prayer and decision making

Good morning sisters and brothers
It seems like at this point in Jesus' ministry a group of people were following him from place to place. Today, Jesus decides to set apart 12 of those disciples to be particular leaders and to be especially close to him. We could say Jesus is the first nominating committee, and we can see that he put prayer at the center of his decision-making process. He doesn't just say a quick prayer and get back to the work of deciding who the leaders are. Instead, Jesus spends the whole night in prayer while he's making this decision.

That tells us Jesus isn't making this decision alone; he's trusting God to lead him as he decides. I'm trying to move prayer into the center of my life more, and I encourage you to do the same. I'm sort of an intellectual guy and prayer doesn't make sense to me intellectually. Sometimes that has hindered my prayer life, but what I've found lately is that when I pray more and when I really try to listen for God's guidance, I find it. Of course that doesn't always mean I'm right, but God will guide us if we seek that guidance. This is God's church and for us to be our best we want to make sure we're letting God lead.

Blessings,
Sam

Luke 6:12-19
12Now during those days he went out to the mountain to pray; and he spent the night in prayer to God. 13And when day came, he called his disciples and chose twelve of them, whom he also named apostles: 14Simon, whom he named Peter, and his brother Andrew, and James, and John, and Philip, and Bartholomew, 15and Matthew, and Thomas, and James son of Alphaeus, and Simon, who was called the Zealot, 16and Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor. 17He came down with them and stood on a level place, with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea, Jerusalem, and the coast of Tyre and Sidon. 18They had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases; and those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured. 19And all in the crowd were trying to touch him, for power came out from him and healed all of them.