Prayer Part 2 “How Did Jesus Pray?”
How Did Jesus Pray
Matthew 26:36-46: 36 Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to the disciples, “Sit here while I go and pray over there.” 37 And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed. 38 Then He said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me.” 39 He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.” 40 Then He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “What! Could you not watch with Me one hour? 41 Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” 42 Again, a second time, He went away and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if this cup cannot pass away from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done.” 43 And He came and found them asleep again, for their eyes were heavy. 44 So He left them, went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words. 45 Then He came to His disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners. 46 Rise, let us be going. See, My betrayer is at hand.”
Why did Jesus pray?
- Jesus prayed because He was closely connected to the Father.
- Jesus prayed because He needed something only the Father could do.
- Jesus believed the Father could do it if He wanted to.
Why don’t Christ followers often have vital and consistent prayer lives?
- Out of control schedules…Don’t make the time
- Fail to recognized much evidence of prayer’s effectiveness in our daily life.
- Struggle to know how best to approach God.
How do we pray in ways that reveal God’s activity in our life?
Jesus made himself vulnerable before the Father
vulnerable – capable of being wounded; open to attack; defenseless, exposed, helpless, unguarded, unresisting
The very foundation of our prayer life is built on our willingness to be vulnerable with God.
Acknowledging our need for God and our trust in His plan.
- Admitting our true feelings, thoughts, or failures whether we think God will be pleased or not.
- Resting in our knowledge that an always loving, good, just, and trustworthy God has ultimate control.
Jesus went to prayer with a heart of submission having already made his choice to submit.
Submit means: to commit to the discretion or decision of another; to yield oneself to the authority and will of another.
When we submit to God, we humbly see our desires as needing to line up with God’s desires rather than expecting and pleading for God’s desires to line up with ours
Vulnerability is an attitude of our heart; Submission is an action of our heart.
Vulnerability without Submission is a relationship of disillusion and frustration.
Submission without vulnerability is a relationship of bondage and resentment.
Submission within vulnerability is a relationship of freedom and fulfillment.
Jesus prayed repeatedly.
Luke 18 Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart, 2 saying: “There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God nor regard man. 3 Now there was a widow in that city; and she came to him, saying, ‘Get justice for me from my adversary.’ 4 And he would not for a while; but afterward he said within himself, ‘Though I do not fear God nor regard man, 5 yet because this widow troubles me I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.’”
6 Then the Lord said, “Hear what the unjust judge said. 7 And shall God not avenge (give justice) His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them? 8 I tell you that He will avenge (give justice) them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?”
GOD’S DELAYS ARE NOT THE DELAYS OF INACTIVITY, OR ANNOYANCE BUT OF PREPRATION.
We don’t go repeatedly in order to convince God to come to terms with what we want, but for us to come to terms with what God wants.
Isaiah 55:6 Seek the Lord while you can find him. Call on him now while he is near. 7 Let the wicked change their ways and banish the very thought of doing wrong. Let them turn to the Lord that he may have mercy on them. Yes, turn to our God, for he will forgive generously.
8 “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord. “And my
ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. 9 For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.
Jesus is pleading with the church to stay awake and pray with Him
Will we as individuals, wake up and finally become the praying church of Jesus Christ that God is calling us to be