Jesus taught His disciples to pray—in response to their request—by teaching them the “Lord’s Prayer.” But that is not the only way He imparted the need to have a vibrant and rich prayer life to His disciples—He modeled it before them. Jesus lived a life full of prayer; His ministry was marked by time spent with the Father.
There is a simple reason why the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray.
They noticed His prayer life.
They longed to pray in the same way that they had often observed their Master pray. This should be true of all of Jesus’ disciples. We should desire to pray like Jesus.
In addition to studying the Lord’s Prayer, we can look at Jesus’ actual prayer life during His earthly ministry in the hopes of learning to pray like Him. When did He pray? What did He pray for? How long? What details are mentioned in relation to His prayers and prayer life? What are the circumstances surrounding His times of prayer? Trying to answer questions such as these will help us learn to pray like Jesus.
Where Did Jesus Pray?
In solitary places. Which means Jesus prayed alone. He often withdrew to a mountain or to some other place where He would be alone. Jesus had a personal and private prayer life. Not all His prayers took place in the presence of others. Neither should ours. It is essential to our spiritual growth that we make time to get alone, unplug, and spend time with God. It is a beautiful thing to find yourself in a place where no other human voice can be heard. Only your own submitting your requests to your Creator. How necessary it is to unplug from all our devices and distractions and make room for God to speak. It is hard to describe the blessing that comes from spending time alone with the Lord in prayer. Make sure you don’t miss out.
In the presence of others. Not all of Jesus’ prayers were private. He also had a public prayer life. He modeled prayer for others. We should never pray solely to sound spiritual or to impress others, but others need to hear you pray. They need to be prayed for and taught how to pray. One the best ways to learn to pray is by listening to other Christians pray. When you are open to public and corporate prayer, you are essentially encouraging and inviting others to do the same. Don’t worry about how you sound or if you stumble over your words. The Lord isn’t looking for oratorical perfection, He is looking for sincere and honest hearts.
In the presence of His closest friends. Luke 9:28 records Jesus taking Peter, James, and John up a mountain with Him to pray. Most often our friends are those whom we have a lot in common with and share the same interest in particular hobbies. And it is easy to only talk about such things when we are with them. We would be wise to follow our Lord’s example. We need friends in our life who will pray with, for, and alongside us. There are some burdens too heavy to bear alone. We need our friends praying with us and helping to carry the weight. Our spiritual lives receive an infusion of life when we spend time in prayer with those closest to us. Our rejoicing is increased when we get to celebrate the answer to prayer with others who have been praying for the same need. The blessing of praying with your closest friends is one of the greatest joys—and needs—in the life of a Christian.
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