Pray, Move Forward, and Trust God

Written by ronda on August 23, 2023. Posted in Phoebe Connections.

Luke 6:12-13

During those days He went out to the mountain to pray and spent all night in prayer to God. When daylight came, He summoned His disciples, and He chose 12 of them – He also named them apostles.

Before Jesus named His 12 apostles, He spent the previous night in prayer. He had many disciples – students of His teaching – that followed Him. From this larger group, He chose 12 in whom He would invest His life and anoint to continue His work. If Jesus prayed about the matter first, we should certainly pray before making our big decisions, too.

I can’t help but wonder if God revealed His plan to Jesus during the night or if Jesus just moved forward in faith, knowing the Holy Spirit was there to operate through Him when He met the disciples. Scripture doesn’t give us that detail. Personally, I’ve found that sometimes God will reveal a plan to me, but at other times, I just have to move forward in faith, knowing He is with me. Moving forward simply means taking the next step and watching to see how God moves or speaks in the situation. The Holy Spirit is perfectly capable of lighting our path further or changing our direction if we are moving off course.

The important thing to understand here is that Jesus spent time in prayer first. If we have spent time in prayer over a matter, we can trust God is with us in it, even if we don’t have all the answers immediately.

My curious mind can’t help but wonder if Jesus prayed all night because God instructed Him to include Judas Iscariot. Could Jesus have questioned that decision, knowing full well that Judas would betray Him? The decision to include Judas could have been hard for Jesus, but He did it anyway. Sometimes, God’s answers may be hard for us to swallow, too. Jesus would still be victorious in the end, and so will we. We just have to “trust and obey, for there is no other way to be happy in Jesus than to trust and obey.”

If you have a big decision to make or a problem facing you, spend time in prayer with God. If He shows you a plan, trust it and move forward. If He doesn’t show you the plan after you have prayed all you know to pray, then move forward, knowing He is with you as you move. If your answer seems difficult and not what you’d like to hear, move forward in obedience, trusting Him to handle the matter. Simply pray, move forward, and trust God. He is working it all out for your good and His glory.

Have a blessed day!