The Prayers Of Jesus

This is the 18th and final post in a series on Praying Effectively. In the last related post we looked at prayer with fasting. Today we will sum up by turning our focus to prayer in the life of Jesus Christ when He lived as a man here on Earth.
If you are just joining me, please see the end for a special note before continuing!

• Jesus’ powerful ministry on earth was fuelled by intimate relationship with His Father. He made communicating with His Father His priority

At evening, when the sun had set, they brought to Him all who were sick and those who were demon-possessed. And the whole city was gathered together at the door. Then He healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and He did not allow the demons to speak, because they knew Him. Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed.
Mark 1:32-35

However, the report went around concerning Him all the more; and great multitudes came together to hear, and to be healed by Him of their infirmities. So He Himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed.
Luke 5:15-16

• Jesus prayed for instructions and guidance from His Father. He made no decision without seeking and waiting for the counsel of His Father.

Now it came to pass in those days that He went out to the mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God. And when it was day, He called His disciples to Himself; and from them He chose twelve whom He also named apostles.
Luke 6:12-13

• Jesus life of prayer was an example to His disciples. It’s interesting that He didn’t make it a requirement for them to have a lesson on prayer. He prayed and taught them when they asked Him after observing Him.

Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.”
Luke 11:1

• Jesus met with God the Father and interacted with the spiritual realm when He prayed. In the following text, as He prayed, He was visibly transformed. In the same way, when we live prayerful lives we also are transformed in such a way that the spiritual and eventually physical realm will see. We are transformed into the image of Christ, from glory to glory, the more time we spend with God. (Rom 8:29; 2 Cor 3:18).

Now it came to pass, about eight days after these sayings, that He took Peter, John, and James and went up on the mountain to pray. As He prayed, the appearance of His face was altered, and His robe became white and glistening.
Luke 9:28-29

• Jesus intercedes for His disciples, then and now.

And the Lord said, “Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.”
Luke 22:31-32

But He, because He continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood. 25 Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens;
Hebrews 7:24-26

• Jesus prayed for the strength of God in His greatest hour of testing and an angel was sent to Him. He prayed in acceptance of and obedience to His Father’s will. His prayers were desperate with strong crying and even so that His sweat were as great drops of blood.

He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.” Then He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “What! Could you not watch with Me one hour? Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Again, a second time, He went away and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if this cup cannot pass away from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done.” And He came and found them asleep again, for their eyes were heavy. So He left them, went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words.

Matthew 26:39-44 [See also Luke 22:41-46]


Who, in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His godly fear, though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered. And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him
Hebrews 5:7-9

• Jesus prayed and committed His disciples into His Father’s care, that they may be kept from the evil of the world, dwell with Him in eternity and be one with He and His Father and one another.

Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You, as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him. And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do. And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.
“I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. Now they have known that all things which You have given Me are from You. For I have given to them the words which You have given Me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came forth from You; and they have believed that You sent Me.
“I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours. And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them. Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are. While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name. Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth.
“I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.
“Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father! The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me. And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.”
John 17:1-26


What a prayer. What a pray-er. What a Savior!


[This is the final post in a series on the subject of prayer. In the previous installment we looked into adding fasting to prayers.
These posts are interspersed among other blog topics so for the easy identification of related posts, look for the label 'praying effectively - series' in the sidebar. If you are just now joining in I recommend that you read the first post where I shared my reason for doing this series. My intention has been to share practical keys and insight into praying effectively. Nothing here is intended to be viewed as exhaustive. However, in acting on any lessons you may have learned I am confident that the Holy Spirit will take you beyond what you could have imagined towards knowing God more and seeing His will done on Earth as it is done in Heaven.]

Prayer With Fasting.

This is the 17th post in a series on Praying Effectively. We have talked about what elements can be found in effective prayers and in the last related post we looked at what it means to pray in the Spirit.
If you are just joining me, please see the end for a special note before continuing!

Prayer with Fasting

Fasting appears in both the Old and New Testaments and always referred to abstaining from food and/or drink for a period of time. It was also accompanied by a general withdrawal from self-pampering or special adornment, and sexual relations with spouses. We have to be careful on this aspect though, because Jesus rebuked the Pharisees, who purposefully made their appearance haggard enough to practically proclaim, "Look at me! I'm fasting...I'm so holy!" The main point is to turn our focus to God - not to indulge self, and not for the praise of others.

I highlighted that biblical examples of fasting always involves denying food/drink substances because that is the reality. This is not to say that modern trends to include fasting from well-loved things and activities is not also beneficial. Any sincere turning to God, forsaking other things, will have benefits. He has promised that when we draw near to Him, He will draw near to us (James 4:8).  Furthermore, myriad health issues now prevent some people from fasting safely without medical opinion and guidance. However, for the purpose of this short lesson, I will be referring to fasting in accordance with the biblical examples we have been given.

Fasting goes hand in hand with prayer. If we are withdrawing from our regular way of living to seek God, then we must seek God!


Old Testament examples:
- Moses fasted during a time of intercession for Israel and deep communion with God.
- Nineveh's people (and animals!) fasted in repentance to turn away God's wrath and humble themselves before Him.
- David fasted in mourning and intercession for his sick baby.
- Ezra and Nehemiah fasted for God's direction, help, and guidance.
- Daniel fasted for wisdom and direction from God.
- Esther fasted for God's favor, intervention and deliverance to turn the heart of her husband, the king of Persia, towards her for good when she decided to break kingdom law.
- God's people and the nations' kings fasted for God to deliver them from their enemies in times of war.

New Testament examples:
- Anna the prophetess could be found ministering to the Lord by prayer and fasting night and day in the Temple when Jesus was just a baby.
- The disciples of John the Baptist fasted.
- The disciples of Jesus fasted in the book of Acts before making decisions. 

As we can see from the relatively few examples above, the needs often differed, but those who fasted all had a need to get near to God; for Him to act on their behalf, usual in times of urgency and great risk, or when direction regarding major concerns was needed.

An interesting statement by Jesus also reveals that fasting is important for specific demonic strongholds to be broken. The context of the statement indicates that fasting is important to bolster our faith to ask for and access the power of God.

And Jesus rebuked the demon, and he departed out of him. And the child was cured from that very hour.  Then the disciples came to Jesus apart, and said, Why could we not cast him out?  And Jesus said to them, Because of your unbelief. For truly I say to you, If you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you shall say to this mountain, Move from here to there. And it shall move. And nothing shall be impossible to you. However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting. Matthew 17:18-21 

Some problems that people have are not/not only medical or psychological by nature but have to do with the active operation of evil spiritual beings which can be resisted and overcome in the authority of Jesus' name. Prayer and fasting prepare us to be the vessels through which such deliverances can take place, or to be set free ourselves.

Fasting is a useful spiritual discipline if our motivation is pure and faith-filled. As a discipline, it may not at first be easy, but the effort which may be required is not to be confused with the weight and false foundations of a rigid, legalistic, self-imposed regimen of fasting. 

Many Christians who fast can attest to the benefits of seeking God with prayer and fasting. In my own life as a young believer, I fasted weekly for a period of time (my own decision that no one else was aware of). I did not see all that was being accomplished in the moment - indeed, I did not even expect the major changes that resulted - but in retrospect I looked back with amazement at how many invisible hindrances were conquered, how much refinement of my character occurred, and how much my thirst for the word of God and prayer increased. Fasting did not accomplish these things as a magical formula, but the God I was desperately seeking was working in me and on my behalf.

We are near the end of this series on Prayer. In our next and final installment we will take a look at Jesus' prayer life in the New Testament. 

[This is the 17th post in a series on the subject of prayer. In the previous installment we looked into what it means to pray 'in the Spirit'. 
These posts are interspersed among other blog topics so for the easy identification of related posts, look for the label 'praying effectively - series' in the sidebar. If you are just now joining in I recommend that you read the first post where I shared my reason for doing this series. I hope to share practical keys and insight into praying effectively, in bite-size blog posts which you can easily follow.]

Praying In The Spirit

This is the 16th post in a series on Praying Effectively. We have talked about what effective prayers are and in the last related post we looked at suggestions on what to pray for.
If you are just joining me, please see the end for a special note before continuing!

Praying in the Spirit

This is more than just praying in an unknown tongue, it has to do with flowing with the Spirit of God in sensitivity and yielded-ness, but is inclusive of these utterances which the Spirit gives. Praying in the Spirit is essentially about praying with the utmost precision according to both the will and knowledge of God.


• For self-edification:

But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit
Jude 1:20

The following Scripture passage will show clearly that praying in unknown tongues, as the Spirit gives utterance, is a powerful gift to the Saints of God because it allows men to speak to God above the limitations of their knowledge or ability to comprehend. The emphasis of this excerpt, however, is that in public gatherings - without also having the gift of interpreting tongues in operation - it is not edifying to the church to use this precious gift of God. I included the entire passage so that we could consider the topic in a balanced way.

For he who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God, for no one understands him; however, in the spirit he speaks mysteries. But he who prophesies speaks edification and exhortation and comfort to men. He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church. I wish you all spoke with tongues, but even more that you prophesied; for he who prophesies is greater than he who speaks with tongues, unless indeed he interprets, that the church may receive edification.
But now, brethren, if I come to you speaking with tongues, what shall I profit you unless I speak to you either by revelation, by knowledge, by prophesying, or by teaching? Even things without life, whether flute or harp, when they make a sound, unless they make a distinction in the sounds, how will it be known what is piped or played? For if the trumpet makes an uncertain sound, who will prepare for battle? So likewise you, unless you utter by the tongue words easy to understand, how will it be known what is spoken? For you will be speaking into the air. There are, it may be, so many kinds of languages in the world, and none of them is without significance. Therefore, if I do not know the meaning of the language, I shall be a foreigner to him who speaks, and he who speaks will be a foreigner to me. Even so you, since you are zealous for spiritual gifts, let it be for the edification of the church that you seek to excel.
Therefore let him who speaks in a tongue pray that he may interpret. For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful. What is the conclusion then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will also pray with the understanding. I will sing with the spirit, and I will also sing with the understanding. Otherwise, if you bless with the spirit, how will he who occupies the place of the uninformed say “Amen” at your giving of thanks, since he does not understand what you say? For you indeed give thanks well, but the other is not edified.
I thank my God I speak with tongues more than you all; yet in the church I would rather speak five words with my understanding, that I may teach others also, than ten thousand words in a tongue.
1 Corinthians 14:2-19

• In intercession/about the unknown:

Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
Romans 8:26-27

Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints—and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel
Ephesians 6:18-19

In my own experience the Holy Spirit has many times given me clear mental thoughts and impressions of specific things to pray for/about and then let me come to find out from someone how my prayer related directly to something that actually occurred or threatened. This showed me just how critical it is to pray with specific dependence upon the Holy Spirit who knows all things. I now depend upon the Holy Spirit to direct my prayers, even without having this feedback or confirmation from others. The key is to come earnestly to God and esteem that time of prayer with Him, asking for the help of the Holy Spirit.


• For insight/wisdom of God:

However, we speak wisdom among those who are mature, yet not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory, which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
But as it is written:
“ Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,
Nor have entered into the heart of man
The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”
But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.
These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. For “who has known the mind of the LORD that he may instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ.
1 Corinthians 2:6-16

• Testimonies of persons who spend time praying as the Spirit leads include:
- Faith for physical healing
- Inner healing of emotions, healing from traumatic experiences etc.
- Personal strongholds broken
- Increased self-control; increased ability to make choices to resist temptation
- Greater understanding of, and desire for the Word of God


In the next post in this series I will say a little about prayer with fasting.


[This is the 16th post in a series on the subject of prayer. In the previous installment we looked at what we should pray for. 
These posts are interspersed among other blog topics so for the easy identification of related posts, look for the label 'praying effectively - series' in the sidebar. If you are just now joining in I recommend that you read the first post where I shared my reason for doing this series. I hope to share practical keys and insight into praying effectively, in bite-size blog posts which you can easily follow.]

"Therefore I Felt Compelled"

When a decision needs to be made and circumstances are such that it needs to be made now, we find ourselves under incredible pressure. Human reasoning often gets the best of us at these times. We know we really should pray about it, but we don't have time. We know we have prayed for God's leading, but His answer hasn't come at our deadline. We know we should find out what God would want us to do at that moment, but we feel compelled to meet the expectations of people who are demanding a response. We've all been there. However, now as Christians, we need to break away, violently, from this need to respond now, without waiting and diligently following God's leading.

Acting when we feel compelled without waiting upon the LORD is one trait which will cause us not only to detour widely from God's will for our lives, but also to fall into His great disfavor. At the heart of acting because we feel compelled, is a lack of fear of the LORD and instead, the fear of man; as well as a lack of dependence upon God and a presumptuous, rebellious heart. It can lead to nothing but disobedience and irreverence towards God. King Saul, who started out well with the LORD, soon came to a pathetic end because He disobeyed God, for this very reason, on more than one occasion. I would ask you to take the time to study 1 Samuel Chapters 9 to 14 about his appointment to the throne of Israel as it's first king, and his downfall - a case study God has provided us as both an example and warning. Here is a snippet of just one such instance in Saul's life, taken from 1 Samuel 13:

Then he waited seven days, according to the time set by Samuel. But Samuel did not come to Gilgal; and the people were scattered from him. So Saul said, “Bring a burnt offering and peace offerings here to me.” And he offered the burnt offering. Now it happened, as soon as he had finished presenting the burnt offering, that Samuel came; and Saul went out to meet him, that he might greet him.
And Samuel said, “What have you done?”
Saul said, “When I saw that the people were scattered from me, and that you did not come within the days appointed, and that the Philistines gathered together at Michmash, then I said, ‘The Philistines will now come down on me at Gilgal, and I have not made supplication to the LORD.’ Therefore I felt compelled, and offered a burnt offering.”
And Samuel said to Saul, “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the commandment of the LORD your God, which He commanded you. For now the LORD would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. But now your kingdom shall not continue. The LORD has sought for Himself a man after His own heart, and the LORD has commanded him to be commander over His people, because you have not kept what the LORD commanded you.”
1 Samuel 13:8-14

Not long after Saul was strongly rebuked as you read above, his hasty decision-making again proved that he was more driven by a fear of man (that is, a regard for pleasing people and meeting the expectations of what others wanted and expected) and that he did not know his great need for the LORD. He was too self-dependent. The situation I am referring to from 1 Samuel 14 is even more telling of the true state of his heart.

And Saul said to Ahijah, “Bring the ark of God here” (for at that time the ark of God was with the children of Israel). Now it happened, while Saul talked to the priest, that the noise which was in the camp of the Philistines continued to increase; so Saul said to the priest, “Withdraw your hand.” Then Saul and all the people who were with him assembled, and they went to the battle; and indeed every man’s sword was against his neighbor, and there was very great confusion.
1 Samuel 14:18-20

Notice that on this occasion he went so far as to command the priest to bring the ark of the LORD for inquiring of the LORD, however as the noise of the approaching Philistines increased, he commanded the priest to halt and instead went out with his own battle strategy. At a critical moment he stopped a priest from getting God's wisdom and instruction because he felt compelled. Is it any wonder that "there was very great confusion"?

Many times when our actions imitate what Saul did, we think of it too lightly, reasoning and excusing, deceiving ourselves that God will understand and accommodate our haste. However, the biblical records prove that this is not so. We cannot please God without faith in Him. It is simply impossible (Hebrews 11:6). At these moments when pressure mounts and we feel compelled to take action, we must have our faith in God alone and cast care of needing to act upon Him. Your present circumstances can be no more dire than Saul's was, with a vast murderous enemy army ("people as the sand which is on the seashore in multitude") mounting against him and his people, and all awaiting his orders.

There is another young man in Scripture who also proves that true, trusting, humble dependence upon God is all the more earnest when we find ourselves at these critical moments of decision-making. David the young fugitive, unjustly hunted and accused of treason by king Saul, was the one anointed to fill Saul's place on the throne and he was tested by severe trials. He made his home with the Philistines for a length of time and in one instance, upon returning to his city Ziklag with his relatively small group of men, they found that all their possessions, wives and children had been taken captive by an Amalekite army. David's men turned their anger against David for what had befallen them while they were away, willing to fight with the Philistine army on his behalf. After they had "lifted up their voices and wept, until they had no more power to weep", they were soon speaking of stoning him! Pressure was at an all time high for David. All were tired, hungry, and had lost their families and all their earthly possessions. His own life was on the line by those who had fought alongside him. What would David do? David "encouraged himself in the LORD", and then he called for the priest to bring the ephod that he might inquire of the LORD if they should pursue the army and if He would give them success (1 Samuel 30:6-8).

David's response is in stark contrast to that of king Saul. David did not assume he had God's mind on the matter. He did not reason with human reasoning. He did not even respond in haste to protect his own life. David needed God. And he knew it. He depended on God, feared God, loved God, and trusted God. And that's why He always inquired of the LORD. Note well: In all the records of Scripture, David never lost a battle to any army. I am convinced that His constant humility and dependence upon God has everything to do with His might as a warrior. It is now up to us to learn from the lives of these two men, King Saul and King David. Will we continue to be compelled, or will we trust and obey?


You may like to read these past posts related to today's blog entry:
Passing or Failing God's Tests
Forgetting God and Forging Ahead
Waiting On God Well