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"A Man of Prayer" We are sorry to announce the passing of Mrs. Prayer Meeting. She
died recently at the However, in recent years Sister Prayer Meeting has been failing in
health, gradually wasting away until rendered helpless by stiffness of the
knees, cooling of the heart, lack of spiritual sensitivity and the concern for
spiritual things. Her last whispered words were inquiring about the strange
absence of her loved ones, now so busy in the market place and places of
worldly amusement on Wednesday evenings! Experts, including Dr. Stay Home, Dr. Socializing and Dr.
Unconcerned disagree as to the fatal cause of her final illness. They all
administered large doses of excuses, even ordered a last minute motivational
bypass, all to no avail. A post-mortem examination showed that a deficiency of
regular spiritual food, and a lack of prayer contributed to her untimely
demise. 1 Although the story is humorous it points to the reality of how
prayer so easily escapes us. Luke paints for us two great pictures with his words. The first
being the great need of prayer in the life of the believer and second, the
great prayer life of Jesus. JESUS PRAYED Jesus was an amazement to His own disciples. Life with Jesus was
like nothing they had ever experienced. The disciples could not forget the
mighty demonstrations of power. They remembered the facial expressions of joy in the blind, lame,
sick, deaf, and the afflicted as they were touched by Jesus, setting them free
to go back to their families and friends. They were astonished at His wisdom in the face of controversy.
They watched Him walk through life as if He didn't have a care in the world,
and yet His compassion showed He cared more than anyone they had ever met. They watched Him day and night perhaps hoping to find the secret
of His wisdom and the power behind His strength. They watched Him as He prayed. One of the disciples, as he watches
Jesus pray, makes the connection of His amazing power and wisdom with prayer.
Upon that revelation this disciple comes to Jesus after praying and asks,
"Lord, teach us to pray." 1a. Natural Prayer The disciples saw in Jesus there was no struggle to pray. Prayer
was not an act of duty, nor a "trouble shooting" plan. A fisherman who was out of fellowship with the Lord was at sea
with his godless companions when a storm came up and threatened to sink their
ship. His friends begged him to pray; but he demurred, saying, "It's been
a long time since I've gone to church, much less pray." At their
insistence, however, he finally cried out, "O Lord, I haven't asked
anything of You in 15 years, and if You help us now and bring us safely to
land, I promise I won't bother You again for another 15!" 2 In the life of Jesus there was never a question of "should I
pray?" His prayer life was perfectly natural. · Luke 3:21 ... Jesus
prays at baptism · Luke 5:16 ... Times of
multiple ministries · Luke 6:12 ... Choosing
the 12 Apostles · Luke 9:16-18 ... 5,000
fed · Luke 9:28-29 ...
Transfiguration · Luke 22:40-45 ... 1b. The
Necessity of Prayer
Through the prayer life of Jesus was perfectly natural, it is
through these displays of great prayer the disciples saw in Him the necessity
of prayer. Everything He did arose out of prayer. Jesus taught, "That men ought always pray and not lose
heart." (Luke 18:1) There is no activity of life that does not require
prayer. Jesus was the fulfillment Paul's words, "Pray without
ceasing." (1 Thess. 5:17) before Paul has spoken them. The life of Jesus
was one of constant motion and ministry, and yet He prayed the whole time.
"He was praying in the Spirit when His hands were busy healing." 3 When at the tomb of Lazarus He prayed. He prayed when the Greeks
came to Him (John 12:20,27-28), recognizing Him as the Messiah. There was a
continual sense of expectation that the Father would be working through Him.
Jesus knew He could do nothing without the Father. John 5:19 Then Jesus answered and said to them, "Most assuredly, I
say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do;
for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner. John 14:10 "Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father
in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but
the Father who dwells in Me does the works. Prayer was the key to Jesus' miraculous
ministry while on earth. In and by Himself He states He can do nothing, but
only through His Father is He able. "Out of this continuing expectation
that if anything was to be done the Father would have to do it. This is what
underlay his amazing prayer life, and revealed that to him was an absolute
necessity." 4 This is what we must see and learn from Jesus, there is no
activity of life that does not require prayer. This disciple who watched Jesus pray noticed his own prayer life
was perhaps option. He prayed when there was a reason or an emergency. Tracing through the prayer life of Jesus we can see what this
unnamed disciple saw. It was all so necessary to Him, so easy, so natural. We
must begin to see prayer as a natural necessity to life. Without it we are
doomed to fail miserably. JESUS STILL PRAYS Jesus has one incredible prayer life. One like we will never
encounter simply because He's Jesus and we're not! Did you take note that I
said, "Jesus has one incredible prayer life." Jesus continues in His
natural necessity of prayer on our benefit. Romans 8:34 Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore
is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes
intercession for us. Hebrews 7:25 Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who
come to God through Him, since He ever lives to make intercession for them. That great prayer life is right now interceding
(praying) for you and me. Whatever is heavy upon our hearts, whatever we are
attempting we can know that Jesus is praying for us. What an awesome thought!
What a sobering thought to think that Jesus continues to pray for us, even when
we fail to see the natural necessity of prayer. What a Savior we have called
Jesus! Prayer: Oh God we too often let the need of prayer slip through
our fingers as we engage our busy lives. Help us today to be confronted with
our lack of prayer and the natural necessity of the prayer life of Jesus. Amen End Notes:
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