“He Continued …” in Prayer (Luke 6:12).
The Prayer Life of Christ
WITH ALL OF US there is the inclination to think that the human needs of our Lord were not so real, not so pressing as our own. We tend to feel that in some way His humanity was sustained and aided by His divine nature. A moment’s thought will correct that misconception. For example, did His deity alleviate the anguish of Gethsemane’s garden, or of the cross? Did it banish His hunger or weariness? Though truly divine, His deity in no way affected the reality of His human nature. His prayers were as real and intense as any ever offered.
His prayer life bore eloquent testimony to this. So completely did He renounce the independent exercise of His divine powers and prerogatives, that, like the weakest of His followers, He became dependent on His Father for all. As we do, so He received His daily and hourly needs through the medium of prayer.
Why need He pray, who held by filial right,
On all the world, alike of thought and sense,
The fulness of His Sire’s omnipotence?
Why crave in prayer what was His own by might?
Vain is the question—Christ was man in need,
And being man, His duty was to pray.
The Son of God confessed the human need,
And doubtless asked a blessing every day.
Nor ceases yet for sinful man to plead,
Nor will till heaven and earth shall pass away.
HARTLEY COLERIDGE
Let us learn of Him from the gospel records.
Although bodily posture is secondary to the attitude of the soul, it is instructive to note that at times Jesus prayed while standing, just where He happened to be at the moment (Matthew 14:19; John 11:41–42; 17:1). At another time, He knelt (Luke 22:41), while on yet another occasion it is recorded that He fell on His face (Matthew 26:39). “If the Son of God got down upon His knees, yes upon His face before God, what attitude should we ordinary mortals assume as we go into His presence?”
Posture is not everything, but it is something.
Much of the prayer life of Jesus was concealed, even from His intimates, but sufficient is recorded to stimulate both interest and emulation.
He prayed in secret. His own practice was reflected in His command to His disciples to engage in secret prayer behind closed doors (Matthew 6:6)—shut in with God, shut out from all else. Secret prayer always brings the open reward.
He prayed in company with others. Jesus frequently took some of His disciples apart for prayer. His instruction in this art, both by precept and example, kindled in their hearts such a longing to master it themselves, that they besought Him, “Lord, teach us to pray.” His longest public prayer was offered in the presence of His disciples (Luke 9:18, 28; John 17).
He prayed in solitude on the mountainside.
He sought the mountain and the loneliest height.
For He would meet His Father all alone,
And there, with many a tear and many a groan,
He strove in prayer throughout the long, long night.
AUTHOR UNKNOWN
The majesty and solitude of the mountainside exercised a subtle fascination for Him. James Stalker suggested that when Jesus reached a new town, His first thought was, which was then shortest way to the mountain; just as travelers enquire the way to the best hotel.
Jesus enjoyed a solitude not of time and place only, but a solitude of spirit that is much more difficult to attain. Consider the paradoxical statement: “It came to pass, as he was alone praying, his disciples were with him” (Luke 9:18). He apparently possessed such powers of abstraction and concentration that even their presence did not disturb the solitude of His spirit.
Luke records nine occasions when Jesus prayed: at His baptism (Luke 3:21), after a day of miracles (Luke 5:15–16), before choosing His disciples (Luke 6:12), before the first prediction of His death (Luke 9:18), on the Mount of Transfiguration (Luke 9:29), before teaching the disciples to pray (Luke 11:1), when the seventy returned with their report (Luke 10:21), in the garden of Gethsemane (Luke 22:39–46), and on the cross (Luke 23:34, 46).
A study of those and other occasions in His life that gave rise to prayer will afford much instruction for our own lives of prayer.
He prayed in the morning, at the gateway of the day (Mark 1:35) and in the evening, when the day’s work was over (Mark 6:46).
Great crises were preceded by prayer. It was while He prayed that the Holy Spirit descended on Him, and the silence of heaven was broken by the Father’s attestation of His divine Sonship (Luke 3:21–22). His selection of His twelve disciples—a seemingly insignificant event, yet epoch-making in world history—was made only after He had spent a night in prayer (Luke 6:12–13). They were to be not only His companions, but also the messengers of His teaching after He had gone. It was after a special season of prayer that He unburdened His heart to them concerning His impending suffering and death (Luke 9:18, 21–22). The transfiguration was an answer to His prayer (Luke 9:28–36). Prayer was the cause, transfiguration the effect.
Great achievements were preceded by prayer. His feeding of the four thousand (Matthew 15:36); of the five thousand (John 6:11); walking on the sea (Matthew 14:23–33); raising of Lazarus (John 11:41–42); healing the insane boy (Mark 9:14–29); were each the outcome of preceding prayer.
Great achievements were followed by prayer. When confronted with great crises or with demanding tasks, we instinctively turn to prayer. But once the crisis is past, the task achieved, the tendency is to once again lean on our own ability or wisdom. Jesus guarded against that tendency by following up such occasions with prayer. After what had been perhaps one of the most successful days of His whole ministry, it is recorded that, instead of courting popularity, He sent the multitude away and departed into a mountain to pray (Matthew 14:23). We would be well advised to follow our divine exemplar in this habit.
Great pressure of work was a call to extra prayer. Our Lord’s life was exceptionally busy. He worked under constant pressure. At times He had no leisure even for meals, but the pressure of the multitudes was never permitted to crowd out prayer. We are apt to advance pressure of business as a reason for not praying. With Jesus, it was a reason for giving extra time to prayer (see Luke 5:15–16; Mark 1:35; Luke 4:42; John 6:15).
Great sorrows were met in prayer. As the Man of sorrows, He suffered deeply through the crass materialism of His own people and the tragic lack of understanding on the part of His own disciples. But the greatest sorrow of all was to be the “bruising” and “forsaking” by His Father. For that He fortified Himself by prayer (Matthew 26:36–46; John 6:15; 11:41–42; 12:28).
He died praying. The habit of a lifetime cannot be quenched even in the hour of death. His last utterance was one of trustful prayer (Luke 23:46).
It is true that only small fragments of the Master’s life are preserved for us in the gospels, but a large field may be seen through a small chink in the fence. The prayers of His that are recorded give us a rich insight into their character and material for our emulation.
His prayers revealed a filial spirit. Observe how He addresses God in His prayers in the Upper Room and in Gethsemane. “Father.” “O my Father.” “Holy Father.” The sense of His own Sonship and of God’s Fatherhood formed the background of His prayer life. The glory of His Father was His consuming passion (John 17:4).
His prayers were replete with thanksgiving. Adoring thankfulness constantly welled up in His grateful heart. “I thank Thee, O Father” was a characteristic expression in His prayers (Luke 10:21). Whether He walked in the light or in the shadow, thanksgiving was an integral part of His life.
His prayers included no confession of sin. There was never any consciousness of defilement or sense of distance from His Father in His heart. He not only “did no sin” (1 Peter 2:22), but positively asserted, “I do always those things that please him” (John 8:29). No occasion for confession ever arose.
In His prayer, communion bulked large. It would seem that in true prayer, petition for personal needs occupies only a secondary place. Jesus missed unspeakably the glory and communion He had shared with the Father (John 17:5), and after living in the foul miasmas of earth He pined for the clear atmosphere of heaven. His high-priestly prayer is a choice example of communion with God at its highest.
His prayers embraced petition and supplication—prayer for His own needs and those of His friends and followers. His intercessions included the interests and spiritual advancement of His disciples (Luke 22:31), the deep need of those who had not experienced His saving grace, the rebellious, and even those who crucified Him (Luke 23:34). His was truly selfless praying (John 17:11).
His prayers were invariably answered. “I know that thou hearest me always,” He affirmed (John 11:42). His assurance was based on the fact that He knew He always prayed according to the will of His Father. He refused to pray for the twelve legions of angels who would have sped to His assistance because He knew it to be contrary to God’s will.
In cases where the divine will was not fully revealed, Jesus maintained an attitude of submission. “Not my will, but, Thine be done” (Luke 22:42). Incidentally this petition shows the essence of real prayer—total surrender to a full correspondence with the mind, will, and character of God.
From the records it would appear that of all His characteristics, the prayerfulness of Christ impressed His disciples most deeply. They did not ask Him to teach them how to preach or heal or teach, but they did make a request that each of us could take on our lips at this moment, “LORD, TEACH US TO PRAY.”