5 “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.” (Matthew 6:5 – 8, New International Version, emphasis added)
Theme: Discipleship
Context:
Over the next two weeks, we will turn our attention to the relationship between disciples of Jesus and the discipline of Prayer. There are many avenues we can go down where this topic is concerned but we will focus on fanning the flames of passion for prayer, because disciples should be passionate about conversations with God. Consistent with this focus, we will perform high-level reviews of prayer in the Old and New Testaments with our antennas tuned to lessons that strengthen our love for communicating with God.
Today, we pause to reflect on our passion for prayer. Unfortunately, passion for prayer is often lacking in Christians for a variety of reasons. An extensive Pew Research Center survey conducted about a decade ago found that approximately 30 percent of Christians do not pray daily. I suspect that the result hasn’t changed materially since then. If loving to pray was a crime and we were charged, I wonder if we would be found guilty.
Bible Passage:
Matthew chapter 6 contains the model prayer for Jesus’ disciples, which we will get to later in the week. For now though, we will focus on a few verses earlier in the chapter that highlight the fact that Jesus assumes His disciples pray. We can proceed with confidence that Jesus’ disciples are expected to pray. In today’s passage, we also note that those who were chastised (the hypocrites and the pagans) appear passionate, but their passion is for themselves and their speech, not for God.
Please prayerfully read the Scripture passages above and consider the question below.
Question:
As we explore the discipline of prayer, think about how Jesus related to prayer during His earthly ministry. What evidence would you provide from the Bible in support of the fact that Jesus loved praying?
Sharing your thoughts could be a big help to someone else. Please leave a comment on the blog.
March 4, 2024 at 4:02 am
There are many wonderful examples of Jesus’ love for prayer. He would go out in the morning, at night, to a mountainside as well as encourage his disciples to pray. Some verses to note are the following: Luke 5:16, Luke 9:18, Luke 6:12, Luke 11:1, and Mark 1:35. The Parable of the Persistent Widow is Jesus’ teaching on the need to always pray and never give up.
March 4, 2024 at 5:50 am
Mark 1:31
“Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. “
“I urge you brothers and sisters, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me. “ Romans 15:30
John :17 1-5
These are sone evidences of prayers of Jesus. The first one I shared was from the book of Mark. A very good example of how to talk to God in prayer. Usually, a believer who has faith and relationship with God will pray this way. As for me, when I wake up in the morning , the first thing I do is to say thank you for a new day. Sometimes my prayer can be short, but I know the Lord is in my mind and heart from the time I opened my eyes.
Another good example is from Romans 15:30, this is true for me as a Christian that when I struggle, the more I need to talk to God in prayer. Calling the Holy Spirit, our helper at all times, , is one way of praying effectively.
The last example of prayer I shared here is from John 17:1-5 I didn’t type it anymore as it is too long so please try to read it by yourself. It is actually red lettered verses from the Bible. I think this prayer of Jesus is an example of a prayer that shows acceptance of God’s will and despite the pain and agony, Jesus still can praise and glorify
God. This act of prayer Jesus showed in this scripture can be very difficult to do for us humans but I think, if we have been through a lot with our life with strong faith as our anchor, and still stick or hold on to our relationship with the Lord no matter what, we can all experience praying the way Jesus prayed in that scripture Praying is talking to God and pouring out our hearts. It’s all in there, request, repenting , supplication, praise, glorifying God and sometimes we can even complain to Him in our prayers. I would say, there was a point in my life that because of heavy burden, like sadness or frustration, or pain, I couldn’t say much to the Lord while praying. I just knelt down , kept quiet or cry but feeling I am communicating with the Lord, sometimes my prayer can only be saying “ thank you Lord, I am tired, help me.” All i know is that He can see my heart and feel me. My prayer life is like this….being joyful in all circumstances , still praise and be grateful even though there maybe tines that it’s hard to utter the words. What I know is that I draw my inner strength from praying and trusting God my life. completely.
March 4, 2024 at 6:43 am
I can’t think of Bible verses that make me think Jesus “loved“ praying. However, there are instances that show Jesus thinks prayer is important and definitely expected of Christians, as it is our main communication with God.
Jesus would go off by himself and pray. He gave us a guideline of how to pray (Our Father…). He told us how not to pray (prayer should not be about showing off and trying to impress others), and He taught us to be persistent in our prayers. (The parable in Luke about the judge who gave a widow what she asked for because she kept bothering him). He even told us to pray for our enemies.
Prayer should be a very vital element of our discipleship.
March 4, 2024 at 7:12 am
Jesus loved praying because there was nothing whether circumstance, crowds or events that could distract Him from taking time to speak with His Heavenly Father. At his baptism (Luke 3:21)
Regular time of withdrawal from the crowds (Luke 5:16)
After healing people in the evening (Mark 1:35)
Before walking on water (Matt 14:23, Mark 6:46, John 6:15)
Before choosing the Twelve (Luke 6:12)
Before Peter’s confession (Luke 9:18)
March 4, 2024 at 6:50 pm
I would say the evidence of Jesus’ love of prayer shows in the frequent reference, His desire to teach other how to pray, and the number of times He rises early to pray. Like Jojo I can’t think of a specific verse that conveys His love but He craves intimacy with His Father and this was a way to accomplish that.
March 4, 2024 at 7:11 pm
Prayer was an important part ofJesus’ daily life.
Mark 1:35. He would pray early in the morning, away from everyone else. Also Luke 5:16 he would go to the wilderness to pray.
He sometimes prayed all night Luke 6:12′-13
He prayed with his disciples, Luke 9:28
He prayed for others. In this example, the children Matt 19:13.
He prayed while on the cross, when in pain, including for others Luke 23:34
Prayer of Thanksgiving before the miracle of feeding the 5000.
Prayer before and after raising Lazarus John 11:41 & 42
He prayed before meals Luke 24:30-31, an everyday event
He prayed after baptized by John the Baptist Luke 3:21
He prayed and fasted 40 days and nights in the wilderness, when he was tempted by the devil. This would have been a very difficult time.