Mark 1:35-38
Matthew 6:5-14
Jesus came to this earth to redeem us from our sin. Through His death and resurrection, Jesus conquered death, hell, and the grave. However, this is not all Jesus came to do. He came to show us by His teachings and His actions how we are supposed to live a life that is pleasing to God. The gospels are filled with Jesus' teachings and commandments on a wide variety of subjects. This week, and next, our focus is the teachings Jesus gave to His followers on the matter of prayer.
First of all, Jesus taught us about prayer through personal example. Mark 1:35-36 records that Jesus' custom was to rise up early in the morning, go off by Himself to a secluded place, and spend time with the Father in prayer. There are several instances when Jesus went and prayed by Himself such as the night before He chose those who would be His twelve disciples. Scripture also records the fact that before Jesus walked on the water, He had been praying. Of course we also remember Jesus prayer to the Father in John chapter 17 and His prayers in the Garden of Gethsemane on the night He was betrayed.
Prayer was important to Jesus. It was an integral and essential part of His life. He taught the importance of prayer in the life of all of His followers by His own example.
Jesus also taught us that an active prayer life is essential for a robust, mature, and victorious Christian life. Consider this story.
While Jesus was on the Mount of Transfiguration with Peter, James, and John, the other nine disciples were having a spiritual encounter of a different sort.
A man brought his demon possessed son to the nine disciples and asked them to cast the demon out of his son. The father probably believed that since these were among Jesus' inner circle, they would know how to help his boy. The Bible doesn't say what or how the disciples tried to cast the demon out of the boy. It just tells us that they were unsuccessful.
When Jesus descended from the Mount of Transfiguration, the man and his son were still there. This man saw Jesus and said that he'd asked Jesus' disciples to heal his son, but they weren't able to do it. Upon hearing this, Jesus became very exasperated with His disciples which was very understandable. Jesus then rebuked the evil spirit, and the boy was miraculously delivered.
The nine disciples couldn't understand why they weren't able to cast out the evil spirit, so they asked Jesus about the matter. He said that that particular demon could only be cast out with prayer. I take this to mean that those nine disciples had been neglecting prayer in their lives, therefore; they were unable to walk in victory over the power of evil.
To me, this is an important word from Jesus. In order to have a victorious Christian walk, I must be a person of prayer. It is the means of staying close to the Lord.
So often, people neglect their prayer life. We cannot conquer sin and be an effective force for good in the world without filling our lives up spiritually.
Our prayer life shouldn't just consist of praying at meals or on Sunday mornings or in the mid-week services at church. The Scriptures talk about praying without ceasing. We should be in a constant attitude of prayer. We should make sure to commune with God through prayer on a daily basis.
Now that we've seen the importance of prayer in the life of the believer, let's focus on how Jesus taught His followers to pray. Jesus' disciples asked Him to teach them how they should pray. They needed Jesus' instruction.
In the Sermon on the Mount recorded in Matthew chapter 5 through 7, Jesus gives His disciples some of His teachings on prayer. He begins in chapter 6 verse 5 by saying that His followers aren't supposed to pray like the hypocrites pray. Jesus said that the hypocrite prays in order to make a show. He prays in public to draw attention to himself. The hypocrite isn't concerned with drawing closer to God; he is trying to impress others into thinking what a spiritual and upstanding person he is.
I think most of us who have gone to church for very long know what Jesus is talking about here. Sometimes you will here some very flowery prayers or other types of prayers that you know are just to impress someone. It's part of the church show so to speak.
Now I'm sure Jesus isn't saying that prayer in public is always wrong. Jesus Himself prayed in public most notably when He raised Lazarus from the dead. He also prayed and gave thanks for the food when He feed the multitudes. The Old Testament is full of examples of public prayer.
Jesus is saying that when we pray our focus should be on God and our relationship with Him. We shouldn't be trying to impress or try to be something we are not.
When Jesus speaks about doing our praying in private, I think that He means we should pray what we can pray between us and God and not draw attention to ourselves. For instance, I've seen some people in restaurants pray really loud so that those around them could hear that they were praying. This isn't necessary. Just pray to God. It shouldn't be a show.
In chapter 6 verse 7 of Matthew, Jesus says that when we pray , we shouldn't just babble on like pagans saying the same thing over and over again. The Lord hears us when we talk to Him. There is no need to keep repeating ourselves. What I think Jesus has in mind here is the repetition of phrases or mantras to try to get God to act as if that's possible through some formula or incantation.
Prayer is talking to the Lord. We don't have to have special words, positions, or formulas in order to get God's attention.
Next week, we will exam in depth the Lord's Prayer and what Jesus is trying to teach us through it. Amen.
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