The Lord at Prayer

"Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed." (Mark 1.35.)

The details are quite graphic and paint for us a clear picture of Jesus during those happy days of his popular ministry in Galilee. Yet He was aware of the dangers of popularity and of spending too long in one place. As we read on, it is apparent that the sun was up and people were about again, searching for their hero. Jesus knew better, and if there had been any doubt in his mind when He arrived at that quiet spot, He now knew, after communion with his Father, what He must do. He said to the eager disciples, ..Let us go somewhere else so that I can preach there also. That is why I have come." (vs.38)

Luke gives the most complete record of our Lord's prayer life. Luke was the Gentile writer of the New Testament who spent much time with Paul on his journeys. He is the evangelist who shows us the words of Paul in action - "Pray continually" ...."pray in the spirit on all occasions, with all kinds of prayers and requests. ..,. (1 Thess.5.17; Eph.6.18) Luke clearly establishes the links between the teachings of Paul and the work of Jesus, but while it is Luke who tells us where and when Jesus prayed, it is John, the writer of the Fourth gospel, who gives us a detailed prayer of our Lord in chapter 17.

As a child

Like many children brought up in the fear and nurture of God, Jesus must have learned how to pray at his parents' side. By the time He had reached twelve years old He understood that God was his Father (Luke 2.49). In Gethsemane He called God by the familiar form for Father "Abba" (in our language, 'Daddy' (Mark 14.36) which is the confident but tender address of a child to its father.

A child needs to learn the skills of communication, for example as in making requests and expressing appreciation for the goodness and gifts of a parent. Parents explore these experiences with their children as they grow from birth, and are communicating with their offspring long before actual speech is learnt. These are the first lessons in prayer and perhaps have bearing on Romans 8.15, 16, 26.

As a child, Jesus would learn extensive portions of the Hebrew Scriptures (our Old Testament). He must have become very familiar with the stories of the great heroes of Israel. He would have known about Abraham's, great intercessory prayer on behalf of the cities of the plain.(Gen.18.16‑33). He would probably be able to recite the great dedication prayer of Solomon (2 Chron.6). He would have known well the prayerful yearnings of Samuel and Jeremiah over a people and king who were backsliding from God. He would have read the expectant yet repentant prayers of Nehemiah and Daniel, as they looked forward to the restored Israel. Perhaps most of all he pondered the mighty Moses who had enjoyed "face to face" communion with his God (Exodus 33.11).

Jesus' teaching about prayer, and the prayers recorded of him, demonstrate the spirit of childhood which Jesus said would characterise those who entered the kingdom of heaven. The characteristics are dependence and sense of need. Development of those traits enables praying believers to focus upon God and not upon self.

At critical moments

The first reference to our Lord praying is in Luke 3.21, as He came up out of the waters of Jordan. He appears to be having a two way conversation with his Father. There we have the first of those remarkable utterances from Heaven "this is my son", said on this occasion at the critical point in the life of Jesus from which He began his ministry. It was an event which potentially showed the Jewish people that He was about to lay down his life— in order to bring them salvation. It is an example to every believer that at such important experiences in our lives we should pray to our heavenly Father, that He may direct our paths by his Holy Spirit. Jesus urged his disciples to pray for the Holy Spirit. Immediately following his baptism in the River Jordan, Jesus was driven by the Spirit into the desert where He was tempted by Satan. At each succeeding critical point in his life it is recorded that Jesus specially devoted time to prayer.

When the Lord prepared to select the apostles, the men who were to be trained and sent out as the foundation members of the Christian Church, he spent all night in prayer (Luke 6.12). Jesus needed to be sure that He was choosing the right men for this job. They were gifts received from his Father, and even He, the sinless son of God, filled with the Holy Spirit, needed to pray about such decisions. He could be tempted to choose leaders of the Church for the wrong reasons by putting his own human feelings before the purpose of God. In another prayer just before his death He was praying again about these men and their special needs in the days that would follow his departure. "They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word." (John 17.6). Jesus had great concern for these men, and it was no easy task protecting and strengthening such raw recruits to be the leaders of the new kingdom. As the suffering drew near, Jesus had much to teach men like Peter the way of the Lord. "I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. .." (Luke 22.32), Jesus could not wave his hand over the band of disciples to protect them by magic. This was the real world and they had to face real temptations. It was in such situations that Jesus had grown spiritually and it was in such situations that his disciples also grew to be like him.

Another very critical time in the work of Jesus came when He did the miracle of 'the feeding of the five thousand'. The year of popularity was really ended but He continued to be the centre of attraction, and great crowds went to him. As the thousands dispersed from the meal of bread and fish Jesus told his disciples to get into a boat and go ahead of him to the other side of the lake. He needed to be alone with God. He had been bereaved of his cousin John the Baptiser. He had been or was about to be challenged by the crowd to become their king. So He withdrew to the mountainside and there spent time in prayer. (Matt.14.23). To reject the people's support would be more than a disappointment for them. Jesus loved these people but now they would turn away from him. This was a turning point in his life and He needed the Father's strength as He laid bare his life in deep humility and patience. Jesus wanted the kingdom to come as much as we all do. He suffered more than we, as He looked at stricken humanity in all its poverty and sickness. Yet He must wait and pass through the valley of shadows itself.

In such an atmosphere He came to Caesarea Philippi with the 'twelve' and asked them the momentous question "Who do men say that I am?" Luke 9.18 records that this question was asked "when Jesus was praying in private". The crucifixion was approaching and He and the disciples must be prepared. While they were in an attitude of prayer the great revelation was made. Jesus began to speak to them of his suffering and death. A little later the three most intimate disciples were to go with Jesus to a mountain, (Luke 9.28), for the specific purpose of praying, and while they were there, Jesus was changed, his face and clothing became bright white and they all saw a vision of Elijah and Moses. This is not the place to examine what happened to them all just then but it was further preparation for the coming ordeal and it occurred while Jesus was praying.

While the three disciples were on the mountain with Jesus the others were on the lower slopes and were attempting unsuccessfully to heal a very sick boy. When Jesus returned and healed the boy it was natural for the disciples to ask why they had been unable to perform the miracle. While Matthew's account tells us that they were short of faith, Mark 9.29 says that Jesus explained to them the need for much prayer.

The implication in Luke's record is that these great spiritual experiences which reveal the immediate purpose of God and the work Jesus Christ was to do were linked with prayer. There could be a parallel with our experience. Times of prayer can become the wonderful moments when God reveals something of his guidance and glory.

With deep feeling

There were times when Jesus was in agony of mind over the conditions around him and there were great stirrings of his human emotions. There were other times when He praised God with much thankfulness for the wonderful things that were happening. One of these was on the return of the 'seventy' (or was it seventy two disciples?). As the disciples had gone around preaching and healing, Jesus had seen the powers of darkness shaken and realised that the conquest of evil was in sight. Luke records that "at that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit said, I praise you Father, Lord of heaven and earth. .." and again "Father, I thank you that you heard me" (John 11.41.). It is apparent from the accounts that Jesus need not have made his praise audible, for communication with God was continuous from within. Yet so that the disciples and the people around should know what was going on, He spoke audibly in prayer and thus the praise of God overflowed among those who were with him in spirit.

The deep feelings are of another nature in the next chapter when Philip brought the Greek enquirers to him. The glory of the Father can only be fully revealed in the intense suffering and death of the days ahead. From this point onwards until Gethsemane, He utters groans and questions, with tears and sighs of intense agony. These are referred to in Hebrews 5.7, "During the days of Jesus's life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. ..". This was learning obedience through what He suffered and attaining maturity through agony of soul. In all these experiences Jesus wanted only to know and to do the Father's will, so that God could be glorified in the life and death of his Son. It is when we catch this spirit in those glories and groanings, joys and sorrows, that his one reason and purpose was the glory of the Father, that we truly follow Jesus.

Teach us to pray

On one occasion the disciples went to Jesus while He was praying and asked him to teach them to pray (Luke 11.1). Do we need to learn to pray? Surprisingly Jesus had already given them some instruction in prayer during the Sermon on the Mount. What prompted the question now? They were aware that John the Baptist had taught his disciples to pray and that it was the custom of the Pharisees' teachers to do the same for their followers. They were also becoming aware perhaps that Jesus' approach to God was very different from anything they or anyone else had ever been taught.

An examination of the parable of the two sons (Luke 15.11‑32) gives us an insight into the way in which we may first approach God. We, like the prodigal son, come to our senses at last and realise that we ought to seek our Father. It is one of the most enlightening stories in the world. It teaches us how the most derelict sinner may draw near to the great Creator of the Universe, the majestic and holy God. If we find that coming to him with our every want breeds contempt by familiarity then we need to ponder his majesty and greatness. Our perception of him is almost certainly too small. Should we not adopt the attitude and spirit of the prodigal who was determined to go to his father and confess his faults and admit that he hardly deserved the lowest place in the household. At once the vision changes and we see the outstretched arms of the father wanting him to come home as a son. How much that picture of God reflects the words of Jesus to a sinful woman of Samaria-"the Father seeketh such", to worship him not on a sacred mountain or in a mighty temple, but anywhere, so long as the searching is made without hypocrisy but in sincerity and in reality. The same attitude of heart and mind is shown in Jesus' other teachings about prayer recorded in Matthew 6 and Luke 18. It is so easy for committed disciples of the Lord Jesus, now, to think that the religious leaders and pagans of the First century were the only ones to have the wrong spirit concerning prayer. When Jesus told the parable of the two men praying in the Temple, He had in mind also those who would believe on him because of the message of the early disciples. Many a Christian has silently prayed wishfully "dear Lord, I give thanks I am not as that Pharisee". There exists such a danger in our own century to believe that we can enter the presence of God with feelings of pride, of achievement and of self exaltation, with the result that we suffer from the sin of conceit in our hearts and lives. If that is so, then we shall not be ready for what follows in the teachings of Jesus, nor the model prayers of Matt.6 and Luke 11. The primary principle of prayer is the hardest lesson to learn. It is focussing attention upon God rather than upon self. In the parable it is not the words of the sons which are of paramount importance but the words of the father. In the joy of reconciliation, there is a gentleness in the rebuke of the father, not of wrath and upbraiding. His one desire was to have the erring son back in the homestead, to restore the relationship and renew the fellowship. The story should be read alongside every passage in the Old and New Testament which speaks of the wrath of God. The question for the believer today is "Have I truly come home?"-have I really entered into the spirit of that home and have I discovered the compassion and joy of that home? The child may yet have disappointed the Father, but the Father eagerly awaits his child.