It is important for us to know that Jesus chose to be crucified on Passover. He could have chosen any day of the year. He could have chosen any of the Jewish holy days. He could have chosen the feast of Tabernacles, celebrating the miracles of His grace. He could have chosen the solemn Day of Atonement. But He chose the most comprehensive of celebrations, Passover.

For some time He had actually been telling His Disciples this was going to happen. And Matthew 26 begins with Him telling them He would be handed over to be crucified at the Passover in two days. At that point the Chief Priests and elders were still saying they would do it after the feast, lest the people riot. But he was insisting that they were wrong about what they would do.

He sent some of His closest disciples to someone they didn't know, to tell him, “My time has come. I will celebrate the Passover with my disciples at your house.” And when He said, “Do this in reminder of me,” He was speaking of the Passover.
Look with me at some of the significance of the Passover from Exodus 6:6-8.

“Say therefore to the people of Israel, ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment. I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. I will give it to you for a possession. I am the Lord.’”

First, we celebrate Him as Lord. We trust our lives to Him. As He delivered the Children of Israel from the burden of slavery in Egypt, He frees us from the slavery of sin and worldliness. As He demonstrated His power to deliver Israel from Egypt, He works mightily in our lives.

Next, He brought them out of slavery in Egypt to the Land of Promise. And He promises an eternal home, and eternal rewards.

He cared for them even in judgment. And He has promised to direct our lives as He guided them through the wilderness. And while our journey, like theirs, will be long, He will go with us, and guide us through it.

He takes us to be His own people, to know and love us. We will be His People. And He will be our God. All of this is included in the Passover until all of it is fulfilled in the Kingdom of God.

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In Ephesus 5:14-15 Paul writes, "For this reason I bow before the Father from whom Every family in heaven and earth derives its name."

The Lord's Prayer does not simply teach us to say the words, "Our Father which art in heaven." Jesus is calling us to bow our hearts to our Heavenly Father. The privilege of coming to God as our father represents ultimate intimacy and majesty. I remember my sister and I running out to meet my father and throwing ourselves around his legs as he came home from work. Jesus is telling us we have that kind of relationship with the God of the universe, the God beyond the universe who created heaven and earth.

In Matthew 23:9 Jesus told us we have one father who is in heaven. He is the source of our spiritual DNA. We are born again in Him. Have you ever seen a child who reflected his father's appearance? God is working in the lives of His children making us more and more like Him, like Jesus.

I also remember my father's deep quiet voice teaching and encouraging me. He did not always do it perfectly, but my heavenly Father does. God teaches and guides His children.

My father worked hard to provide for the needs of our family. But even my father's provision was given us by God. God provides our every need. In His arms we are blessed and comforted. He alone knows our deepest needs.

There were times when my children knew I was afraid. But I do not ever remember my father being afraid. I could not imagine being afraid when I was with him. If he was there we were safe. God is our ultimate rescuer. He is our Savior. More than a dozen times in Scripture we have the phrase, "God our savior." This of course includes Jesus as God the Son. Tutus 2:14 speaks of "our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ." Jude 25 reads, "To the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time now and forever. amen"

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"Every time the Lord faced an important decision, He prayed. When He was being tempted to do things by the world's methods instead of the Father's, He prayed (Matthew 4). When it was time to choose His disciples, He prayed the entire night (Luke 6:12). If the Son of God required a night of prayer in order to determine the Father's mind, how long might it take us in prayer to clearly determine our Father's will?" Henry and Richard Blackaby

Let prayer set the agenda of your life. Many of us often worry about our lives. What should we do next year? Where should we live? What school should we go to? These are all good questions that need careful thought. But if most of us were honest, we would admit that we worry needlessly. It is right to get wise counsel and weigh out the options; however when concern turns into unnecessary anxiety, we are not trusting God, who knows exactly how to handle every situation we face. Life becomes simpler when we learn to seek God for every aspect of our plans. Our times spent in prayer will bring revelation of His agenda for us. We can be confident that in the final analysis, it is God who knows what is best for us and what will give Him the greatest glory.

Prioritizing prayer and letting God set your agenda brings great peace. We lived for five years in Asia and experienced the typhoons that are so common in the Indian Ocean. Primarily they move in circles instead of from east to west or north to south. Before navigators understood their movement, they would try to maneuver out of the storm and often suffered serious destruction in the process. With a better understanding of typhoons, navigators have learned to locate the center of the storm—where it is totally calm—and go there. This is much like prayer and discovering God's agenda. As we pray, we are able to circle in on God's agenda and find the center of His will. In this place, we experience His peace. When we try to get out of His will, we find destruction and chaos. Through prayer and renewing our mind in God's will, we discover God's perfect and pleasing will (Romans 12:2).

We must learn to pray about everything and trust in God’s wisdom, which far surpasses ours.  At times we may sense His direction and feel the peace that comes from the Holy Spirit even though nothing may look logical according to our human perspective. I remember a time when my husband and I began to pray about lengthening our ministry time overseas because we felt God might want us to extend our visit to certain countries. We had already been traveling for two months, we were tired, we had much to do in the U.S., and my father was ill, so an extension needed prayerful consideration. There were other reasons why going home would have been the right choice from a human standpoint. The problem is, often God's viewpoint is different from ours. He sees things far in advance and from His perspective, which far surpasses ours. 

Through prayer, we discovered God's agenda. We sensed His peace in staying longer, even though going home would have been easier and seemed more logical. In this case, we felt we had to go with the leading and peace of the Holy Spirit. The real key for us was prayer and waiting upon God, listening and hearing His voice. 
 
We may not know the full picture of why we were to extend our time overseas, but we do know that we had to take that step of faith that was guided and empowered through prayer in order to do God's very best. We knew that we were in the right place and that when we did return home, we had completed what God had for us. 

God loves to hear us pray with fervency and then listen and step out in faith according to His leading. Perhaps there is something you need to pray over regarding God's plan and purpose in your present circumstances. Praying through every decision, listening to His voice, and leaning upon His wisdom will enable you to determine His agenda. Proverbs 3:5-6 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.”

Guidelines to Hear God's Voice in Prayer

"But as for me, I will look to the Lord and confident in Him I will keep watch; I will wait with hope and expectancy for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me” (Micah 7:7, Amplified).

How can we hear God when we pray? Here are some guidelines to help you hear His voice as you seek Him in prayer:

• Bathe your life in prayer - Pray about all the decisions in your life daily. Ask Him for direction so that you may fulfill His will for your life for that day. Continually bring major decisions to Him in prayer. Pray, listen, and wait with expectancy. 
  
  
• Believe that God does speak to you - Accept the promise in John 10:27, "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me." 
  
  
• Find time to be alone with God - Take time to pray and listen. Most of life is very busy, but time with Him is of utmost importance so we can hear from Him. Often the Lord responds with a thought planted by His Spirit into the mind or heart.
  
  
• Keep a journal of what God says - We can better evaluate guidance and see what God is saying when we journal on a regular basis. Journaling helps us to ponder our thoughts and impressions so we can clearly discern the path God wants us to take. 
  
  
• Test what you hear - What we think is God’s voice may come from the Holy Spirit, the enemy, or from our own souls. Ask the Lord to confirm what you think He may be saying. First John 4:1 exhorts us to test the spirits. It's good to seek confirmation from at least two other Christians before taking action, especially on big decisions.
  
  
• Carefully check all guidance with Scripture - God’s Word is truth. What we think God is speaking should line up with Scripture. This is why we should examine everything carefully with the Bible.  
  
  
• Obey God - We must be willing to act on what God has told us. When we obey God, there is blessing. If we still doubt what we think God is saying, it is good to continue to ask Him for confirmation until we sense His peace.

Let's follow these guidelines and practice listening to God. Let's learn to eliminate the distractions in our life.

"Jesus knew that His mission was not to attract a crowd, but to remain obedient to His Father. It was prayer that set the agenda for Jesus' ministry (Luke 6:12). Prayer preceded the miracles (John 11:42-43); prayer brought Him encouragement at critical moments (Luke 9:28-31); prayer enabled Him to go to the cross (Luke 22:41-42); and prayer kept Him there despite excruciating pain (Luke 23:46). Follow the Savior's example, and let your time alone with God, in prayer, set the agenda for your life." Henry and Richard Blackaby

• To help you to concentrate on prayer, see The Fire of Prayer new blog site.
• Books on prayer: Breakthrough Prayer, Ascending the Height in Prayer, Deeper Still, and 24/7 Prayer Arise.
• Join the Intercessors Arise facebook page for daily encouragement in your prayer life. 
• Have your friends sign up for Intercessors Arise here.
• An Intercessors Arise International School of Prayer is in the initial stages.

Debbie Przybylski
Intercessors Arise International
International House of Prayer (IHOP) KC Staff
deb@intercessorsarise.org
www.intercessorsarise.org