Praying Like Jesus Prayed

Last Sunday here at Grace we kicked off our Year of Prayer with a new series for the month of January that we are calling “PRAY ’10.” We began this series with a look at Mark 1:35-39 which describes the prayer life of Jesus. We can sure learn a lot about prayer by studying the way Jesus prayed. We saw four characteristics of Jesus’ prayer life last Sunday.

First, the prayer life of Jesus was a priority (v35a, 37). Jesus prayed “in the early morning” (v35). Jesus prayed “while it was still dark” (v35). In Jewish time, this may have been as early as 4am. Luke tells us that often spent the whole night in prayer (Luke 6:12).

His time of prayer seems to have been a fixed time. Nothing pushed it off of Jesus’ “to do” list. The long day previous did not deter Jesus from praying (Mark 1:14-34). Look at all that Jesus did the day before. He preached (v14-15). He called Simon and Andrew (v16-18). He called James and John (v19-20). He taught in the synagogue (v21-22). He cast out a demon (v23-28). He healed Simon’s mother-in-law (v29-31). After dark, they begin bringing many to Him (v32-33). He then healed many of them (v34). Yet, He still got out of bed the next morning while it was still dark to pray. Not only did the long day previous not deter Him, neither did the busyness of the day ahead of Him (v36-37). When the disciples finally crawled out of bed and noticed that Jesus was gone, they searched for Him (v36) and when they found Him said, “Everyone is looking for You” (v37). Why? Because there was another busy day of ministry on tap. But even knowing this, Jesus still made prayer a priority.

Second, the prayer life of Jesus was personal (v35b-36). In other words, it was just between Him and His Heavenly Father. He got away were nobody could find Him, see Him, or hear Him. He left the house to go pray (v35). He went away to a secluded place where no one else was around and no distractions could take place (v35). No one knew where Jesus was or what He was doing (v36). Matthew and Luke tell us that Jesus often slipped away in solitude to pray (Luke 5:16; 6:12; Matthew 14:23). His prayer life wasn’t just a priority, it was very personal.

Third, the prayer life of Jesus was preparatory (v38-39). Look closely. His prayer life brought Him direction for ministry (v38). His prayer life also brought Him power for ministry (v39). His prayer life was preparatory.

And finally, the prayer life of Jesus was a pattern for us to follow. 1 John 2:6 tells us that we ought to walk as Jesus walked. This is the pattern in the Bible:

We are to walk in the light as He is in the light (1 John 1:7)
We are to purify ourselves just as He is pure (1 John 3:3)
We are to practice righteousness as He is righteous (1 John 3:7)
We are to forgive others as God has forgiven us (Ephesians 4:32)
We are to love our wives as Christ loved the church (Ephesians 5:25)
We are to accept one another as Christ accepted us (Romans 15:7)

This would most certainly include our praying like Jesus prayed. So as we continue through this first week of our Year of Prayer, let me ask you three questions. It is my hope that through this Year of Prayer that we will pray more like Jesus as make prayer a more important part of our lives and of our church.

Do you make prayer a daily priority in your life?

Is your prayer life a personal time with God, free from all distractions?

Is prayer your number one source to prepare you for decisions and ministry?