Pray Like Jesus

Posted on 19. Apr, 2011 by frank in faith

Prayer is an essential part of the Christian life.  I think many Christians struggle with prayer and fail to merge the prayers on thier knees with the life that they live.  What we need to do is make prayer a part of our lifestyle instead of something nice we do once in a while.

When we look to the gospels and how Jesus used prayer we can see that it was very much a lifestyle.  He weaved prayer into his relationships, ministry, family, and friendships.  Here are four things we see Jesus do to maintain a lifestyle of prayer:

1. Jesus Prayed For Others

Matthew 19:13-15

¹³ Then people brought little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples rebuked them. ¹⁴ Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” ¹⁵ When he had placed his hands on them, he went on from there.

Praying for people is a big deal.  It’s unfortunate we don’t act like it is important as we say it is.  I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen, heard, and been told, “I’ll pray for you.”  Someone will share a need and make themselves vulnerable and we walk away!  Sure we’ll say, “I’ll pray for you” and that phrase somehow gives us permission to walk away and forget that there is someone who shared pain in their life.

In the verses above a group of children approached Jesus for prayer and the disciples tried to get rid of them.  Not only did Jesus demonstrate a love for children but he also showed us how important it is to pray for others.  How different would your relationships look if you stopped and prayed for someone right in the moment, instead of walking away?

2. Jesus Prayed With Others

In Luke chapter 9 Jesus is predicting his death.  After he shares this news with his followers we see he continues to pray.

Luke 9:28,29

²⁸ About eight days after Jesus said this, he took Peter, John and James with him and went up onto a mountain to pray. ²⁹ As he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning.

Jesus knew the value of praying with others. I think our churches know this too, many churches gather for corporate prayer as a part of worship, but do you do this as a part a normal day? Praying with someone is different then praying for someone.  In order to make prayer a lifestyle don’t just add it on your to do list so you can check it off like another task.  Build prayer into your lifestyle.  That means taking a hard look at the relationships you already have and including prayer in them.  In the above verses Jesus took Peter James and John with him to pray.  These were relationships he already had in his life.  Not some task on a list.

3. Jesus Prayed Alone

Luke 5:12-16

¹² While Jesus was in one of the towns, a man came along who was covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he fell with his face to the ground and begged him, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” ¹³ Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” And immediately the leprosy left him. ¹⁴ Then Jesus ordered him, “Don’t tell anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.” ¹⁵ Yet the news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses. ¹⁶ But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.

Sometimes life can get hectic.  When I get home my kids want my attention, we’ve got a full family calendar, I want time with my wife, there’s so much work at the office that I’ll never catch up.  Life is always hectic.  That’s why prayer is essential!  Jesus knows what a busy life looks like and we see that in the verses above and in other stories where he’s completely surrounded by people as they learn of the miracles taking place in his presence.  What does Jesus do? He withdraws to be alone with God.

Find a place away from family, away from friends, away from work, away from distractions and just be with God.

4 Jesus Prayed Regularly

Luke 5:16

But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.

Jesus did this often! Prayer was a regular part of his life.  There is no doubt that jesus merged the prayers on his knees with the life that he lived. It was natural for him and the relationships he maintened to include prayer.

As followers of Christ we should be pursuing his likeness.  If you could sit down with him and review you’re the last two weeks of your daily schedule, what word would he say to describe your prayer life? Often? Sometimes? Rarely? Almost never?

The wonderful thing about prayer is that as long as your breathing there is always time to change!  You can begin right now and the next time you read through the gospels start looking for the moments where Jesus uses prayer and think about how you can pray more like Jesus.