By Nick Brzozowski
You may be familiar with the story of Jesus walking on water. But, have you ever thought about why he did it? The other miracles seem a little more obvious. He feeds the five thousand because they were hungry. He cast out demons because they were oppressed. He raised the dead because they were…☠️. He walked on water because...? Was it to just give them a good show?
There is one small detail that Matthew and Mark both include in their account of the story (see Matthew 14:23; Mark 6:46). Jesus sent his disciples ahead of him and then he went to be alone and pray.
After praying, he needed some way to catch up with his group. So, walking on water may just have been Jesus’ way of calling an Uber.
Now if prayer is truly the motive Jesus had for this great miracle, that shows us just how important prayer is.
Before walking on water, Jesus had a busy and emotionally draining few weeks. He sent out his twelve disciples on a missions trip (which, as a former youth pastor, I know that can be extremely exhausting!). Then, he found out about his cousin, John being beheaded. When his group rejoined him, he must have wanted to relax, but then a crowd of a few thousand gathered spontaneously, so he started hosted and teaching them.
At this point, he had given so much and needed to receive spiritual nourishment from the Father. Walking on water demonstrated what length he would go to simply sit in God’s presence.
Are you feeling tired or stressed?
Hannah and I just finished a pretty non-stop weekend and are entering a busy week of preparation.
How about we give ourselves just 30 seconds to pray? Spend this small amount of time to pause, knowing that God is with you and that he is sustaining the world right now.
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