Be with Jesus - in Prayer!

In his poem “Morte d’Arthur,” England’s Alfred, Lord Tennyson has King Arthur exclaim:

“More things are wrought by prayer

Than this world dreams of.

Wherefore, let thy voice

Rise like a fountain

For me night and day.”

The Apostle Paul reminds us that God is “able to do immeasurably more than anything we ask or imagine”(Ephesians 3) and Jesus reminded His disciples that “with God all things are possible”(Mtt 19:26) and also “Whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours” (Mark 11:24 NIV.)

It would be impossible to spend any time with Jesus without discovering how important prayer was to Him!

This led His disciples to say, Jesus was asked to teach His disciples how to pray and the Lord’s prayer encapsulates that teaching.

And this demonstrates to us that learning to pray is part of the process of discipleship. As Andrew Murray said in his famous book, “With Christ in the School of Prayer” - “Christ teaches us to pray not only by example, by instruction, by command, by promises, but by showing us HIMSELF, the ever-living Intercessor, as our Life. It is when we believe this, and go and abide in Him for our prayer-life too, that our fears of not being able to pray aright will vanish, and we shall joyfully and triumphantly trust our Lord to teach us to pray, to be Himself the life and the power of our prayer.”

So, let’s join Jesus in His school of prayer and learn from Him “how to pray”!

1. We need to learn from HIS PRACTICE OF PRAYER!

(a). Prayer was the practice of His life in maintaining fellowship with the Father - Luke 9:18, “Now it happened that as he was praying alone, the disciples were with him. And he asked them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?”

To pray for Jesus, was the maintaining of the relationship which He had from the “beginning” with His Father as described in John 1:1-2, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.”

He was so familiar with His Father in prayer that He could say, “Father I thank you that you have heard me, I knew that you always hear me”(John 11:41-42).

It was in the place of prayer that He was transfigured - Luke 9:28-29 - “Now about eight days after these sayings he took with him Peter and John and James and went up on the mountain to pray. And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered, and his clothing became dazzling white.”

(b). He prayed before His baptism and at the Last Supper:

Luke 3:21–22, “Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heavens were opened, and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”

Matthew 26:26–28, also see Mark 14:22-23, Luke 22:17-19, “Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.”

(c). His prayer when working in Ministry - Mark 1:35; also see Luke 5:16, “And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.”

Note it was “early morning” at a time when there was little movement or distraction! - Dietrich Bonhoeffer told his German seminarians, “The prayer of the morning will determine the day. Wasted time, temptations, listlessness in our work, indiscipline in our thinking very frequently have their cause in neglect of the morning prayer.”

Incidently the Psalms - Psalm 5; Psalm 57; Psalm 63 - have examples of morning prayer that you could use to get you started!

But also ntoe his prayer at the end of the day, at te end of serving in ministry - Matthew 14:23, also see Mark 6:46, “And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone.”

Again the the Psalms - Psalm 3; Psalm 4; Psalm 42; Psalm 55 - have examples of night prayer that you could use to get you started!

(d). His prayer before selecting his disciples - Luke 6:12-13, “In these days he went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God. And when day came, he called his disciples and chose from them twelve, whom he named apostles.”

(e). His prayer before performing miracles:

(i). The deaf mute - Mark 7:34 “And looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.”

(ii). His prayer before feeding the 5,000 - Matthew 14:19;  also see Mark 6:41; Luke 9:16; John 6:11, “Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass, and taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing. Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds.”

(iii). His prayer before feeding 4,000 - Matthew 15:36, also see Mark 8:6, “he took the seven loaves and the fish, and having given thanks he broke them and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds.”

(f). His prayers for God’s blessing on others - Matthew 19:13–14, also see Mark 10:13–16, “Then children were brought to him that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples rebuked the people, but Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.”

His intercessory prayer for Peter - Luke 22:31–32, - “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.”

His prayer whilst giving thanks for the bread in the house on the road to Emmaus which resulted in spiritual revelation - Luke 24:30–31, “When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them. And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And he vanished from their sight.”

His prayer for His Disciples before He ascended into heaven - Luke 24:50–51, ‘And he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven.”

And this intercessory work was costly to Jesus - Hebrews 5:7–8, ‘In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered.”

2. We need to learn from LISTENING TO HIS PRAYERS!

(a). He was so thankful for God’s revelation to people - Matthew 11:25-26; also Luke 10:21 - “At that time Jesus declared, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.”

(b). He was so confident in God’s readiness to answer prayer -John 11:41-42, “So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.”

(c). He prayed this when troubled - John 12:27-28, “Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.’ Then a voice came from heaven: ‘I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.’

3. We need to Learn from HIS TEACHING ABOUT PRAYER!

Matthew 5:44–45 (see also Luke 6:28): “But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven.”

Mark 12:38-40 (also see Luke 20:45–47) “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes and like greetings in the marketplaces and have the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feasts, who devour widows’ houses and for a pretense make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.”

Public prayer is anticpated in Matthew 18:19-20, “Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”

“If we can’t say “thy will be done” from the bottom of our hearts, we will never know any peace. We will feel compelled to try to control people and control our environment and make things the way we believe they ought to be.” ― Timothy Keller, Prayer: Experiencing Awe and Intimacy with God

Matthew 7:7-11: “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!”

Jesus taught this in the aftermath of the cursing of the Fig Tree and the cleansing of the Temple - Matthew 21:21-22: “Truly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen. And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.

Although no one was hurt in the process, this violent outburst by Jesus, though shocking to all who saw it, was out of outrage - Matthew 21:13 “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers.” The distinguishing feature of this place is that it is to be a place of prayer!

But why should the story of the fig tree appear in the Gospels at this point? How does this line to the cleansing of the temple? We should note that the tree is in full foliage, full of “leaves” but no fruit! This is an image of a fruit-bearing tree, BUT a false image and Jesus is going to teach his disciples a very important lesson about teh nation of Israel - The fig tree to have been a scriptural symbol of Israel itself (Hos. 9:10 - "When I found Israel, it was like finding grapes in the desert; when I saw your fathers, it was like seeing the early fruit on the fig tree.) - the cleansing of the temple represents God’s judgment on a fruitless nation who have lost touch with the living God!

There is a challenge here for us as individual believers, about our own "fruitfulness" and our own need for cleansing, and how the two are linked.

This passage teaches us that the two go hand in hand if we find ourselves unfruitful we must confront it harshly and radically! Is there something we're practicing that we need to take a look at? Some form of idolatry (it has myriad forms, family; job; TV; hobbies, etc) which we're practicing that we spend our time and energy on instead of the things that are truly spiritually fruitful? What is it that preoccupies us? What is it that keeps us from God? What is it that stops us praying, communicating with God? - “As is the business of tailors to make clothes and cobblers to make shoes, so it is the business of Christians to pray.” - Martin Luther

Notice as well that Jesus talks about prayer moving mountains! - Mark 11:23-25: “Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. 

Jesus curses the fig tree and it is done. He speaks and it is done! He is “the Word” and “in the beginning” He spoke and a whole unvierse came into existence! He speaks and the whole Universe is “upheld by the Word of His power”(Heb 1:3)!

Prayer has mighty power to move mountains because the Holy Spirit is ready both to encourage our praying and to remove the mountains hindering us. Prayer has the power to change mountains into highways. - Wesley L. Duewel

Matthew 24:20 (also see Mark 13:18): “Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a Sabbath.

In the Garden, Jesus said to His disciples - Luke 22:40, “And when he came to the place, he said to them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.”

When He found them sleeping, He warned them - Luke 21:36, “But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”

Mark 11:23-26: “Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.”

Luke 11:1–13 : “Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” And he said to them, “When you pray, say: “Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.” And he said to them, “Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; and he will answer from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything’? I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs. And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

Luke 18:9–14, “He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

This is also emphasised in Luke 18;1-8. in the Parable of the Persistent Friend which tells us that God yields to the saints' pleading and urging.

The parable is preceded by Jesus' exhortation on the Christian duty to pray without ceasing - Luke 18:1, “And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart.”

Now, "always" does not mean we should pray every single minute of the day we should be always faithful to the practive of praying, whatever the circumstances. We are to always PRAY and always TRUST God!

Luke 18:1–8, “And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.’ ” And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says. And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

Jesus compares God with a godless man to emphasize the vast difference between this unjust judge and the righteous God. The conduct of the unjust judge exposes the chaotic and corrupt judgments that he has been responsible for. No one can compel him to do anything because he feels no regard for anyone, including God. He acts purely out of self-interest. Yet this unjust judge relents to the widow’s persistent requests for him.

But note that the widow only speaks 5 words. She is not heard because of her persuasive plea but because of her persistence. The phrase "weary me" literally implies striking blows and giving the recipient a pair of black eyes! This was one persistent woman!

And the point Jesus makes is if this selfish, unjust judge could avenge a widow whom he disdained, how much more will the selfless and righteous God avenge his elect. – “But you, Lord Almighty, who judge righteously and test the heart and mind, let me see your vengeance on them, for to you I have committed my cause. (Jeremiah 11:20)

The word "avenge" (verses 5, 7-8) implies the working out of His vengeance in justice, not in retaliation. If God's elect are wrongly treated, they can be sure of vindication.

This parable reveals God's willingness to hear and answer the supplications of His elect (v7), responding when they are offered according to His will.

So, We can expect substantially better treatment from a God of lovingkindness than from a heartless judge.

God has assured us that He hears and answers prayer. We must have the faith of Christ that God can provide what we need, enjoys hearing us ask according to His will, and desires to give us abundantly what we should have.

Christ's parable teaches us that we are to continue to pray and not falter or become dejected if our prayers do not seem to be answered right away.

We are to come to understand that if a request is not granted immediately, God may be testing us, teaching us patience, or working out a purpose we cannot see.

We must understand that He works on His timetable—not ours—and that He always works out what is best for us and for our particular situation (Romans 8:28).

Our job, then, is to persevere in our faith in God, always trusting Him in what we ask of Him.

“Men may spurn our appeals, reject our message, oppose our arguments, despise our person- but they are helpless against our prayer. Fellow Christians who love the cause of Christ- to prayer! To prayer! The times are calling us to it. We must press on.” (Sidlow Baxter)

John 15:16, “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.”

John 16:23-27, “In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.”

“To pray is to accept that we are, and always will be, wholly dependent on God for everything.” (Timothy Keller, Prayer: Experiencing Awe and Intimacy with God).

Conclusion & Application:

Andrew Murray was a wonderful man of God. He taught much on prayer.

He encourages us to “Learn to worship God as the God who does wonders, who wishes to prove in you that He can do something supernatural and divine.”

He encourages us to think in terms of the Father-child relationship: “Answered prayer is the interchange of love between the Father and His child.”

And he warns against unbelief – “Beware in your prayers, above everything else, of limiting God, not only by unbelief, but by fancying that you know what He can do. Expect unexpected things ‘above all that we ask or think.”

So he says, “Each time you intercede, be quiet first and worship God in His glory. Think of what He can do, of how He delights to hear Christ, of your place in Christ, and expect great things.”

Murray concludes, “May God open our eyes to see what the holy ministry of intercession is, to which, as His royal priesthood, we have been set apart. May He give us a large and strong heart to believe what mighty influence our prayers can exert. And may all fear as to our being able to fulfill our vocation vanish as we see Jesus, living ever to pray, living in us to pray, and standing surety for our prayer life.” (Andrew Murray).

Luke 21:36, “But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”

“Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens. Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need”– (Hebrews 4:14-16)

"Trouble and perplexity drive me to prayer, and prayer drives away perplexity and trouble"(Philip Melancthon).