How difficult is it to set aside time to be with God? In Matthew 14, Jesus spent about seven hours one night in prayer. Meanwhile, there were other things going on that required his immediate attention. Urgent things. Emergencies. And yet spending time in prayer with his Father was more important to Jesus than any of those things.

Often throughout the Gospels Jesus spoke about how he wanted his followers to be with him, to spend time with him. If we appreciate how important it was for Jesus to spend time with his Father, and how important it is to Jesus for us to be with him, it will shift our perspective on prayer.