"Thy Kingdom Come"

“Praying Like Jesus” – part three

The Disciples were with Jesus for 3 solid years… Think about how awesome that must have been. I love how the Message Bible words the first few verses of 1 John;

“From the very first day, we were there, taking it all in – we heard it with our own ears, saw it with our own eyes, verified it with our own hands. The Word of Life appeared right before our eyes; we saw it happen! And now we’re telling you in most sober prose that what we witnessed was, incredibly, this: The infinite Life of God himself took shape before us. We saw it, we heard it and now we’re telling you so you can experience it along with us, this experience of communion with the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ.”

Can you even imagine what it was like to watch God in the flesh up close and personal for 3 years? Think about all the awesome things that the disciples saw Jesus do. Imagine what it was like to watch Jesus, multiply 5 loaves and 2 fish and feed 5,000+ people, to watch Him open blind eyes, heal lame limbs, walk on water, calm violent storms – even raise the dead back to life. AND - can you imagine what it was like to sit through one of Jesus sermons (the words of life spoken by the author of life, put yourself on that grassy hillside by the Sea of Galilee and hear God in the flesh say; “Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven…”

And wouldn’t you had loved to have heard Jesus tell one of his stories; “A farmer went out to sow seed,” “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho when he fell into the hands of robbers,” To hear God, proclaim the words of God had to be incredible.

AND – can you imagine what it was like to have a ring side seat to the powerful exchanges that Jesus had with the religious leaders… I mean every time these self righteous men were foolish enough to spar with Jesus, they got knocked straight to the canvas, before the first round was over…

Think about it/picture it… The things the disciples saw, heard & experienced were awesome!!! They were amazing. There has been nothing like it before or since.

AND LISTEN – after seeing all of this, after experiencing all of this… It is very significant that when the disciples finally worked up the courage to ask Jesus for something that they didn’t ask him; “Lord teach us to do miracles” “Teach us to heal the sick” Teach us to raise the dead” “Teach us to preach like you do” “teach us to knock our opponents to the canvas with the truth like you do..” NO…they didn’t ask for any of that stuff – INSTEAD - they asked Jesus, “Lord teach us to pray…”

LISTEN – even among all of that awesome, powerful and supernatural stuff, the cream rose to the top. UNDERSTAND – the thing that really knocked the socks off the 12 was the way that Jesus prayed…I can almost hear them saying; “yeah when Jesus raised Lazarus after he was dead for 4 days, that was awesome; and I really freaked out when Jesus walked on water; and those sermons I could listen to Jesus talk all day – BUT when Jesus prayed – it was like looking through a window into another world; it was like almighty God was right here and he wasn’t someone to be afraid of, he was like… like a dad…”

LISTEN – the disciples wanted to be connected to God like that… They wanted to have a relationship with God like Jesus had… AND they knew (because they had seen it first hand) THRY KNEW - that all the strength, peace, courage wisdom and purpose that Jesus had, came from this relationship with God – a relationship that was built on and fueled by prayer…

LOOK UP – what we are talking about now… what we have been talking about – since June 2nd; is the most important thing is this life, in your life, in your walk with God.

LISTEN – the thing that separates those who do great things for God from those who only talk about it; the thing the separates those who overcome their sin from those who can never get free; the thing that separates those who have a peace that passes understanding from those who live in constant turmoil & uncertainty; the thing that separates those who live in courage, strength & wisdom from those who live in depression and fear… IS NOT; talent, ability, looks, money, education, home life – it is their prayer life….