Prayer – the Lord Jesus’ style
By Andrew Chan, Pilgrim Baptist Church, Vancouver, BC
Intro:
Ever wonder the way Jesus prayed?
This outline of this sermon is inspired from reading a little book I got a long time ago in a second hand book store. It is called Sense and Nonsense about Prayer. I trust that you will be inspired as I was to keep plugging away in praying to the One who loves us all and gave Himself for us!
Dallas Willard in The Spirit of the Disciplines (1988,p.9) reminded me that it is important to be really prepared as Christ was. He did not just overnight become the Messiah and Savior of the world. And he was not a merely a one hit wonder, but He powerfully and lovingly ministered with a depth of spiritual power, insight and love that has no parallel. Willard wrote this:
Asking ourselves “What would Jesus do?” when suddenly in the face of an important situation is not adequate discipline or preparation to enable one to live as he lived. It no doubt will do some good and is certainly better than nothing at all, but that act alone is not sufficient to see us boldly and confidently through a crisis, and we could easily find ourselves driven to despair over the powerless tension it will put us through.
And I agree with Willard’s assertion that we need to learn from Christ then His secret:
The secret of the easy yoke, then is to learn from Christ how to live total lives, how to invest all our time and our energies of mind and body as he did. We must follow his preparations, the disciplines for life in God’s rule that enabled him to receive His Father’s constant and effective support while doing His will.
As we know Jesus calls his followers to a life of prayer. We see him teach it with his life and instruction.
Let’s learn tonight from Him. (Lk.11:1-13). Interesting it is not the request of disicples to say: "teach us how to pray"... but to pray. I.e. to pray passionately, in intimacy to Abba, to pray differently from mere rote, with personal relationship in view. It seems to me that the disciples know how to pray - i.e. the mechanics of it. They have probably been taught several models of prayer in the synagogues and have seen others but when they saw Jesus pray to God it seems different. They look at Jesus the way he was praying and it inspired them to say "Lord teach us to pray" not how to, but to pray like Him. But too often when we come to this text, we get the idea from soem preachers as they take apart the Lord’s prayer in Luke 11 that it is all about a formula, i.e. back to the meachanics. But if we look at what Jesus taught it was not that at all. It is about a relationship, a bold one, with a Heavenly Father that cares much more than the best model of a dad you can dream of. I use to think if my dad is like the father on old tv series Little House on the Prairie, it’ll be wonderful. But we ain’t see nuthing yet, with our Heavenly Father, for He loves to give and in our text, it tells He wants to give the best. Let’s now look at Jesus’ lifestyle of prayer through Scripture and examine with me how He conducted a prayer life and How the Father related to Him while He was earthbound like us...
1. The way His ministry COMMENCED.
While everyone else was being baptized, Jesus himself was baptized. THEN AS HE PRAYED, the sky opened up, and the Holy Spirit came down upon him in the form of a dove. A voice from heaven said, “You are my own dear Son, and I am pleased with you.” Lk.3:21-22 (CEV)
I love the way the Father blesses Jesus as He prays even before His big time hit and was rolling. What a picture of intimacy and blessing! What a connection! What a fellowship Jesus must have with the Father – a proud Papa “my own dear son and I am pleased with you.” May we too sense this strongly in our relationship with God that we feel His love and acceptance and how proud He is that we are called the children of God. Read I John 3:1-3 (NKJV):
1Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. 2Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. 3And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.
May our hearts not be hardened to the point we cannot feel the pleasure God has in us His kids! As Jonathan Edwards wrote: “holiness of heart or true religion lies very much in the affections of the heart.” Do we have a heart of stone or flesh, confidence in the goodness and kindness of our God? Does the work on our behalf finished on the cross make sense in our inner being? Rejoice o Kids of the kingdom, He loves you like a proud Daddy so that as we pray we would feel the pleasure of God!
2. The way His ministry was CHARACTERIZED.
The next morning JESUS AWOKE LONG BEFORE DAYBREAK and went out ALONE into the wilderness to pray. Later Simon and the others went out to find him. They said, “Everyone is asking for you.” But he replied, “We must go on to other towns as well, and I will preach to them, too, because that is why I came.” So he traveled throughout the region of Galilee, preaching in the synagogues and expelling demons from many people. Mk.1:35-39 (NLT)
See how Jesus Himself, though aware of His mission, needed to keep His relationship with His Father fresh. He was deeply in touch with the Father, never forgetting to recharge the batteries. That gives His mission power. If we are to keep being mission-minded we need support from God in prayer most acutely.
A.W. Tozer in his book The Roots of the Righteous (1955) in his chapter “We Must Give Time to God” noted:
“The temptation to make our relation to God judicial instead of personal is very strong. Believing for salvation has these days been reduced to a once-done act that requires no further attention. The young believer becomes aware of an act performed rather than of a living Saviour to be followed and adored.”
He goes on further saying:
“Progress in the Christian life I exactly equal to the growing knowledge we gain o the Triune God in personal experience. And such experience requires a whole life devoted to it and plenty of time spent at the holy task of cultivating God. God can be known satisfactorily only as we devote time to Him… there is no short cut to sanctity”
Wise words, isn’t it? I agree with Tozer. It is true even in my personal life! Got to be physical about being spiritual like Jesus who went out alone into the wilderness. For us nearest wilderness is the concrete jungle. Where do we then go? Suggest: lock self in office, washroom, bedroom, any place we you can center in on God with the least interruptions. Let’s learn to prioritize prayer!
3. The way His ministry was CONDUCTED even when he got busy and famous.
News about Jesus kept spreading. Large crowds came to listen to him teach and to be healed of their diseases. But JESUS WOULD OFTEN GO TO SOME PLACE where he could be ALONE AND PRAY. Lk.5:15-16 (NLT)
Another great quote from A.W. Tozer in his book The Roots of the Righteous (1955) in his chapter “We Must
Give Time to God”:
“A thousand distractions would woo us away from thoughts of God, but if we are wise we will sternly put them from us and make room for the King and take time to entertain Him. Some things may be neglected with but little lose to the spiritual life, but to neglect communion with God is to hurt ourselves where we cannot afford it. God will respond to our efforts to know Him. The Bible tells us; it is a matter of how much determination we bring to the holy task.”
Oh do we ever struggle when we get tired out, busy, and successful. Let’s continue to build in time with God! Often have those prayer retreats alone. I found it most refreshing when I have no agenda but Him and just worship Him who alone is worthy of praise and your time!
4. The way He CHOSE the Twelve
One day soon afterward Jesus went to a mountain to pray, and he PRAYED to God ALL NIGHT. At daybreak he called together all of his disciples and chose twelve of them to be apostles. Lk.6:12-13 (NLT)
Important decisions in life, - surely need the counsel of God! Numerous examples in Israel’s history, when God is not consulted in going up to conquer, that Israel was defeated. Should see our defeats in this light? Note: even the choice included Judas. Shows the trust Jesus had in the Father and that what lies ahead is in the sovereign will of God.
5. The way His ministry on earth was COMPLETED.
Then Jesus brought them to an olive grove called Gethsemane, and he said, “Sit here while I go on ahead to pray.” He took Peter and Zebedee’s two sons, James and John, and he began to be filled with anguish and deep distress. He told them, “My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and WATCH WITH ME.” Matt.26:36-38 (NLT)
And when Jesus had CRIED OUT with a loud voice, He said, “Father, ‘into Your hands I commit My spirit.’ ” Having said this, He breathed His last. So when the centurion saw what had happened, he glorified God, saying, “Certainly this was a righteous Man!” Lk.23:36-47 (NKJV)
6. The way His ministry in heaven CONTINUES.
But Jesus will never die, and so he will be a priest forever! He is forever able to save the people he leads to God, because he always LIVES TO SPEAK TO GOD FOR THEM. Heb.7:24-25 (CEV)
Jesus had never stopped praying, still interceding for us. Amazing, that He lives now to speak to God for us!
Even the Spirit of God help us as well in praying (Rom.8:26-27)esp. in our groanings and weaknesses. What comfort this is!
Conclusion:
If the Lord Jesus Himself is immersed in a lifestyle of prayer, punctuated with many prayer retreats and even continues to intercede even from heaven, what does that say to us? I trust this will inspire all of us to examine our fellowship/relationship with God. If we are to follow Jesus, surely it makes sense to follow His lead in prayer. From His own teaching in Lk.11:5-8, Jesus encouraged the boldness He Himself had in approaching God. We know He want us to emulate His boldness. Basically, don’t be afraid, just go up to God. When we believed that Christ has forgiven us all our sins, He removed all the barriers to God. So there is no fear in approaching God.
We also know He tells us to ask., seek and knock., because as believers, we have a Father who cares very much. Using the analogy of fathers on earth who give good gifts, how much more the Father who sent His Son for us and that He would give His own Spirit to those who ask Him (Lk.11:11-13). If Jesus says the Father is willing to give the best when we pray, shall we not trust His word that every time we come near boldly, not pretending, nor fearful, but being real to Him that He hears us?
May we be inspired to renew our prayer life so that we may know Christ and the power of His resurrection in a way that will astound believers and non-believers. Teach us to pray Lord!
