failure to keep His word.

Unanswered prayer can also expose our impatience and unwillingness to wait upon the Lord. Perhaps He will give us what we are praying for, but today is not the day. Tomorrow may not be the day, either. Perhaps His denial or delay is because He has something much better in store. Only the Lord knows. But what is certain is that when we do not immediately receive what we are praying for, we have a tendency to grow frustrated and impatient.

To be certain, unanswered prayer can be painful, but it is often painful in the same way that open heart surgery is painful; the heart has to be lacerated and opened in order to get it working right. And the Lord has a way of using unanswered prayers to expose the evil of our hearts and show us that all we truly need is Him. Because of this, unanswered prayer can often be an unexpected blessing.

Brandon is the pastor of Bandana Baptist Church in Bandana, Kentucky, where he lives with his wife, Dakota, and their three dogs, Susie, Aries, and Dot. Brandon and Dakota are also foster parents through Sunrise Children’s Services of Kentucky. Brandon is also a published author and a religious columnist for the Advance Yeoman newspaper in Ballard County, Kentucky. He is also a devotional contributor for Kentucky Today, a news publication of the Kentucky Baptist Convention. His columns are also featured in the Times-Argus newspaper of Central City, Kentucky, West Kentucky News of western Kentucky, and the online blog, Reforming the Heart.

Bible Gleanings, devotions

An Unusual Noise | Bible Gleanings – August 13-14, 2022

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During the American Civil War, an officer reportedly complained to his general that some of the troops in their camp were making too much racket as they prepared for combat. “What are they doing?” asked the general. “They are praying now, but they have been singing,” the officer said. “And is that a crime?” he asked. “Well,” said the complainer, “the articles of war order punishment for such an unusual noise.” And the general famously replied, “God forbid that praying should be an unusual noise in the camp!”

Prayer should never be an unusual noise, especially among those in the camp of the Lord’s army. Most of the time, our prayers resemble a quick voicemail, an occasional drive-thru order, or a brief pleasantry exchanged with an acquaintance. However, prayer ought to be a saint’s steady song. Believers are called to “pray without ceasing,” and to fill heaven’s golden censer with the “incense” of our prayers to the point of overflowing (1 Thessalonians 5:17; Revelation 8:3-4). And, we are commanded to “pray at all times” as we march to war against the powers of darkness (Ephesians 6:18).

The Lord welcomes and blesses such praying. As James assured, “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much” (James 5:16). The “I’m-not-giving-up-no-matter-what” kind of praying is what God rewards. Unfortunately, we frequently miss out on the rain of God’s blessing because we haven’t rattled heaven’s windows open with the reverberation of constant prayer. God stands ready to answer our prayers, but we must stand ready to offer them. 

Soldiers of the Lord, we must fill our camps with the constant anthem of desperate and bold prayer, or we shall have no chance of victory in our warfare against the flesh, the world, and the devil. We must say with the psalmist, “I love the LORD, because he has heard my voice and my pleas for mercy. Because he inclined his ear to me, therefore I will call on him as long as I live” (Psalm 116:2). And may infrequent and irregular prayer be what is truly unusual to us!

Bible Gleanings is a widely-read weekend devotional column, written for the Murray Ledger & Times in Calloway County, Kentucky.

Brandon is the founder and main contributor to Brandon’s Desk, the blog with biblical resources from his ministry. He pastored the family of believers at Locust Grove Baptist Church in Murray, Kentucky for six years. He and his wife Dakota live there with their three dogs, Susie (Jack Russell), Aries (English Shepherd), and Dot (Bluetick Beagle).

Other, Practical Helps, Sermons

When God Prayed: Jesus’ Devotion to Prayer (Luke 5:16)

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That annoying alarm wakes us up. We grab a shower and a cup of coffee, then we’re out the door on our way to work. We might listen to a sermon on the radio during our morning commute, or we might read the Bible at lunch time. And soon enough, it will be time to go home. We go home, do a few things around the house, cook supper, pay bills, and then we’re off to bed to restart the process. But here’s a pressing question: when did we stop and talk to God, and really spend some time praying to Him? If you’re answer is anything like mine, you might feel a bit of shame. Most of us would likely admit that we haven’t been praying as much as we should be. For me, reading the Bible isn’t a problem. I’ve got a Bible reading plan that keeps me in line. But prayer . . . that’s another story. It is difficult for me to find time in my busy day to really spend time with God. That’s an honest confession.

I read something in the Scripture today that drove me to prayer this morning. It’s something I’ve read dozens, probably hundreds of times before. But a few details helped my understanding and application of it. What I read today was Luke 5, the verse that convicted me to prayer was v. 16 where Luke notes that Jesus prayed at His busiest moment at the beginning of His ministry. It reads in this way:

“But he would withdraw to desolate places and pray” (Luke 5:16).

In this passage, Luke records Jesus cleansing a leper saying that once He healed this leper, “even more the report about him went abroad, and great crowds gathered to hear him and to be healed of their infirmities” (v. 15). Jesus cleansed this leper, and word got out about His healing power. Because of this, crowds came to hear Him preach and teach, and they came to be healed of their many diseases and infirmities. Jesus was getting popular at this point. More and more people began to know about Him as time went on. And Luke says that there was one thing He would always do, even when He was busy with His teaching and healing ministry: He would withdraw Himself from the crowds, to places where He could be alone, and He would pray. There are several passages of Scripture in the gospels that tell us that Jesus prayed alone, prayed for others, and prayed long prayers (Matt. 11:25-26; Matt. 14:23; Mark 1:35; Luke 6:12; 22:41-44; 23:24; John 17:1-26). The fact that Jesus prayed is astounding for two main reasons. First of all, because He was God in the flesh, and still prayed. Because He was God, it would make you think that Jesus would not need to pray, but it is very apparent from the gospels that prayer is something that He needed and something that He did. Though Jesus was God, He prayed to His Father and He made use of prayer.

Second, it is astounding that Jesus prayed because He was occupied with more tasks than any of us ever will be, and He still found time to pray. We might say, “But Jesus didn’t have a full time job like I do. Jesus’ didn’t cook supper for children, or pick them up from school everyday like me. Jesus didn’t have emails to send and receive.” Historically, that’s absolutely true. Jesus wasn’t a factory worker, working from nine to five. Jesus didn’t go to see His children play football at the high school. Jesus didn’t have an iPhone and wasn’t able to Tweet or check emails. But let me tell you what Jesus was involved in doing: Jesus was teaching crowds of hundreds of people everyday, and they were increasing as He became more popular. When is the last time you taught growing crowds of people multiple times a week? He was healing all kinds of diseases, people were coming to Him to be healed of all their infirmities and sicknesses. When is the last time you cleansed a leper? He was calling and teaching His disciples. He was dealing with the persecution of the religious rulers. Everywhere He went, He had to walk. When is the last time we did any of those things? And here’s the biggie: no one else could duplicate Jesus’ ministry. No one else could do what He was doing. It would be different if Simon Peter could heal the same way Jesus was, and teach the same way He was. But there was only one Son of God, and there was only one ministry that could do all this: Jesus’ ministry. Jesus was one busy man.

So even though Jesus was God, and even though He was unbelievably busy, nothing seemed to deter Jesus from spending extensive time in prayer. So we need to reflect now on our own prayer life. In light of this passage of Scripture, what is keep us from spending time in prayer? Whatever it might be, we need to get it out of the way and spend time alone with God, taking our requests to Him, praising Him for His blessings upon us, and praying for His grace and enabling to be obedient. I’ve said it before, and it’s something I have to constantly remind myself of: if you are too busy to pray, you are too busy. Let us pray, and let us devote time to prayer. Jesus did, so should we.