The Backdrop
Prayer—you know you need to do it—but let’s face it: It’s not your best subject. In fact, it’s hardly anyone’s best subject. Why is that? Maybe it’s because results often are not immediate or tangible. Yet, there is not one activity in your busy life that is more important than prayer.
However, rather than have a devo tell you the importance of prayer, how about letting Jesus show you the importance of prayer?
The What
Jesus is the Son of God. He’s the Word of God. He is God. Yet Jesus still prayed. In fact, check out the verses below, each of which is a snapshot of Jesus’ prayer life. As you read the verses, write down everything you glean about Jesus’ prayer life from each verse. The info in the column headings will give you clues to seek as you read.
How frequent? When in the day? What length of time? Where?
“Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where He prayed” (
“But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed” (
“One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God” (
“About eight days after Jesus said this, He took Peter, John and James with Him and went up onto a mountain to pray” (
“One day Jesus was praying in a certain place” (
The So What
What strikes you about Jesus’ prayer life?
Using one-word descriptions, how would you describe Jesus’ prayer life?
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Seal the Deal
Jesus is the Son of God and the Word of God. We’re instructed to pray “in Jesus’ name.” As you just saw, Jesus still took specific, intentional time to pray. His prayer times were frequent. They were lengthy. They were in designated places. They usually were in solitude, but His prayer times occasionally included other people.
Process how you can model Jesus’ prayer life. Below are some characteristics of Jesus’ prayer times. Spend a few minutes thinking through how you can get some Jesus-grade prayer time into your life.
1. Early in the morning: You may not be an early riser, and that’s OK. The point is, Jesus apparently had a designated time to pray. So, designate a time in your day when prayer is your only activity. Just for fun, experiment with early in the morning, while it’s still dark. You never know, you might be an early riser and just don’t know it.
2. Solitude: Find a place where you can be free of distractions and solely focused on the task at hand: prayer.
3. Inspirational place: Jesus obviously had access to mountains to help with solitude. Maybe you do, too; if not, maybe you can get to another aspect of nature such as a park, woods, a beach, a lake, a creek, etc. The bottom line is to find a place that inspires you to focus on God.
4. Frequent: Jesus prayed often. Find a place to pray, a time to pray, and repeat.
5. Prayer partners: It’s obvious we need to pray in solitude, but we also need to pray with people—others who can carry burdens with us. Contact a couple of trusted friends and find times when you can pray for and with each other.
Final thought: Of all your activities and tasks, make prayer the best thing you do.
