Your Quiet Place

Jesus’ Prayer Ministry

Was Jesus an introvert or an extravert?

It’s where you get your energy.

Do you get energy from hanging out with others all the time, or do you fill your tank by staying inside

I always assumed Jesus was an extrovert:

Always talking to people, going from city to city, large crowds:

“Let the little children come to me and do no hinder them.”

But Jesus also had some introverted tendencies:

He was always going away by himself to pray! Prayer?

And so I came across a term that I probably should have known already:

Mariam Webster’s Dictionary: Ambivert: a person having characteristics of both extrovert and introvert

As God made flesh: Deity made bodily, today we’re going to pressing into his introverted self and what we can learn from our Messiah.

As he self-quarantines himself from the world, what are the lessons we can learn that would help him?

What can we learn from Jesus’ Shelter in Place with the Father??

Living for an Audience of One

1. Luke 5:16:

a) Heals the Leper

b) Crowds seek him out

c) Self-Isolates: Luke 5:16: But he would withdraw to desolate places and pray

c) Heals a paralytic

2. Luke 9:18-20: 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?” 19 And they answered, “John the Baptist. But others say, Elijah, and others, that one of the prophets of old has risen.” 20 Then he said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” And Peter answered, “The Christ of God.”

Jesus strictly told them not to tell anyone!

Because the crowds were looking for the wrong type of Christ

Popular for the wrong reasons- not in this to crowd please

3. Mark 1:35-39: 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. 36 And Simon and those who were with him searched for him, 37 and they found him and said to him, “Everyone is looking for you.” 38 And he said to them, “Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out.” 39 And he went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons.

Everyone was looking for him- he had a crowd right there...

But he came to preach a message about the Kingdom of God! He wasn’t in this to win a popularity contest...

Focuses on the Father, then goes out to accomplish his mission!

Extroverted Pride:

Matthew 6:5: “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.”

Temptation of mine??

He Prayed as Our Example:

Luke 11:1: 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.”

No doubt, the disciples were watching Jesus and were like, ‘How does he do that!?’

Praying is Hard!

Hard for some to listen to a whole sermon.

WE DO SEE YOU!

One advantage y’all have with me looking into a black hole is that I can’t tell who’s nodding off…

Even now with cars… Can’t tell

A sermon is about listening, and our prayers are us talking… BOTH are hard! Hard to just listen, and it’s hard to speak to someone who is not there with us in bodily form!

Shouldn’t prayer be like soaking into a lay-z-boy? Like, you just kick up and you just entire into this deep, intimate time of prayer.

From the writings of the Rev. Billy Graham (billygraham.org)

For many people prayer isn’t a joy but a burden. When they fail to pray, they feel guilty; when they do pray, they worry that they might not be doing it correctly. Or disruptions break in and steal the time away. Or their prayers are wooden and lifeless, perhaps only repeating words learned in childhood but never engaging their minds or hearts. But this is the opposite of what prayer should be.

Hard to listen sometimes to those we most love!

But over and over again, Jesus is found praying by himself.

Surprising number of times Jesus does this!

Not only is he our example in the content he provided for you, he is also our example as a model for prayer.

Wise Old Pastor:

- “Now is a time of forced simplicity. That is a gift.”

Billy Graham: “Time for prayer should be paramount to our daily lives.”

Is prayer paramount for you?

Where to start?

Anne Lamott’s book title: HELP, THANKS, WOW: “The three essential prayers”

Preparation for Mission

Luke 6:12-16: In these days he went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God. 13 And when day came, he called his disciples and chose from them twelve, whom he named apostles: 14 Simon, whom he named Peter, and Andrew his brother, and James and John, and Philip, and Bartholomew, 15 and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon who was called the Zealot, 16 and Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.

What’s happening here?

How Jesus goes about picking the future leaders of the church can’t be overlooked!

Only recorded time Jesus pulled an all-nighter in prayer

Context:

Jesus heals a man with a withered hand- on the SABBATH! That’s equivalent to “Up Sondach!”

6:11: But they were filled with fury and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus.

So within the conflict around Jesus, he goes to a mountain to pray to begin the process of delegating leadership for the future church...

Now, there’s some deep stuff here that Luke is trying to get us to see, I think:

As trusted theologian D.A. Carson shares, there are some people here who find an allusion here to what Moses did in setting up 12 pillars on route to the mountain: In Exodus 24:4, Moses sets up 12 pillars to correspond with the 12 tribes of Israel.

New Moses, setting up a new community who will fulfill the work of Israel!

Luke explains later in his book something significant! Luke 22:28-30: “You are those who have stayed with me in my trials, 29 and I assign to you, as my Father assigned to me, a kingdom, 30 that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

So in the midst religious leaders ‘filled with fury!”- talking about what they’re going to do with Jesus, in the midst of that conflict, Jesus goes and prays all night. Spending time with the Father to prepare for this Kingdom, which started with the disciples, and shared by Christians today…

Luke records something very intentional here:

Prayer during this pandemic for the church...

Mobilize for mission vs. mobilizing for maintenance.

This can be hard...

John 17:25 O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. 26 I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”

To Discover Jesus' Mission

On Route to the Cross:

Culmination of Jesus ministry on earth is his death and resurrection, and the prayers he prayed are instructive for us to discover why Jesus came in the first place!

Mt 26:36-46: In Gethsemane before His betrayal. (He prayed 3 separate prayers.)

Complete obedience to the Father, even if that means accepting difficulties.

Lk 23:34: Right after being nailed to the cross, Jesus prayed, "Father forgive them; for they know not what they do."

Mission was to pave the road to forgiveness

Devotions: Jeremiah: In stocks for a night.

To the false priest who put him in stocks: “I will make you a terror!” Named Change: “Terror on Every Side”

You deceived me, everyone mocks me… Cursed be the day I was born.

Jesus: “Father forgive them; for they know not what they do.”

While he was dying, Jesus kept his mission in mind...

Mt 27:46: While dying on the cross, Jesus cried out, "My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?"

Died alone:

Whereas the Father has always been his escape, his shelter-in-place, Jesus experiences total loneliness.

Jesus had to take on this moment alone. The Father was not the Sacrifice. The Son was. The Father was not incarnate. The Son was. The Son was sent on this mission to be the perfect sacrifice, and so what we see in this moment is that Jesus died utterly alone.

And that forsakenness had nothing to do with his brokenness. He took on our forsakenness so that we can experience forgiveness! His forsakenness permitted our forgiveness!

Transition: And we know this moment of forsakenness didn’t last forever. This break within the Trinity couldn’t last long. The infinite strength of the centripetal force of the Trinity couldn’t tear this unity apart forever.

Jesus’ death was part of his mission, but his Father was their on the other side ready to embrace His faithful Son!

Lk 23:46: In His dying breath, Jesus prayed, "Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.

Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.

Union with the Father

Discovering Jesus mission through this prayer life may just be the most important motivator to pray...

By doing what Jesus did, we have access to the Father all day, every day. But so many of us don’t take advantage of this opportunity.

Not praying means you’re not taking what Jesus did for you seriously!

“I’m just not very good at prayer.” Have you experienced the power of the Gospel:

For you going through religious motions of Christianity: You need to consider how knowing the Gospel pushes you to prayer. If Christ accomplished this in order for you to experience unity with him- which includes prayer- then this is indeed a paramount Christian duty!

For those of you don’t believe in Jesus as the Son of God who went through this prayerful process of death: Consider the cross in a new way this morning. Rather than see it as the end of one man’s life, think of it as the means for your forgiveness and the method God used to connect you with him! He provided a way for you to be forgiven. He’s provided a way for you to talk with your Creator! If you think no one cares about your lonely situation, know that Jesus promises to always be with us each step of the way.

Another example: Walking on Water: Matthew 14:22-24: Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. 23 And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, 24 but the boat by this time was a long way from the land, beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them.

Jesus acts like a Ambivert, spends all this time with crowds, dismisses them and then goes up to a mountain all by himself to pray...