It’s amazing that people are willing to trust Jesus with their eternal life in heaven but don’t concern themselves too much with how He taught us to live on earth. The best way to learn from Jesus is to study His teachings and follow His actions.
If we follow Jesus’ pattern of behavior, one practice was consistent. The Gospel writers recorded many instances of Jesus in prayer to His Father.
- But he would withdraw to deserted places and pray (Luke 5:16).
- In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed (Mark 1:35).
- Now during those days he went out to the mountain to pray; and he spent the night in prayer to God. And when day came, he called his disciples and chose twelve of them, whom he also named apostles (Luke 6:12-13).
- Once when Jesus was praying alone, with only the disciples near him, he asked them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?” (Luke 9:18).
- Now about eight days after these sayings Jesus took with him Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray. And while he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white (Luke 9:28-29).
These are only five of several other times when Jesus prayed. If prayer was a central feature of Jesus’ life and if He is the very best authority on how to live, should we not incorporate more prayer into our lives?
A Conversational Relationship
Isaiah wrote about the Servant of the Lord, who would fulfill God’s purposes for humanity. As the Servant of the Lord, Jesus used His meetings with the Father to give Him strength to counter a world’s system and the devil who opposed His ministry.
Jesus’ daily meeting with the Father was a dialogue, both speaking and listening.
The Lord God has given me
a trained tongue,
that I may know how to sustain
the weary with a word.
Morning by morning he wakens,
wakens my ear
to listen as those who are taught. (Isaiah 50:4)
The great men and women of prayer testify to the awesome opportunity to not only speak to God but also to learn from Him. They recognize that a personal relationship is more than delivering a request like we are placing an order at a fast-food restaurant.
The Old Testament word for “to listen” always implies obedience in addition to receiving the sent message. Jesus’ daily meeting with the Father gave Him the strength to obey in the face of tremendous obstacles.
The Lord God has opened my ear,
and I was not rebellious;
I did not turn backward.
I gave my back to those who struck me
and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard;
I did not hide my face
from insult and spitting. (Isaiah 50:5-6)
What Isaiah prophesied 700 years before Jesus came on the scene was fulfilled by our Lord and Savior prior to His crucifixion.
This is a good place to remember that Jesus was fully human and fully divine. He was not a divine being who pretended to be human, as some of the ancient heresies contended.
As our fully human Savior, Jesus needed the strength of His relationship with the Father and Holy Spirit to endure six trials, beatings, humiliation, and crucifixion.
An Invitation to Prayer
The “morning by morning” phrase in verse 4 caught my attention for today’s blog article. I have found that if my day is going to be positive, it must begin with time alone with God.
If you are reading a devotional blog, I expect you already have a prayer life, one that is possibly far better than mine. My recommendations below come from reading many books by people who are well known for their prayer lives. I think the Holy Spirit has directed me to pray as I do, and I expect He will do the same for you.
Here are some suggestions for you to consider.
(1) Use the Gospels: The Gospels contain Jesus’ action and teaching. The four Gospels contain Jesus’ direct communication to us.
I read a portion of one of the Gospels in preparation for when I will speak to the Lord.
(2) Meditate on the Gospel Passage: Meditation resembles a cow chewing her cud. We don’t run through the scripture in the same way we down our morning vitamins.
After reading the Gospel portion for the day, I seek the presence of the Lord. In a relationship with Him, I imagine myself as a participant in the story I’ve read.
For example, I recently read about blind Bartimaeus (Mark 10:46-52). After Jesus healed him in Jericho, the procession moved toward Jerusalem. The Bible says that he followed Jesus.
While in prayer, I imagined myself to be a traveling companion with Bartimaeus and talked to the Lord about what the two of us saw.
(3) Depend on the Holy Spirit: Every prayer time is different, and we err when we attempt to create on our own good feelings from a previous encounter with the Lord.
As we depend on the Holy Spirit, He will guide our meditation and prayer to do and be what He intends for the day.
(4) Follow Through: Jesus listened to the Father in order to get directions for the day, and so should we.
The other day, my prayer time was not pleasant. I felt the Lord pressing me with something I didn’t want to do. I prayed about it and tried to surrender (even if it hurt).
Later in the day, my wife, Toni, brought up the subject and suggested a course of action that was exactly what the Lord was calling for. We are a team, and I was very grateful that she was the answer to the prayer.
(5) Don’t Pray and Forget: There are quiet and still moments in every day. Rather than pulling out our phone and scrolling through it, we can pause and remember the scripture passage and God’s word to us for the day.
I try to go to sleep with the morning passage on my mind and a prayer about it in my heart.
You will find your own way to meet with the Lord in the morning. These thoughts are just suggestions to get you thinking. What is most important is that we follow Jesus’ attitudes and actions concerning prayer.
YouTube Discussion
Rudy Ross, Bruce Kirby, and I discussed this passage on YouTube today.
Real Voices 