The Encourager Newsletter
Toward Knowing God and Walking With Him
A FREE WEEKLY PUBLICATION with a BIBLICAL WORLD VIEW –
Volume 5 Issue 2 – February 4, 2011 Dan Carr, Editor
Jesus Prayed
The picture at left by Heinrich Holman (1890) may be the most recognized painting of Christ in prayer. He was praying in the garden of Gethsemane before he was crucified. The grove of olive trees there contained an oil press for pressing oil out of the olives. Jesus labored in prayer here until great drops of blood came out of His forehead and ran down his face as though He were being pressed in an olive press. It was His Gethsemane. We are introduced to Jesus' prayer life with this look at Gethsemane but His praying did not begin here.
Jesus prayed much throughout His ministry because the human side of him needed communion with His heavenly Father. He had no sins to confess. But, He did need to commune with His heavenly Father and to renew his conscious connection with Him even as we must breathe repeatedly. Prayer is also our spiritual breath.
With His disciples they observed the Feast of the Passover in the Upper Room (John 13). Matthew and Mark mention that the last thing they did was to sing a hymn (Matthew 26:30). The singing of a hymn to close the Passover observance was a well-established practice—not just any hymn. It was Psalm 118:22-26:
The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner. This is the LORD'S doing; it is marvellous in our eyes. This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it. Save now, I beseech thee, O LORD: O LORD, I beseech thee, send now prosperity. Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the LORD: we have blessed you out of the house of the LORD.
As they sang this hymn, surely the disciples must have remembered Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem and the quoting of the last part of this hymn by the thousands of people who rejoiced in His riding an ass through the walls of the city and His cleansing of the Temple.
And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest. (Matthew 21:9)
They left the room and began walking toward the Garden of Gethsemane. For three years Jesus had walked the dusty roads of Israel with His disciples and had talked with them many, many hours as they walked from one town to the next. This was to be the last walk they would ever take together and, as usual, Jesus was talking to them. He talked with them for three chapters (John 14-15-16)
Jesus prayed as He walked with His disciples toward Gethsemane. (This is the longest prayer of Jesus recorded anywhere in the Bible.) Suddenly He stopped talking to His disciples and lifted His eyes toward Heaven and began talking to His heavenly Father. Walking and talking with His disciples and a sudden switch to talking with His Father may have been a common thing and thus was no surprise to the disciples. So far, everything was following the usual pattern—except the content of this prayer. They were going to cross the Brook Cedron on the east side of Jerusalem and continue on their way up the hill to the Garden of Gethsemane.
This prayer, as He walked between the Upper Room and the Garden of Gethsemane reveals more of how Jesus talked in His praying than any other place. This is the real Lord's Prayer. The Model Prayer Jesus taught His disciples to pray was not His prayer. He had no sins to confess and He had no grudge to get rid of through forgiving. No, that prayer was for us to pray. John 17 is The Lord's Prayer and it was prayed walking along before entering the Garden of Gethsemane.
In this prayer He told His heavenly Father that His hour had come. While performing His first miracle in Cana of Galilee, He stated to His mother that His hour had not yet come. He would perform all of His miracles at the time they were due. One commentator speculates that she wanted Him to perform a miracle to clear her name of having born Jesus outside of wedlock. This would clear her name and His name if He would only perform a miracle. Whatever the core truth is, His hour had not yet come and we know that He did indeed convert the water into some form of wine that everybody thought was the best.
On another occasion some furious people would have killed Him but no man laid hands on him, because his hour was not yet come (John 7:30).
But in this prayer in John 17, He said to the Father that His hour had come. He had finished the work He had been given to do. He had glorified the Father's name and given His out His word. He had lost none of His disciples except Judas. Then He prayed earnestly for His disciples that they might be one just like He and the Father were one that the world might believe that His Father had sent Him. He longed for His redeemed ones to be with Him and share the glory He had before the world was ever created. He prayed this as He walked with His disciples. He was going to pray some more but it would have to be alone, in the garden.
Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane on the eve of his death. This is the hardest praying Jesus ever did and His human side began to show. Not only did He need His heavenly Father—He needed His disciples and He especially needed Peter, James and John. But they were tired to the bone and fell asleep while the Lord of Glory bore His sorrow all alone.
Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder. And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy. Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me.
And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt. (Matthew 26:36-39)
Jesus was calling on His closest friends and allies to stay awake and watch while He prayed. They could not possibly know what He was going through. But, like us at times, they were bone-tired and fell asleep like dropping a rock. Not once, but three times they fell asleep. But Jesus did not fuss on them or rail on them. God is not going to beat us with a stick to get us to serve Him. He wants service from the heart or not at all.
And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done. (Mat 26:40-42)
And he came and found them asleep again: for their eyes were heavy. And he left them, and went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words. (Matthew 26:43-44)
Then cometh he to his disciples, and saith unto them, Sleep on now, and take your rest: behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us be going: behold, he is at hand that doth betray me. (Matthew 26:45-46)
It is anti-climactic to mention the earlier and lesser times of prayer in Jesus' life but it is nevertheless very practical and helpful for us to look at some other aspects of Jesus' prayer life.
Jesus prayed in the morning. We read: …in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed. (Mark 1:35) David said: My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up. (Psalm 5:3)
Many praying people favor the early morning as the best time to pray. May I suggest that Jesus went to bed early as was the common practice. Electric power in a house prolongs our work day and interrupts sleep. Jesus rose early to pray. He removed himself from others in the house that might also be up at that early hour. He wanted to be alone with His Father. Whatever time is best for you in your schedule is the best time for you to pray.
Jesus prayed during the day. And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone. (Matthew 14:23)
Jesus prayed all night. And it came to pass in those days, that he went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God. (Luke 6:12)
I must confess my own selfish motives in writing this article: Jesus Prayed. The material is not mine, for I have copied scripture and gleaned from the studies of other students of the Word of God. I don't know if I have ever had an original thought. Everyone I meet is my teacher. Everyone I meet knows some things I do not know. So, this piece is extremely valuable to me. I will keep it and read it many times and talk to the Lord about it.
The immediate question to me is: If Jesus needed to pray a lot, why is it that I don't think I need to pray a lot? What air of superiority has afflicted me worse than a cancer that persuades me that I don't need to pray and pray and pray until God is pleased for me to walk with Him because we are walking in the same direction?
We are living in difficult days and they are not going to get any better with yet another election or one more college degree. We are left with the proposition given to us by Hebrews 11:6 and James 4:8:
But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. (Hebrews 11:6)
Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. (James 4:8)
This article can also be viewed at www.biblewalking.blogspot.com
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