I,Pray
When I was in college, I was involved with a great group of friends. We leaned on each other and helped each other grow in Christ. One semester we all decided to do a 24 hour fast. Except for one of our leaders, none of us had ever fasted before. The day came and the plan was at the end of the 24 hours we would try to be like Jesus and rise early in the morning to pray. So about 4:00 in the morning we all gathered together to pray. Of course being typical college students we went to bed pretty late. Rising early would present a problem. It was cold as well so the trip to the home of our group leader was uncomfortable. The plan was to pray for an hour and pray in segments. In one segment we prayed through the scripture passage Psalm 73. Our leader introduced a set of verses and we prayed silently to ourselves and then after a certain number of minutes the leader introduced the next segment.
During a segment that seemed particularly long I was praying, when I heard a very loud noise, “zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz”. One of the guys had fallen asleep and began snoring. I commented that the Lord must have given him a vision. Another questioned whether he was speaking in tongues. Needless to say, there was some comic relief in our hour of prayer. After the hour was over, we went to break our fast. We all ordered pancakes with syrup and sausage and eggs and biscuits. Nobody told us that you should break a fast gently. Unfortunately, we all experienced some intestinal dissatisfaction–at the same time; in the same place; with much intensity.
I was reminded of this first attempt at fasting several weeks ago and decided to study Jesus prayer life. You would think He would not have much reason to pray. He was the Son of God. He was filled with the Holy Spirit. Yet there was an intensity to His prayer life. As I studied, it seems that Jesus was almost desperate to pray. He literally put the world on hold to spend time with the Father. As I looked at Jesus experience of prayer and instances of prayer you could almost say that Jesus came to earth to pray. It was certainly a central strategy of accomplishing His work. Jesus even prayed on the cross as He died for the sins of the world.
In Luke Chapter 5:15-16 everywhere Jesus went, crowds gathered to Him. Verse 16 says that for this reason Jesus would travel to the wilderness (where no one else was) to pray. He intentionally left the world behind to seek out time to be rejuvenated by God’s presence. You notice it says He often withdrew. It is clear that Jesus’ public ministry took second place to His relationship with the Father. That is a good lesson for me to learn. Jesus had clear priorities and prayer was the first among them.
The privacy of Jesus’ times of prayer struck me also. He was not walking down the road to His job or His next gig or praying along the way. He wanted no distraction and no interruptions as He focused His attention on the Father. He probably did pray all of those times, but He specifically sought out private focused time to pray. Our public prayer is greatly enhanced by our private prayer. Our focus on God helps our focus.
It says in Mark 1:35 (NKJV): Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed. I wonder how Jesus woke up so early in the morning. They did not have alarm clocks and the roosters don’t crow until sunup. It is interesting that He did not lay in bed and pray to the Father, but He went out. He was determined and made a significant effort to have uninterrupted time with God in prayer. He went out to a solitary, deserted place where no one would wake up or just happen along and disrupt the time He had with the Father. Jesus’ time with the Father was so precious to Him that He guarded it diligently.
It didn’t take long for His disciples to notice Jesus’ prayer life. Prayer was such a significant part of His life that they noticed how important prayer was. However, Jesus so protected His time with God that His disciples had not yet discerned how to pray. I wonder if my prayer life is discernible to others? In Luke 11 while Jesus had finished praying the disciples asked Him to teach them to pray. I think this would be a good request for each of us to ask Jesus, as well. Lord teach me to pray.
It is also important to note that they did not ask Jesus to teach them “how” to pray but they asked Him to teach them “to pray”. Then Jesus said “when” you pray and He first gave them a model to follow. Then He taught them to pray. He taught them a parable that highlighted the need to persistently go to the Father in prayer. I think that is why Jesus spent so much time in prayer. Not because His much asking would get the Father to answer His prayers but because Jesus was convinced that to ask the Father was the first and best way forward. Jesus further emphasized that truth with His next point. He taught them that when you ask God for something, God will hear you and answer. God responds to those who ask, He responds to those who seek, and He responds to those who knock. In verse 11, Jesus gives them the essence of prayer. Prayer was essential in a relationship with the Father. He refers to God as their heavenly Father. This explains why prayer was so important to Jesus. If we are in a love relationship with the heavenly Father, we will ask. This life of relationship with the Father that He was introducing them to would soon be sealed by the Holy Spirit who would come to them after His death and the Spirit would help them, and us to pray like Jesus.
My group of friends and I had made small sacrifices to pray for an hour. And this stretched our faith. Yet, Jesus’ example and his words taught us that to pray was more important than food. It was more important than the air we breathe or the blood that flows through our veins. I still to this day am trying to grow my prayer life to look more like Jesus. There is more to see on Jesus praying. Would you describe your prayer life as passionate? Persistent? Lacking? I still have a long way to go. What is your best plan for prayer?
