SOS from Jesus’ Prayer Life
A bus driver and a minister were standing in line to get into heaven. The bus driver approached the gate and St. Peter said, "Welcome, I understand you were a bus driver. Since I’m in charge of housing, I believe I have found the perfect place for you. See that mansion over the hilltop? It’s yours.
The minister heard all this and began to stand a little taller. He said to himself, "If a bus driver got a place like that, just think what I’ll get."
The minister approached the gate and St. Peter said, "Welcome, I understand you were a minister. See that shack in the valley?" St. Peter had hardly gotten the words out of his mouth when the shocked minister said, "I was a minister, I preached the gospel, I helped teach people about God. Why does that bus driver get a mansion, and I get a shack?"
Sadly St. Peter responded, "Well, it seems when you preached, people slept. When the bus driver drove, people prayed."
We all know that prayer is important, I mean – it is the way that we communicate with God – the maker of the universe, the creator, the sustainer, our Father and Saviour. But it is one thing to know it and quite another thing to practice it. But don’t worry, I don’t want to turn this into a big guilt trip about how long you did or didn’t pray or even what you should or shouldn’t say. You see, too often, we build up a picture of what prayer is and we whip ourselves for not lining up with this caricature.
Well I thought that it would be interesting over the next months as I have opportunity to begin to look at prayer from the experience of a master. And who better to learn from than from Jesus himself. Over the next couple of months therefore I want to look at specifically some of the prayers that Jesus uttered. To learn how he prayed and what he prayed for. I believe by looking at some of these things, we might be able to make prayer live in our lives, just as Jesus did.
Today, however, I want to set the scene as it were. I want to spend some time taking some broad brush strokes – looking at Jesus’ life of prayer to see how he did it and what it meant to him. Now at the outset, I am not saying that this is the only way to pray. I don’t believe for a minute that we need to try to imitate Christ’s actions down to the minutest detail. Rather, what I think will be useful for us is the principles we can glean from looking at how Jesus prayed.
So let’s get into it shall we, but lets first practice what we preach and pray.
This morning I want to touch on 3 aspects of the practice of prayer that we can learn from Jesus and they all are all TLA’s – that stands for Three Letter Acronyms for the uninitiated. And to make them easy to remember, they are all acronyms SOS. Because I think that they may just help save us from some of the struggles we face in our own prayer lives.
The first aspect of Jesus’ prayer life I want to draw your attention to - our first SOS is the …
1) Stimulation Of Solitude
I’m probably not telling you anything new to tell you that Jesus sought solitude when he wanted to be alone with his Father in heaven. Now that is not to say that he didn’t recognise the value of corporate prayer. But he know that this was not what real prayer was about.
Did you know that it is a scientifically proven fact that in any prayer group at any given moment, 95% of the people will not be paying attention to your prayer. 55% will be daydreaming, 20% will be thinkinga about what they’re going to say, 14% will be wishing you wouldn’t blab so long, 5% will have their eyes open and 1% will be wondering why you have your shirt on inside out.
Jesus knew what corporate prayer was all about .. from a young boy, he would have been exposed to prayer and also participated in prayers in the home and the synagogue. He led the disciples in prayer at meal times and times of festivals and we’re told again and again that Jesus was found in the synagogues teaching. We can assume along with this came praying since teaching, praying and singing of psalms were all important activities in synagogue worship.
However, when we study Jesus’ lilfe, we find that corporate prayer was not enough to sustain Jesus. The most important prayer times for him were those times where he was alone. In Matt 14 we read about Jesus seeking to retire to a solitary place only to be followed by a huge crowd. This was the setting of the feeding of the 5000. After this however, he sent everyone away and we read (vs 22)
Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. 23 After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone,
Again in Lk 4:42 after another busy day we read …
At daybreak Jesus went out to a solitary place. The people were looking for him and when they came to where he was, they tried to keep him from leaving them.
After his baptism, Jesus went out to the desert – to fast and presumably pray. He went alone for 40 days (Lk 4:1-2).
Before calling his disciples, he went up on a mountain top and spent the night in prayer (Lk 6:12) alone.
The night he was betrayed, he went upto the garden of Gethsemene to pray. But he didn’t stay with his disciples, he went a little way off we are told and spent some time alone with his Father alone.
What is the pattern of Jesus’ prayer? What is he trying to model for us? I think that he is saying that the relationship we need to have with God is an intimate one. One which needs to be personal, one which needs time alone with God. For Jesus, the times spent alone with God stimulated him and the relationship he had with his Father.
For those who have ever dated a person. You long to spend time with them alone – why? Because you love them. You love being with them, and you want to get to know them more and more. I’ll ask a question – were you always comfortable being alone with them? Probably not – the first couple of times it was a bit nerve wracking – you didn’t really know what to talk about and you were just testing the waters. But as time went on, and you spent more and more time with them, the relationship grew and it became natural to want to spend time with them. I think this is a little of what prayer is like. Jesus had such a natural relationship with God his Father which was based on hours spent alone with him. We too can have such a relationship too, but to gain this needs time spent alone to develop the intimacy.
How much time alone do we spend with God? Is it enough time to build an intimate relationship or are we just aquaintences held at arms length. I am not and can not give you a secret number of hours that it takes to develop a relationship with God, but we need to follow Christ’s example and not skimp. Remember also that relationships take time to develop. You will not have an intimate relationship over night – but stick with it and you will. So the first SOS in saving our prayer life is to recognise that time spent alone with God is important.
The second SOS for our prayer lives that we can see in Jesus’ ministry is that prayer to him was a
2) Source Of Strength
Christ recognised that God had all kinds of resources available to him – many of which are unknown to mankind. These resources are also available for us and prayer it seems is the key. Christ certainly didn’t have a “name it and claim it” theology, but he did know that God would provide for him and sustain him through his ministry – physically, emotionally and spiritually.
And so we see Jesus commonly spending times in prayer after periods of busyness. Now this seems a bit strange to us. I mean – after a busy day at work, all I feel like doing is sitting on the couch and vege-ing in front of TV. But that is not what Jesus did. He found immense untapped reserves of energy in Prayer – it was what energised him and invigorated him the most. Don’t believe me? Well turn to Lk 4:31 - It was the Sabbath and as was his custom, be went to the synagogue to pray and teach the people. After a day of preaching interrupted by the occasional healing including a demon possessed man, he went to Simon’s house where he healed his mother. It was the beginning of his ministry and he was rapidly becoming known as a miracle worker and people were beginning to seek him out to heal all and sundry. This particular day, Luke records for us in chapter 4 vs 40
When the sun was setting, the people brought to Jesus all who had various kinds of sickness, and laying his hands on each one, he healed them. Moreover, demons came out of many people, shouting, “You are the Son of God!” But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew he was the Christ.
We are not told how long into the night Jesus continued to heal and minister to people. But after a day of teaching, this giving of himself must have been exhausting spiritually, emotionally and physically. I’m sure he enjoyed a good night sleep that night and if he was anything like me – a good sleep-in the next morning.
But that wasn’t Jesus’ style at all .
42 At daybreak Jesus went out to a solitary place. The people were looking for him and when they came to where he was, they tried to keep him from leaving them. 43 But he said, “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent.” 44 And he kept on preaching in the synagogues of Judea.
Jesus was the first up that morning and Mark’s account says that while it was still dark, he slipped away to a place where he could be alone – just he and God alone – there is that Stimulation of Solitude again. What he said or did we don’t know, but it was a time of intimate fellowship with God which gave him strength to go and preach in all the other towns in the region. Prayer was his Source of Strength when he was physically weary.
Prayer was also his Source of Strength when he was emotionally exhausted. Perhaps one of the most vivid illustrations of this what happened after the Feeding of the 5000. You are going to tell me that this was physical exhaustion not emotional exhaustion, but turn with me and let’s look at what was going on around this time … Mt 14:13. You all know the story of the feeding of the 5000. But what happened immediately prior to this … The beheading of John the Baptist. And who was John – Jesus’ cousin and someone who he had no doubt looked upto for some time. It would have been a great shock and a loss, even to Jesus who knew it was going to happen. It would probably bring to him images of his own suffering and death and so Jesus withdrew to seek strength from his Father.
But this was not to be for the crowds saw him leave by boat and they followed him around the lake. And so we find Jesus, emotionally drained ministering to them all, healing their sick, teaching them and working one of his greatest miracles to feed the crowd gathered. He must have been now now emotionally drained and physically exhausted, but as we’ve already read, after all had been satisfied
Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. 23 After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray.
He needed time to be alone with his Father to talk and draw strength. Prayer was his source of strength physically yes, but also emotionally.
But that wasn’t all, prayer also gave Jesus spiritual strength. Where did Jesus Go before his temptation? Into the desert! Right and what did he do there? Fasted. This wasn’t a political hunger fast or something like that? No it was likely that Christ was fasting and praying. Here was an intense period of prayer in preparation the imminent temptations he was to face in the desert and the ongoing temptations he would face through out his ministry. Prayer was his source of strength spiritually.
One more quick example – Jesus needed strength probably no more so than as he neared his death. And where do we find him prior to his betrayal and trial? Praying in the garden of Gethsemene. Did Jesus get strength from Prayer? Yes - In times of exhaustion – physically, emotionally and spiritually, rather than moping around, sleeping or pigging out on chocolate, Jesus committed himself to pray.
Where do you get your strength from? Is it from friends? From secular counsellors? From books? Why not try God? Jesus used him and found that he was reliable and true. Maybe the secret to a fulfilling prayer life is to become dependant on God for our strength.
The last SOS of prayer I want to talk about today very quickly is that Jesus, through prayer was a
3) Seeker Of Sanctification
I’m not meaning through this statement that Christ was in any way sinful and needing to be made pure. Another important part of being sanctified is being set apart for God. It is seeking God’s will for our lives and dedicating ourselves to him. And so we find that before major events in Jesus’ life or before major decisions Jesus prayed.
We’ve already mentioned that after his Baptism and before his temptation (Lk 3:21), he prayed. This was a time of consecration. I can imagine Jesus coming before God and saying I’m yours. Take me and use me in this ministry. What were the temptations he faced? Temptations to choose an easier life, to take an alternate path to that mapped out by God, to do things his way instead of God’s. To counteract these temptations, his prayers would have been prayers of consecration.
What about before the transfiguration. This was a marvellous unveiling of who Jesus really was to his closest disciples Peter, James and John. When did it happen? In the midst of them praying. Listen to Lk 9:28
28 About eight days after Jesus said this, he took Peter, John and James with him and went up onto a mountain to pray. 29 As he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning. 30 Two men, Moses and Elijah, 31 appeared in glorious splendor, talking with Jesus.
Here again is Jesus again presumably offering himself up to do God’s will. And God responds by sending Elijah and Moses to minister to Jesus and he himself testifies to Peter, James & John “This is my Son, whom I have chosen; listen to him.”
Jesus prayed before choosing the 12 disciples Lk 6:12 – why? For wisdom and assurance of what was God’s will. Where do we seek wisdom from? Do we prayer before big decisions?
Jesus prayed prior to his death in Gethsemene – why? To seek God’s strength, but also to confirm God’s will and submit to it. “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” It was a matter of consecration and submission to God’s will. Do we follow in this mould – seeking God’s will for our lives and committing ourselves to it.
Is your prayer life seeming lifeless and dead? Maybe it is because you are lacking some of the key aspects of what prayer is all about. Prayer is not just submitting our weekly shopping list to God. We all need to learn that it is so much more than this. So we have the 3 SOS’ of Jesus’ prayer life. 3 things which made his prayer life vibrant and real - 3 things which could revolutionise our prayer lives and our relationship with God. What were they?
First there was the
1) Stimulation Of Solitude - corporate prayer is not enough. We need to spend time in quiet solitude with God, developing an intimate relationship with him. How much time do you want to spend with him? It’s usually directly proportional to the quality of your relationship?
Then there was seeing prayer as
2) Source Of Strength – for physical, emotional and spiritual needs. God has so many resources at his disposal, ready to give to us and too often we don’t go to him for refreshing when we are tired, or upset or spiritually dry. Instead we use lack of energy or spiritual zeal as excuses why our prayer life is not happening. We need to follow Christ’s example in this and utilise God’s strength more and our strength less.
And lastly through prayer we need to be
3) Seekers Of Sanctification – to align our lives with God so closely that when decisions need to be made, he is at the helm, directing us and leading us. The only life God wants is a consecrated one and this is achieved through prayer.
As we move into this week, I would encourage you to examine your prayer life and hold it up against that of Christ’s. It is a discipline and one which I must admit I am not very good at myself. But I think it is a good discipline and one which we all need to help each other on. Will you do that? Keep each other accountable. Ask each other how their prayer life is going.
